GE ELECT 1 COURSE PACK

This is a property of:

Authors: BAGBAG, ERNEL D.

BORLIO, JEVANNEL G.
Name: ________________________________________
FLORO, MERCEDITA E.
LAGARE, NICKEL JEAN S.
Course/Year Level/Set: __________________________
MOLINA, EDISON C.
HASAN, SABAR G.
TAGO-ON, VANESSA MHAE M.
 PEOPLE AND THE EARTH’S ECOSYSTEM
GE ELECT 1 - 3 units

IMPACT OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON THE ENVIRONMENT; CONSEQUENCES OF

ENVIRONMENT MODIFICATION ON HUMAN ACTIVITY.

COURSE OUTCOMES

At the end of the semester, you will be able to:

identify the key factors and drivers that are shaping our demand for
renewable resources, triggered by human overconsumption in
different sectors through in-depth research and journal reviews;

demonstrate understanding about the effects of the prolonged pattern

of overconsumption, which led to environmental degradation and the
eventual loss of resource bases;

recognize the important role of ecosystem services in rural

development in securing sustainable livelihoods by conducting
surveys in the locality;

construct opportunities to manage environmental services in order to

improve sustainability of development;

design programs that manage the human activities to avoid or

minimize its impacts to the ecosystem by constructing proposals that
address environmental concerns;

assess the environmental changes that cause unfavorable human

conditions;

conduct an environmental scanning through specific on-site

inspection and document review on the global environmental
condition; and

evaluate the mitigation and adaptation strategies of the local and

national government by measuring specific indicators that target
environmental protection and preservation.
MODULES
CONSUMPTION SECTORS

1 •
•
•
•
•
Agriculture and Forestry
Fishing and Hunting
Urban Industry
Water Use
Energy and Transport

PRESSURES ON ECOSYSTEMS AND BIODIVERSITY

2 •
•
•
•
•
Habitat Loss, Alteration and Fragmentation
Overexploitation
Invasive Species
Pollution
Climate Change

IMPACTS ON ECOLOGICAL SERVICES

3 •
•
•
•
Provisioning Services
Regulating Services
Supporting Services
Cultural Services

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE

4 •
•
•
•
•
Changes to Habitats and the Density of Disease-related Organisms
Changes in Exposure Pathways
Genetic Alterations
Changes in Life Cycle of Vectors or Pathogens
Changing Species Composition

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE, FOOD, AND NUTRITION

5 •
•
•
Water and Sanitation
Natural Disasters
Population Displacement
Module No. 1

CONSUMPTION SECTORS
Lesson 1: Lesson 2: Lesson 3:
Agriculture and forestry Fishing and hunting Urban Industry

1 7 14

Lesson 4:
Water Use
At the end of the module, YOU will
be able to:

categorize the social divisions in

the national level and local
context created by way in which
goods and services are
consumed;

identify the different consumption

sectors, which are affected by the
22
human activities causing
exploitation of the natural Lesson 5:
resources; and Energy and Transport

design a possible human activity,

which could counteract the
negative impacts we caused to
the environment.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Some images, clip arts and diagrams

were not labeled as they were used only
for the purpose of enhancing the
aesthetic value of the presentation of
lessons and are not referred in the 29
discussions.
 LESSON Module 1

1
Agriculture and Forestry

Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• describe the reciprocal relationship between agriculture and

climate change; and
• explain the effects of human exploitation on forest resources.

Introduction:

Hello, how are you? Hope you are doing good! Welcome to Lesson 1 of Module
1. In this lesson, you are about to learn the human activities in agriculture and forestry
affecting our environment. Moreover, there are some tasks that you need to
accomplish so that you will grasp the gist of this topic. So are you ready? Alright, let’s
begin!

Activity:

List at least THREE (3) human activities that are related to agriculture and
forestry. Write your answers to the designated columns.

Agriculture Forestry

____________________________________
______________________________________
____________________________________
______________________________________
____________________________________
______________________________________

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 1

Analysis:

From your given answers, pick only ONE (1) activity and point out the
advantages and disadvantages of such activity to the environment.

Advantages:
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Disadvantages:

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Abstraction:

As you can see, humans can both benefit and exploit environmental resources.
Now let’s discuss deeply on how these fields of agriculture and forestry affect the
environment due to human consumption.

Agriculture refers to the practice of rearing domestic animals and crops. However, the
methods that are related to this field have notable effects to the environment:

Climate
Deforestation Pollution
change

Effects

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 2

 Poor
So how agricultural
agriculture
causes climate
practices
change?

Extensive farming/slash
and burn or Kaingin Application
method of pesticides
and fertilizers

Production of greenhouse Affect the quality of air

gases: due to:
Carbon dioxide Production of compounds
Methane of phosphorus, nitrate
Nitrous oxide and ammonia

Climate change
Significant changes in temperature, precipitation,
wind patterns, and other measures of climate that
occur over several decades or longer.

But climate change affects agriculture too. Climate change

affects agricultural production through precipitation levels and
temperature variations. This is called reciprocal relationship
between climate change and agriculture!

Agriculture feeds all of us! We just need to

exercise the practices that will not harm the
environment. These may include organic
farming and crop rotation.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 3

 One way of increasing agricultural production is by clearing the forests. Deforestation
provides more land for crops and pasture.

Environmental impacts of deforestation:

• Destroys the • Enhance the

• Affects the
habitat of effects of
water cycle
species climate change

Leads to Results to

Fragmentation and Interference of

depletion precipitation (rain)

What causes deforestation?

Human-made Natural

• Farming • Wildfires
• Grazing livestock • Volcanic eruption
• Mining • Typhoon
• Drilling • Parasites
• Urbanization
• Illegal logging

Why should we take care our forests?

• Forest trees absorb Carbon dioxide (CO2)

• Forest trees provide Oxygen we breath (O2)
• Traps greenhouse gases thereby reducing global warming

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 4

Application:

Analyze the illustration below. Explain the relationship between

agriculture and climate change.

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Assessment:

Instructions: Choose the letter of your answer. Write your answer on the
space provided before the item number.

_____1. Which of the following human activity that is NOT associated with
Agriculture?
A. Farming B. Climate change C. Deforestation D. Pesticide
application

_____2. The following are the direct effects of climate change to agriculture
EXCEPT.
A. Extensive farming C. Changes in precipitation
B. Increase of temperature D. Neither is correct

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 5

 _____3. How agriculture causes climate change?
A. Changes in precipitation C. Use of natural or organic
fertilizers
B. Kaingin method D. All are correct

_____4. Which of the following activities could result to degradation and

fragmentation?
A. Wildfires C. Grazing of livestock
B. Illegal logging D. Destruction of habitat

_____5. Which of the following is an example of natural cause of deforestation?

A. Invasion of beetle larvae that devours the bark of forest trees.
B. Expansion of agricultural lands to forest mountain ranges.
C. Forest fires due to climate change
D. A and C only.

Excellent! You just finished lesson 1 of this module! Should you have any
questions or queries regarding this lesson, please do not hesitate to reach out to your
instructors.
Are you ready to take your next lesson? Lesson 2 will discuss about fishing and
hunting. Good luck and enjoy reading.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 6

 Module 1

LESSON
2
Fishing and Hunting

Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• identify the detrimental effects that human population caused to

the environment in the context of fishing and hunting; and
• recommend possible human activities that can alleviate
environmental concerns on fishing and hunting.

Introduction:
Hi, how are you? I hope you are doing well! Welcome to Lesson 2 of
Module 1. In this lesson, we are going to explore the fishing and hunting activities of
humans that affected ecological balance. For better understanding of these topics,
there are series of activities that you need to accomplish that will guide you in your
wider and deeper exploration. Are you ready? Let’s begin!

Activity:

Unscramble the words in Column A, write your answer in Column B and

determine which sector those words belong (Fishing or Hunting) and
write your answer in Column C.

