1. What do the initials, W, E, C, S, K, O, P stand for?
2. The first several slides in this program show a passenger bus. Why is a small picture of the planet earth shown in one corner of these slides?
3. Who are the "passengers" on the "global" bus?
4. Are humans the only important passengers on this "bus"?
5. How many people might be able to physically crowd on board a stationary passenger bus? Why isn't this large number listed as the bus's? "capacity"?
6. How many "extra" passengers could a passenger bus carry without to much inconvenience? Without too much discomfort? Without any particular damage?
7. Would you expect any critical system to fail if 78 passenger boarded a bus designed for 50? What if 189 climbed aboard? How many passengers, in your estimation, would result in serious damage or failures in critical systems?
8. As the numbers of "extra" persons on a passenger bus increase (10 extra; 20 extra; etc.), which mechanical systems of the vehicle might fail?
9. Imagine a real bus that is severely overloaded. Rate the following systems in the probable order a failure (First to fail = 1; second to fail = 2; etc.):
| Axles would break | Tires would blow | Engine would blow a gasket |
| Engine would overheat | Transmission would fail | Restroom would overflow |
10. What qualities of life deteriorate on a crowded bus?
11. If many of these seats on the passenger bus are occupied by other species, what would happen to these as more and more human passengers climb aboard?
12. What factors "limit" the number of passenger on a real bus?
13. Is the "amount of space" the critical factor that limits the number of passengers on a real bus? Why not?
14. What factors "limit" the number of organisms a particular environment can support?
15. Is the amount of space available a critical environmental "limit" in most ecological systems? Why not?
16. Define "carrying capacity":
17. Human body wastes might overwhelm a critical system (restroom) on a real passenger bus, but they are unlikely to do much damage to our planet.
What type of waste do appear to threaten our planet?
18. List several examples of societal or industrial "waste":
19. On a real bus, warning lights blink on to warn the driver that the oil is low or that the oil is low or that the engine is overheating, etc. What sorts of "warning lights" do we see beginning to light up on our "global dashboard"?
20. Approximately how many people live on the earth at the present time? About how many of these are "industrialized" with a modern standard of living?
21. Why might human impact on the environment double in the year ahead - even if there were no growth in the human population?
Why will human impacts probably more than double in the decades ahead?
22. List the seven "review" items and indicate why each is an important concept: