IB Environmental systems and societies 1.2 Systems Key Definitions

Albedo refers to how much solar energy is reflected by the Earth's surface.

Biomass is the total mass of living organisms in a given area or volume.

Closed systems are systems that exchange energy but not matter with their surroundings.

Emergent properties are characteristics or behaviors that arise when individual components interact but are not present in the components themselves.

Equilibrium refers to a state of balance within a system.

Flows are the processes that move energy, matter, or information within a system.

An isolated system exchanges neither energy nor matter with its surroundings.

A model is a simplified representation of reality used to understand how a system works and predict how it will respond to change.

An artificial system growing a single species of crop with minimal biodiversity, resulting in low resilience.

Negative feedback loops are processes where the output of a system acts to reduce or reverse changes, helping the system maintain stability.

Open systems are systems that exchange both energy and matter with their surroundings.

Photosynthesis is the conversion of light energy into chemical energy in the form of glucose, which can later be stored as biomass or used as fuel by autotrophs.

Positive feedback loops are processes that exacerbate the effects of a small disturbance.

Resilience is a system’s ability to resist disturbances, recover, and maintain stability instead of reaching a tipping point that leads to a new equilibrium.

A system is a set of interacting or interdependent components that work together to form a functional whole.

A systems approach is a way of looking at complex situations by focusing on the interactions and interdependencies between different components within a system.

A system diagram is a visual representation that shows how different components of a system interact with each other.

Transfers involve the movement of matter or energy from one place to another without changing its form.

Transformations involve a change in the chemical nature, state, or energy type of matter or energy.