Column A Column B Column C

1. IHRFEIESS
2. OAICGNPH
3. SAACRCS
4. WATRSL
5. GOIIEVFSRHN
6. IIOETCTNNX

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 7

Analysis:

Fishing and hunting are common human activities. To what extent these
activities start causing damages to the environment? Analyze the images
on Figure 1.1 and Figure 1.2 below to help you expound your answer.

Figure 1.1 Overfishing Figure 1.2 Poaching

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Abstraction:

As you can see, fishing and hunting do not always cause harm to nature.
However, human activities that go beyond consumption are the events that trigger
environmental destruction. Now, let’s discuss further other important details you
should know about this topic.
Let’s start with the definition.
A fishery (plural: fisheries) is an organized effort by
humans to catch fish or other aquatic species, an
activity known as fishing.

The ecosystems that support fisheries, together

with other economic activities, are subject to a
number of alterations of significant relevance to
their functioning and resilience and to the goods
and services they can provide.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 8

THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF FISHERIES
Fisheries impact target resources. They reduce their
abundance, spawning potential and, population
parameters (growth, maturation, etc.)

They modify age and size structure, sex ratio,

genetics and species composition of the target
resources, as well as of their associated and
dependent species.

When poorly controlled, fisheries develop excessive fishing capacity, leading to

overfishing, with major ecosystem, social and economic consequences. Fishing may
also affect ecological processes at very large scale. The overall impact has been
described as comparable, in aquatic systems, to that of agriculture on land in terms of
the proportion of the system's primary productivity harvested by humans.

Figure 1.3 Stable Ecosystem BEFORE

AFTER

Figure 1.4 Stressed Ecosystem

OVERFISHING transforms an originally stable, mature and efficient

ecosystem (see Figure 1.3) into one that is immature and stressed (see Figure 1.4).
This happens in various ways. By targeting and reducing the abundance of high-value
predators, fisheries deeply modify the trophic chain and the flows of biomass (and
energy) across the ecosystem.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 9

They can also alter habitats, most notably by destroying and disturbing bottom
topography and the associated habitats such as (e.g. seagrass and algal beds, coral
reefs) and benthic communities.

PHYSICAL
adding artificial structures like artificial reefs, oil rigs,
aquaculture installations)

MECHANICAL
HUMAN ACTIVITIES "ploughing" effect of dredges and trawls

CHEMICAL
injection of nutrients, pesticides, heavy metals,
drugs, hormones

OVERFISHING may result in changes in productivity of resources.

DESTRUCTIVE FISHING TECHNIQUES

• using dynamite or cyanides or inadequate fishing practices (e.g.

trawling in the wrong habitat)

POLLUTION FROM FISH PROCESSING PLANTS

• use of ozone-depleting refrigerants; dumping at sea of plastic

debris that can entangle marine animals or be swallowed by turtles;

LACK OF SELECTIVITY

• affecting associated and dependent species, resulting in wasteful

discarding practices, juvenile mortality, added threat to endangered
species, etc.

IMPORTANT
Poorly-managed large-scale mariculture can damage coastal wetlands and
nearshore ecosystems, often used as nurseries by key capture fishery resources, and
contribute to ecosystem contamination with food residues, waste, antibiotics,
hormones, diseases and alien species.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 10

 HUNTING TO EXTINCTION
Nowadays, most people hunt for
sport, often leaving the carcass and
taking the head, leaving the remains
to decompose.

Because hunters are only allowed to pursue specific species, some

environmentalists argue that hunting creates an imbalance in the natural elements
of the environment (see Figure 1.5). Nature has a delicate balance and human
hunting can have an impact on that natural balance.

PREDATOR PREY

Figure 1.5 Diagram of an unbalanced ecosystem when predators are hunted to extinction

IMPORTANT DID YOU KNOW THAT?

The University of Michigan

predicts over hunting will be
Opponents to hunting claim the cause of extinction in
that animals have their own about 25 percent of all animal
ways of population control extinctions during the 21st
and humans are not needed century. Whales and some
to aid that process. African animals have become
endangered due to hunting
issues.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 11

 EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

* Hunting disrupts natural

order

* Over hunting will cause

the decline in the
particular animal species.

