1) Describe why scientific literacy is important and related to environmental decline.

2.     What types of ecosystem services are provided to humans by healthy ecosystems?

3.     What is the first level of a food chain? ____________________ Where does most energy used by organisms on earth come from?  __________________

4.     What happens is one trophic level of food chain breaks down?

Question 1

Scientific literacy is important because;

1. It helps people appreciate what is around them-when people have knowledge of how the components of the ecosystem are crucial to their lives, they would appreciate and take care of them to maintain such balance.
2. Helps people publically analyze and discuss what is happening in the environment-such literacy acts as a problem-solving tool to explain what is happening in the ecosystem in case of a natural hazard and give solutions to rectify.
3. Helps people in making informed and better decisions-once people have knowledge of scientific matters they understand the consequences of disturbing the ecosystem and thus make informed decisions on whether to influence it or to protect it.
4. It helps in avoidance of natural calamities/hazards-possession of such literacy make people cease from engaging in activities that might initiate natural calamities like deforestation and establishment of forest fires.

Why is scientific literacy related to environmental decline?

1. When people lack scientific literacy, they cannot understand when natural resources like water and trees are been depleted and thus just watch it decline clueless.
2. Lack of scientific literacy makes engage people to engage in activities associated with high population growth rates like clearing of forests for settlement thus leading to economic decline.
3. Lack of scientific literacy prevents people from avoiding natural hazards which cause a decline in the environment like soil erosion or to take corrective measures to solve such
4. Lack of scientific literacy may make people sleeplessly utilize natural resources until they are depleted without understanding the danger of such.

Question 2

Types of ecosystem services provided by healthy ecosystem to humans;

1. Oxygen for breathing-plants releases oxygen to the atmosphere during photosynthesis which is crucial for respiration in humans.
2. Food-crops and livestock in the ecosystem provide foodstuffs like meat, milk, and fruits
3. Energy-fuels and biomass are all products of ecosystem functions are utilized as sources of energy in human activities.
4. Water purity-natural bodies like the sea, rivers, and ocean provide clean and pure water to humans.
5. Raw materials-plants like lumber plants and skin from livestock are utilized in the industrial activities of humans.

Question 3

The first level of the food chain is the producer. It is the level that lays the foundation for all other levels by providing food to the ecosystem.

Most energy used by the organism in the earth comes from the sun. The sun provides solar energy through nuclear fusion and it is free at costless availability.

Question 4

If one trophic level in the food chain breaks down, it leads to disturbance to the whole ecosystem/. This is because all the trophic levels are interdependent on each other all through up the hierarchy. For instance, if the producer breaks down, the consumers are affected and the subsequent trophic levels as well. If the breakdown is adverse, it may even to depletion/loss of the entire ecosystem (Wilson et al.., 2017).