VCE-ENVSCI-U12 6.1 📋 – Practice Exam 3: Question Paper

Describe the main sources of water pollution in agricultural areas and explain the downstream impacts.

Explain the water treatment process from catchment to tap, describing the main stages.

Describe the waste management hierarchy and explain why each level is preferred over those below it.

Explain the environmental and human health impacts of microplastics. How do they enter the environment?

Describe the Murray-Darling Basin water management challenges and explain the competing interests involved.

Explain the concept of virtual water and its relevance to global water management.

Describe how domestic waste can be managed more sustainably, using the principles of the circular economy.

Compare groundwater and surface water as water resources, including their vulnerabilities to contamination.

Extended Response 1: Water Pollution Case Study

Extended Response 1: Water Pollution Case Study (a)
Describe how agricultural practices contribute to the eutrophication of coastal waters. Use the Great Barrier Reef as a case study.

Extended Response 1: Water Pollution Case Study

Extended Response 1: Water Pollution Case Study (b)
Evaluate the effectiveness of a constructed wetland for treating agricultural runoff before it reaches waterways.

Extended Response 2: Waste Management

Extended Response 2: Waste Management (a)
Describe the environmental impacts of landfill and explain how modern landfill design reduces these impacts.

Extended Response 2: Waste Management

Extended Response 2: Waste Management (b)
Evaluate Australia’s container deposit schemes (e.g. CDS) as a strategy for reducing beverage container litter and increasing recycling rates.