* Population Control *It affects the natural

environment in that it
throws off natural
* The money hunters spend predation and population
on their hunting licenses is growth of the wildlife
pumped back into programs
that help protect and
POSITIVE EFFECTS

enhance wildlife and the * Hunting also disrupts

environment migration and hibernation
of the animals.
*wildlife managers view sport

NEGATIVE EFFECTS
hunting as the principal basis
for protection of wildlife * Hunting trips cause
hunters to drive long
distances until they reach
a hunting ground. This
causes them to emit CO2,
adding to their carbon
footprint.

* Hunters set-up
campfires and a lot of
littering, which is harmful
to the wildlife.

* The smoke that is

emitted by the fire
negatively impacts the
animals, and the litter on
the ground may cause
animals to choke.

Figure 1.6 Effects of hunting to the environment

As shown in Figure 1.6, the negative effects of hunting to the environment outweigh
the positive ones.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 12

Application:

You have learned that if fishing and hunting are both properly
regulated, negative effects to the environment can be avoided.
Give at least (1) recommendation of what programs can be
implemented to control fishing and hunting activities.
Fishing:
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Hunting:
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Assessment:

Match Column A with Column B to show the cause and effect

relationship of the items below. Write only the letter of your
answer.

COLUMN A COLUMN B

______1. Hunting a. stable, mature and

efficient ecosystem into
______2. Poorly-managed large-scale mariculture one that is immature and
______3. Overfishing stressed

______4. Pursuing Specific Species of Predators b. More Emission of CO2

______5. Long distances rides of hunters
c. Damaged coastal
wetlands and nearshore
ecosystems

d. Extinction

e. Environmental Imbalance

Excellent! You just finished Lesson 2 of this Module! Should you have any
questions or queries regarding this lesson, please do not hesitate to reach out to your
instructors.
Are you ready to take your next lesson? Lesson 3 will discuss about Urban Industry.
Good luck and enjoy reading.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 13

 LESSON Module 1

3
Urban Industry

Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• describe urbanization and industrialization and their

connection;
• determine the positive and negative impacts of urbanization to
the environment; and
• explore possible means to mitigate their negative effects.

Introduction:
Hello again, how are you now? Hope you are still doing fine!
Welcome to Lesson 3 of Module 1. In this lesson, you will be exploring
one of the products of human activities which is called urban industry
and its impacts to our environment including the utilization of our limited resources.
We will also identify some means to mitigate their adverse effects.
Therefore, be ready to engage in some tasks that you need to accomplish so
that you will appreciate what’s ahead of you. So are you ready? Alright, let’s begin!

Activity:

List at least 3 things you can describe in each of the following

pictures. Write them on the spaces provided.

__________________________________
A) __________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 14

 B) __________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________

Analysis:

Based on what you’ve mentioned above, identify at least 1

advantage and 1 disadvantage of each of those to the
environment and explain why.

Advantage:

A) _______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

B) _______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Disadvantage:

A) _______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

B) _______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 15

Abstraction:

Before going farther to the effects, let’s learn first the basic concepts
underlying the emergence of urban industry, the urbanization and
industrialization. These two also have some similarities. Study Figure
1.7 below.

URBANIZATION • Follow process of INDUSTRIALIZATION

• It is a process transition • It is a process of
whereby • Aim for the betterment applying mechanical,
populations move of human life chemical and
from rural to urban • Carry both beneficial electrical sciences to
areas, enabling and adverse effects to recognize production
cities and towns to environment with inanimate
grow. source of technology.

Figure 1.7 Comparing and Contrasting Urbanization and Industrialization

Now, let’s define Urban Industry. What does it mean? Based on the
descriptions above, we define the term Urban Industry as an economic activity which
is concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacturing of goods in
factories located within towns or cities.
Next, we will direct our focus on urbanization which we consider a powerful
force to cause positive and negative changes to human life and to the environment.

Figure 1.8 enlists

the different events
that caused the
emergence of
urbanization.

