COE Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which widely cited definition of sustainable development comes from the 1987 Brundtland Commission report 'Our Common Future'?
- Preserving all wilderness areas from any human use
- Using natural resources only at rates that maximize short-term economic growth
- Replacing all fossil fuels with renewable energy by a fixed date
- Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
The Brundtland Report defined sustainable development as meeting present needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet theirs.
Question 2: The 1977 Tbilisi Declaration lists five objectives of environmental education. Which set matches them?
- Plan, prepare, travel, camp, dispose
- Reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink, refuse
- Awareness, knowledge, attitudes, skills, participation (Correct answer)
- Observation, hypothesis, experiment, analysis, conclusion
Correct answer: Awareness, knowledge, attitudes, skills, participation
Tbilisi set awareness, knowledge, attitudes, skills, and participation as the core EE objectives.
Question 3: A group wants to collect a few hawk feathers found on a trail for a classroom display. What should the educator explain?
- Feathers can be kept if they were found on the ground
- Only eagle feathers are protected; hawk feathers are fine
- Feathers may be taken only from state parks
- Possessing most native bird feathers is illegal under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Possessing most native bird feathers is illegal under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits possessing feathers of protected native birds, including hawks, without a permit.
Question 4: Which conservation philosophy is most associated with Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service?
- Strict preservation of wild lands with no resource extraction
- A land ethic that extends moral standing to soils, waters, plants, and animals
- Wise use of resources for the greatest good of the greatest number over the long run (Correct answer)
- Deep ecology, which rejects human-centered values
Correct answer: Wise use of resources for the greatest good of the greatest number over the long run
Pinchot championed utilitarian conservation, managing resources for sustained use, unlike John Muir's preservationism.
Question 5: Students sampling a stream find many stonefly and mayfly nymphs. What does this most likely indicate?
- Heavy organic pollution in the stream
- Very low dissolved oxygen levels
- Recent runoff of agricultural fertilizer
- Good water quality, since these macroinvertebrates are pollution-sensitive (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Good water quality, since these macroinvertebrates are pollution-sensitive
Stoneflies, mayflies, and caddisflies are pollution-intolerant, so finding many of them signals healthy water.
Question 6: Which practice best reduces the spread of invasive species when a group moves between two lakes on a canoe trip?
- Rinse boats only in the second lake once you arrive
- Move firewood from home to save time collecting
- Carry leftover bait from the first lake to the second
- Clean, drain, and dry boats and gear before entering the new water body (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Clean, drain, and dry boats and gear before entering the new water body
Clean, Drain, Dry stops aquatic invasives like zebra mussels from hitching a ride between waters.
Question 7: In environmental education research, 'significant life experiences' studies (e.g., Tanner, Chawla) found that adult environmental concern is most often linked to what?
- Watching nature documentaries as adults
- Reading textbooks on ecology in high school
- Childhood time spent in natural areas, often with a mentor or role model (Correct answer)
- Paying environmental fees or taxes
Correct answer: Childhood time spent in natural areas, often with a mentor or role model
These studies found that frequent childhood experiences in nature, often with a caring adult, shape lifelong environmental commitment.
