IB Environmental Systems and Societies — Core and HL Lenses flashcards
10 of 77 cards free to study here · 9 topics · the whole deck is built into Willys
All eight topics of IB Environmental Systems and Societies (guide for first assessment 2026), from perspectives and systems to resources and populations, plus the HL lenses of law, economics and ethics. Cards are tagged by topic, and the tags do not mark which material within a topic is HL-only.
Learn deck · part of IB Environmental Systems and Societies · written against: IB Diploma Programme IB Environmental Systems and Societies current subject guide; SL and HL in one deck, HL-only cards under subtopic tags starting HL. Updated 2026-10-10.
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How do ecocentric, anthropocentric and technocentric environmental value systems differ?Ecocentric: nature has value in itself, so people should consume less and live within natural limits.Foundation › Perspectives and Sustainability
Anthropocentric: humans should manage nature sustainably through rules, taxes and planning.
Technocentric: human ingenuity and new technology will solve environmental problems while growth continues. -
A government answers falling wild fish stocks by funding lab-grown fish and offshore fish farms instead of cutting catches. Which environmental value system does that reflect?Technocentric — it trusts innovation to meet demand rather than restraining use. An ecocentric response would cut consumption; an anthropocentric one would set enforceable quotas.Foundation › Perspectives and Sustainability
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How does a species' fundamental niche differ from its realised niche?The fundamental niche is the full range of conditions and resources a species could use; the realised niche is the smaller part it actually occupies once competition, predation and other interactions are included.Ecology › Populations and Communities
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How does allopatric speciation differ from sympatric speciation?In allopatric speciation a population is split by a geographical barrier and the parts diverge. In sympatric speciation a new species arises within the same area, through behavioural, temporal or genetic isolation (such as polyploidy in plants).Biodiversity and Conservation
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Where is most of Earth's fresh water stored?About two-thirds is locked in ice caps and glaciers and most of the rest is groundwater; lakes, rivers and the atmosphere together hold well under 1%.Water
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Why is soil described as a system? Give an input, an output, a transfer and a transformation.Soil has storages, flows and processes:Land
Input: organic matter from leaf litter.
Output: uptake of nutrients by plants.
Transfer: biological mixing of material by earthworms.
Transformation: decomposition of organic matter into humus. -
What is the difference between climate change mitigation and adaptation? Give one example of each.Atmosphere and Climate Change › Climate Change
- Mitigation tackles the cause by cutting greenhouse gas emissions or increasing sinks, such as switching to wind power or reforesting
- Adaptation reduces the harm from changes that are happening or expected, such as building flood defences or planting drought-tolerant crops.
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Why can a renewable resource still be used unsustainably?A renewable resource replaces itself only at a natural rate. Harvesting faster than that rate — overfishing, or pumping an aquifer faster than it recharges — runs down the stock just as surely as mining a non-renewable one.Natural Resources
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What happens to birth and death rates in each stage of the demographic transition model?Stage 1: both high.Human Populations and Urban Systems
Stage 2: death rate falls sharply, so growth is rapid.
Stage 3: birth rate falls and growth slows.
Stage 4: both low and the population is roughly stable (some models add a Stage 5 in which births fall below deaths). -
What is the precautionary principle?Where an activity threatens serious or irreversible harm, a lack of full scientific certainty should not delay action to prevent it; the burden of showing safety shifts to those proposing the activity.HL Lenses › HL Environmental Law
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About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- IB Diploma Programme subject guide (topic outline only; no text copied): Environmental Systems and Societies guide for first assessment 2026.
- OpenStax Biology 2e and OpenStax Principles of Economics 3e, consulted as references; no text copied.
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