Figure 1.8 Causes of Urbanization

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 16

EFFECTS OF URBANIZATION TO HUMAN

EFFECTS OF URBANIZATION TO ENVIRONMENT

Urban populations interact with their environment. Urban people change their
environment through their consumption of food, energy, water, and land. And in turn,
the polluted urban environment affects the health and quality of life of the urban
population.
People who live in urban areas have very different
consumption patterns than residents in rural areas. For
example, urban populations consume much more food, energy,
and durable goods than rural populations.
Urban populations not only consume more
food, but they also consume more durable goods. In
the early 1990s, Chinese households in urban areas
were two times more likely to have a TV, eight times
more likely to have a washing machine, and 25 times
more likely to have a refrigerator than rural
households. This increased consumption is a function
of urban labor markets, wages, and household
structure.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 17

 Energy consumption for electricity,
transportation, cooking, and heating is much
higher in urban areas than in rural villages. For
example, urban populations have many more cars
than rural populations per capita.
Almost all of the The urbanization of the world’s
cars in the world in the 1930s were in the United populations, however, will increase
States. Today we have a car for every two people in aggregate energy use, despite
efficiencies and new technologies.
the United States. If that became the norm, in 2050
And the increased consumption of
there would be 5.3 billion cars in the world, all using energy is likely to have deleterious
energy. As of 2018, 12.7 million motor vehicles in the environmental effects.
Philippines are registered and running.
Figure 1.9 shows urbanization affects the broader regional environments:

• Regions downwind from large industrial complexes also see increases in the amount
of precipitation, air pollution, and the number of days with thunderstorms.
• Urban areas affect not only the weather patterns, but also the runoff patterns for
water.
• Urban areas generally generate more rain, but they reduce the infiltration of water
and lower the water tables. This means that runoff occurs more rapidly with
greater peak flows.
• Flood volumes increase, as do floods and water pollution downstream.

Habitat clearing, degradation and

fragmentation of the landscape
endangering species of animals

Decrease in the volume of

Spread of unlawful resident
water that percolates into
settlements represented by
the ground and decrease in
slums and squatters
quality of surface water

Increase in air pollutant and Very high emissions of

greenhouse gas emissions, sulfur dioxide, smoke, and
formation of smog and other particles during
precipitation of acid rain, stagnant, foggy weather
urban GHG emission conditions

Reduce physical activity and

unhealthy nutrition, air travel
carries bacteria and viruses from
one country to the next

Figure 1.9 Environmental Effects of Urbanization

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 18

 THREATS OF
URBANIZATION

Figure 1.10 Threats of Urbanization

Figure 1.10 enumerates the possible threats urbanization can cause to human and the environment.

There are ways on how to

mitigate the negative
effects of urbanization as
shown in Figure 1.11.

Figure 1.11 Ways to Mitigate the Negative Effects of Urbanization

Although urbanization is a necessary condition for modernization, we can

mitigate the effect of it. We just need to learn how to save the planet and conserve
our natural resources, through recycling water and the use of renewable energy.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 19

Application:
Now, it’s time you apply the concept you have learned.
Analyze the pictures below. Describe each one of them and
extract the common message those images are telling you.

A) B)

A) _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

B) _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

C) Message:
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Assessment:

Instructions: Write positive is the statement is true and negative if

not. Write your answer on the space provided before the item
number.

______________1. Urbanization is a result of industrial revolution that took place

during 18th century.
______________2. In urban areas, people consume food, energy and durable
goods as much as the rural population.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 20

______________3. Much energy is consume in urban areas since the population is
greater than that of the rural.
______________4. There is no direct evidence that urban areas affect the weather
conditions in whole region.
______________5. The increase emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
is attributed to growing population in the rural areas.
______________6. Unstable urbanization may leads in the decrease of animal
populations due to loss of their habitat and food sources.
______________7. Urban cities generate large volumes of uncollected waste which
pose health hazards.
______________8. Urbanization is necessary condition for modernization even at
the expense of the environment.
______________9. Upgrading energy use and alternative transport systems reduce
air pollution.
______________10.Population growth in the urban areas is an outbreak of
unemployment caused by industrialization.

