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Introduction to Environmental Impacts – Starter Pack

Summary

This Environmental Impacts Starter Pack combines a vocabulary list with a quiz and cloze notes to reinforce key concepts from the video. The quiz assesses students’ understanding of concepts like CO₂ emissions, acid rain, and ozone layer erosion. The vocabulary list defines essential terms like emissions, fossil fuels, atmosphere, and waste, to help with comprehension.

Bell Ringer

Instructions: Answer the prompt provided by your teacher.









Vocabulary

Instructions: Watch the Introduction to Environmental Impacts video and listen for the vocabulary words.

WordDefinitionExample
Impactnoun; the effect or influence something has on people, places or things“All energy has environmental impacts, from air to water to solid waste, to land use, and beyond.”
Emissionsnoun; gas or particles released into the air, especially by cars, factories and power plants“The most discussed and debated environmental effect today is CO2 emissions.”
Fossil Fuelsnoun phrase; energy sources like coal, oil, and natural gas formed from ancient plants and animals“All fossil fuels, when burned, produce [emissions].”
Atmospherenoun; the layer of gases that surrounds Earth and helps protect and support life“How much, and what effect [reducing CO2 emissions] will have on the atmosphere . . . [is] yet to be seen.”
Acid Rainnoun; rain or snow that contains acids formed when pollution mixes with moisture in the air“Sulfur dioxide causes acid rain.”
Erodeverb; to wear away or slowly destroy something“Nitrogen oxides erode the ozone layer.”
Ozone Layernoun phrase; a layer in the upper atmosphere that helps protect Earth by blocking the most harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun“Nitrogen oxides erode the ozone layer.”
Wastenoun; leftover or unwanted materials that are thrown away or not used“But as a global society, we don’t do a very good job of managing gaseous wastes, a big area for improvement.”
Unconventionaladjective; not typical or widely used – different from the norm“In unconventional oil and gas production, for cooling power plants . . . use a lot of water.”
Tensionnoun; conflict or strain between people or groups“ . . . we’ll likely see greater tension over water in the future.”
Minimizeverb; to reduce something as much as possible“Good reason to work now to minimize quantities and improve recycling.”
Quantitiesnoun; amounts of something, especially materials or products“Good reason to work now to minimize quantities and improve recycling.”
Concentratedadjective; present in a strong or dense form, in a small area“Renewable energies . . . cover much larger areas than more concentrated energies, like nuclear and fossil fuels.”
Consumersnoun; people who buy or use goods or services“It’s usually more expensive to make energy less impactful, and the cost gets passed along to consumers.”
Prosperitynoun; the state of having success, good living conditions, or plenty of resources“[Use] the prosperity that affordable energy brings to continue to invest in the environment.”
Investverb; to put time, money, or effort into something to get a future benefit“[Use] the prosperity that affordable energy brings to continue to invest in the environment.”

Quiz & Cloze Notes

Instructions: Circle the correct answer based on what you learned in the Introduction to Environmental Impacts video, and then fill in the blanks using the word bank. 

Q1. What substance is released by all fossil fuels when they are burned?

  1. Clean air
  2. Sulfuric acid
  3. Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
  4. Pure water

Q2. About what percentage of human carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions comes from burning coal?

  1. Nearly 50%
  2. Nearly 80%
  3. Nearly 35%
  4. Nearly 16%

Q3. Which type of waste produced from energy is the least effectively managed?

  1. Solid waste
  2. Liquid waste
  3. Biological waste
  4. Gaseous waste

Q4: Why is it often difficult to reduce the environmental impacts of energy use?

  1. It makes energy cheaper
  2. People will use less energy
  3. It usually costs more money to make energy less impactful
  4. There is no way to reduce pollution

Word Bank

affordablecarbon dioxide (CO2)fossil fuelsgaseous
impactslandwater

All energy has environmental _________________________ that must be managed. A key concern is _________________________ emissions from burning _________________________ like coal and oil. Managing _________________________ wastes remains a challenge, while _________________________ use and __________________________ impact are also growing concerns. The goal is to reduce harm while keeping energy _________________________.

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