Preface
The environment and environmental issues can be some of the most interesting subjects to study and explore with the aid of the worldwide web and the Internet. This Student Review Guide and Internet Companion will help open the students’ and instructors’ worldview to the environmental conditions and environmental issues before us. The Internet connections provided in this review guide will allow you to access the most current information on such as topics as: human population growth, deforestation, natural resources extraction, biodiversity conservation, changing land use patterns, energy resources, air and water pollution, global climate change, and environmental ethics. To use this review guide, it would be helpful, but not essential, to have an Internet connection that can be used to connect to the Universal Resources Locators (URLs) listed in each "Ecolinks on the Web" sections. These are the "phone numbers of the Internet," each one beginning with "http://", which is the code for: "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol". This Student Review Guide and Internet Companion is also available on CD, with the "Ecolinks on the Web" section encoded as "hotlinks" that connect directly to the Internet web sites listed. All files of the review guide in the compact disc (CD) version are written in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), which is the computer code used to record the information on web pages. In order to take advantage of the HTML coded version of this review guide with its Internet "hotlinks", you will need to open these files using a web browser such as Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer. Normally, when accessing a website, you simply place your browser cursor on the "live" web links, which are highlighted and underlined. If you have an Internet connection, log on first using your Internet Service Provider software (such as America Online or some other provider), then use your web browser software to open the file "Start.htm" on the CD:
This procedure will open the web browser to a Title Page, with links to the Preface Page, the Acknowledgments Page, and the Table of Contents. Click on the Table of Contents link to get to a directory with links to each Chapter on the CD. The chapters follow Botkin and Keller’s Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet, Second Edition. Once you open a chapter’s HTML file using Netscape, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, or another web browser, you can "surf the web" by pointing to a highlighted web link and clicking the mouse, just like a website on the internet. You will find environmentally focused websites listed in the "Ecolinks On The Web" section within each chapter. These highlighted websites have been selected for their usefulness in understanding and expanding on the concepts in each chapter or, in some cases, to present additional information that may be relevant to a particular topic, but not addressed in the textbook. The World Wide Web is a rapidly changing source of information, which can be frustrating at times. Please note that if any of these Ecolinks should not be working, there is an Ecolink Update Site (http://www.wiley.com/college/ecolink-update) that is maintained by John Wiley & Sons that may provide updated or substitute Ecolinks. You may also try the "truncation" method to discover a working link by cutting off the end of a URL to get to the root link. For example, if the URL "http://www.epa.com/acid-rain/factsheet.htm" is not working, try "http://www.epa.com/acid-rain/" or simply "http://www.epa.com" and look for an acid-rain factsheet. Other sections in this review guide and the CD version include "The Big Picture" which is an abstract or summary of the chapter concepts. This is followed by a section entitled "Frequently Asked Questions", in which we have highlighted key points from each chapter in a question/answer format. Within this section, there are "hot links" to the appropriate textbook diagrams and illustrations to help explain each question. Also included on the CD version of the study guide are the sections entitled: "Ecology In Your Backyard", which attempts to bring ecological concepts or environmental issues into the students’ everyday experience; "Hardcopy Links In The Library", which is a short bibliography of pertinent publications you may be able to find in your library; and "Ecotest Online", which is a quick quiz of chapter concepts. In the CD version, the multiple choice answers are coded in HTML, so that when you click on a choice you will immediately see a screen that will tell you if your choice was correct. If you were correct, then you can continue to the next question. If you were not correct, there is a hypertext link back to the review guide at the point where the answer to that question was discussed. You may read why your choice was not correct, then return to the next question. This review guide does not replace your textbook, but will reinforce key concepts. Use it in conjunction with lecture notes, textbook readings, and other educational resources to learn about the ever-changing planet Earth. Also, be sure to spend time away from your computer and texts and simply observe and explore Nature. Relate what you see to the new information you are gaining from your environmental science course. Please let us know your opinions about this review guide via the Wiley Environet website (http://www.wiley.com/college/environet), or email us directly:
Joseph J. Luczkovich, Ph.D.: luczkovichj@mail.ecu.edu
David B. Knowles: knowlesd@mail.ecu.edu