Congratulations! You just finished Lesson 3 of this Module! Should you have
any questions or queries regarding this lesson, please do not hesitate to reach out to
your instructors.
Are you ready to take your next lesson? Lesson 4 will of this module will
explore everything about water use. Good luck and enjoy reading.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 21

 Module 1
LESSON
4 Water Use

Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• distinguish water intake from water discharge as they affect the

amount of consumed water; and
• outline the anthropocentric, biocentric, and ecocentric activities
that lead to a freshwater shortage.

Introduction:
Hello, hope you are doing good! Welcome to Lesson 4 of Module 1. In this
lesson, you are about to learn some human activities affecting water resources.
Moreover, there are some tasks that you need to accomplish so that you will grasp
the gist of these topics. So, are you ready? Alright, let’s begin!

Activity:

Mention activities that pertains to the uses of water. Use the

designated space below.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 22

Analysis:

A. From your list of activities, classify them whether they

belong to an in-stream use or to a water withdrawal use.

In-Stream Use Water Withdrawal Use

_____________________________ ___________________________
_____________________________ ___________________________
_____________________________ ___________________________
_____________________________ ___________________________
_____________________________ ___________________________
_____ ___________________________
_______

Abstraction: ___________________________
_______
As you can see, humans can both benefit and exploit
environmental resources. Now let’s discuss deeply how our water use
affects the environment.

Water use is described as the

total amount of water There are two ways in which we can
withdrawn from its source to be classify our water use:
used.

In-stream Use Water Withdrawal Use

It includes hydroelectric power, This classification includes household

boating, and swimming, for example. use, industry use, irrigation, livestock
While in-stream activities do not use watering, and thermal and nuclear
up the water, they can degrade the power. Most withdrawals are
water quality through pollution. consumptions, meaning that the
activity uses the water and does not
return to the source.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 23

How can we determine our water consumption (see Figure 1.12)?

Figure 1.12 How Human Population Consumes Water

Water Use and Shortages: The Environmental Impact

Freshwater is one of the most imperiled natural resources and is the ultimate
rate-limiting step for food production. Remarkably, the production of food is, in
essence, the most water-intensive activity in the world.

Areas of Concerns in Freshwater Consumption

Anthropocentric Ecocentric
Biocentric Wasting water while our
Freshwater is a vital
Other species rely on demand for water
resource for the survival of
freshwater besides humans increases (as population
our population. Seeing as
as a vital component of and standards of living
less than 1% of the world’s
their survival! Overuse of increase globally), means
water is fresh water and
freshwater in household that we need to
available for us to consume,
settings means there is less supplement this lack of
there are limitations that
freshwater for agricultural freshwater by pulling it out
factor into our carrying
use (which affects humans of aquifers or groundwater
capacity as a population on
on a food scarcity level), but supplies in which their
Earth including the
many livestock species rely regeneration rate is lower
availability and distribution
on freshwater. than the extraction rate.
of freshwater.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 24

 Figure 1.13 shows how aquatic environment conversion (triggered by human
activities such as agricultural and industrial activities) affects the environment and
causes environmental destruction.

Diversion of Plant and animal

Loss of species can
aquatic species are trigger the loss of
environment threatened or other species
endangered due
(for agricultural within freshwater
to habitat
and industrial ecosystem
destruction
activities, and
urbanization)

Human existence Loss of species can

Risk to human’s
will be affected trigger the loss of
health if an
because all of us other species
environment is
depend on healthy within freshwater
contaminated
ecosystems ecosystem

Figure 1.13 Effects of Aquatic Environmental Conversion

Moreover, water takes a lot of energy, time, and money to filter so that it is
safe and drinkable. Therefore, wasting water or extensive water consumption means
that you are wasting the energy-intensive process of filtration (see Figure 1.14).

These processes require non-

renewable fossil fuels. When these
fuels are depleted, their dangerous
by-products (Carbon dioxide) build-
up in Earth’s atmosphere and may
cause Earth’s rising temperatures.

Figure 1.14 Effects of wasting safe and drinking water

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 25

Application:
A. Provide the possible hydrological impact of human activities
to the environment. Use the designated column for your
answers.

Human Activities Hydrological Impacts in the Environment

1. Drilling of wells

2. Mass construction of houses, etc.

3. Urbanization of area completed by

the addition of more buildings

4. Drilling of deeper, large-capacity

industrial wells

5. Increased use of water for air

conditioning

B. Give at least 5-sentence descriptions on how human hydrologic activities

decrease long term water security and availability.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 26

Assessment:

Instructions: Choose the letter of your answer Write your answer

on the space provided before the item number.

_____1. Which of the following will commence when fertilizers enter the
surface water that leads to watershed problems?
A. Causing rapid algal growth that decreases oxygen levels and chokes
aquatic life.
B. Increasing the amount of nutrients available to fish in lakes and
streams.
C. Raising the water level in nearby rivers to levels leading to flooding.
D. Clogging of narrow streams and preventing water from flowing.

_____2. Close monitoring of the use of pesticides and herbicides is cautiously

done due to its effect they can have on the environment. Which of the
following is a possible negative effect on the use of these chemicals on
the environment?
A. These chemicals are expensive to produce.
B. These chemicals cannot be purchased in large bulk.
C. Runoff carries these chemicals into lakes and streams.
D. Storage space for these chemicals is limited.

_____3. Which of the following will be considered as endpoints of wastes

products produced by agriculture, households, industry, mining, and
other human activities?
A. Groundwater C. Stream and River
B. Ocean D. All of the choices

_____4. The movement of water through a man‐made water system shifts

water from its withdrawal point to a location where treated
wastewater is discharged back to the environment. This reduces
infiltration as well as reduces low flows between the point of
withdrawal and the point of discharge. All of the following will
generally occur out of these changes except one. Which is it?
A. Reduce water depth,
B. Decrease water temperature
C. Increase the negative impact of sediment oxygen demand
D. Degrade the water quality.

_____5. When can an impact of water withdrawals become a serious concern

to local water suppliers?
A. When the rate of withdrawal does not exceed the replacement of
that water.
B. When it can lead to water quantity challenges (shortages).

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 27

 C. When it gives positive environmental impacts.
D. None of the given choices.
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Excellent! You just finished Lesson 4 of this Module! Should you have any
questions or queries regarding this lesson, please do not hesitate to reach out to your
instructors.
Are you ready to take your next lesson? Lesson 5 will discuss about Energy and
Transport. Good luck and enjoy reading.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 28

 Module 1

LESSON Energy and Transportation

5
Objective: At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
• determine the different forms of energy commonly used by the
country;
• explain the relationship between energy and transportation and
the ecosystem; and
• realize the significance of energy conservation through various
practical ways.
Introduction:
Hello there? Hope you are doing good! Welcome to Lesson 5 of Module 1.
In this lesson you will learn that using energy and transportation has an
effect towards the degradation of our natural resources. Energy makes
everything works. It is even the life of any mode of transportation. But, since energy
sources has been challenge today. You will also learn how to conserve energy sources
and promote sustainable use of it.

Activity This activity will need your investigation skills…

Procedure:
1. Create a list of what you ate yesterday. Include the type of food and
the amount of each type of food that you intake.
2. Search for a daily dietary meal of a football player.
3. Search for a daily dietary meal of a body builder who is competing for
Mr. Universe.
4. Convert the total individual food intake into the total calorie count. You
can refer from the table below.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 29

5. Compare the three calorie intake.
6. Explain the relationship of calorie intake and the nature of work of each individual.

Total calorie intake Nature of work

1. me

2. football player

3. body builder

Analysis
After the completion of the activity, answer the following questions:

1. What is the significance of the nature of work to the total calorie intake?
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2. How does this activity depict the country’s use of energy?

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Abstraction
Energy is the capacity to do work. This principle is true in any
physical context. From a labor worker who carries the loads in the port
using the energy from the food taken up, to a cargo ship which cross
the pacific, carrying tons of cargo, navigating using the energy stored
in the fuel taken by its engine.

Our country uses different sources of energy to supply the needs of its citizens.
We mainly rely on Fossil fuel but we also have hydroelectric plants, geothermal power,
solar power, Wind power, Biomass power.

Because of the increasing population, our country’s demand for energy also
increases. For example in 2010 the country’s fossil fuel consumption was 60.11% total
energy use while in 2014 it reaches 62.43%. But, because fossil fuel is a non-renewable
source of energy, we are now trying to invest more on renewable source of energy

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 30

creating more Hydroelectric plants, Geothermal power, Solar power, Wind power,
Biomass power (see Figures 15 a and b; Figures 16 a and b).
But how does it affects the environment? We know that the carbon emission
is mainly the result of fossil fuel which leads to climate change that has greatly affect
extreme weather condition leading to hazardous natural calamities which does not
only destroys property but also the physical condition of our environment. This may
also be the case for renewable energy source.

Figure 1.15 (a) Geothermal Power Plant and (b) Hydro Power Plans

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 31

 Figure 1.16 (a) Wind Energy and (b) Solar Power

But, all of these negative impact towards our environment is far from the
damage brought to us by using fossil fuel in transportation. Here in the Philippines, we
are using primarily diesel for our public utility jeepney and buses for transportation,
not to include trucks, cars and motorcycles that use fossil fuels.

Figure 17 shows how transportation contribute to the degradation of our

environment.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 32

 Figure 1.17 Transportation and Its Effects to the Environment

Application

Create a diagram that illustrates the relationship between

population, energy consumption, use of transportation and
environment.
Make a brief and concise explanation of your diagram.
Suggest a practical way to mitigate the negative impact of energy
use and transportation.

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 33

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Assessment: Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. The form of energy that is mainly responsible of global warming.

a. Wind energy
b. Hydro power
c. Fossil fuel
d. Geothermal

2. Water quality can be deteriorated by the following EXCEPT.

a. Solar power
b. Hydro power
c. Fossil fuel
d. Geothermal

3. Which of the following is considered to be the cleanest energy?

a. Fossil fuel
b. Solar power
c. Wind energy
d. Geothermal

4. What is considered to be the life of Philippine transportation?

a. Fossil fuel
b. Solar power
c. Wind energy
d. Geothermal

5. Which energy is the most practical to use as of today?

a. Fossil fuel
b. Solar power
c. Wind energy
d. Geothermal

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 34

Essay: The following needs your brief and concise answer.
Question: How does transportation destroys us when in fact it practically accelerates
the country’s development?
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Criteria 10 pts. 8 pts. 6 pts.

Organization Writing shows high degree of Writing is coherent and Writing lacks logical
attention to logic and reasoning of logically organized with organization. It
points. Unity clearly leads the transitions used between ideas shows some
reader to the conclusion and stirs and paragraphs to create coherence but ideas
thought regarding the topic. coherence. Overall unity of lack unity. Serious
ideas is present. errors.
Content Content indicates synthesis of Content indicates original Shows some thinking
ideas, in-depth analysis and thinking and develops ideas and
evidences original thought and with sufficient and firm reasoning but most
support for the topic. evidence. ideas are
underdeveloped and
unoriginal
Technicalities Essay is free of distracting spelling, Essay has few spelling, Spelling,
punctuation, and grammatical punctuation, and grammatical punctuation, and
errors; errors allowing reader to grammatical errors
follow ideas clearly. create
distraction, making
reading
Difficult; Errors are
frequent.
Total

CONGRATULATIONS! You have successfully completed Module 1! Should you have

any questions or queries regarding Lesson 5, please do not hesitate to reach out to
your instructors.
Are you ready to work on your next Module?
MODULE 2 will discuss about PRESSURES ON ECOSYSTEMS AND BIODIVERSITY.
Good luck and enjoy reading!

GE ELECT 1 | People and the Earth’s Ecosystem 35