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These concepts will help your students in understanding an overview of environmental issues. They are presented as questions for further investigation.  

Population Growth:  How rapidly is the human population growing?  Human population is growing exponentially, which is when growth doubles again and again.  Compare this to linear growth, which is when a quantity increases by a constant amount per unit of time.

Increased Resource use: What types of resources are available?  There are three types of resources:  perpetual, nonrenewable, and renewable.  Some examples of perpetual resources are direct solar energy, wind tides, and flowing water.  Some examples of nonrenewable resources are fossil fuels, metallic minerals (iron, copper, aluminum), and non-metallic minerals.  Renewable resources include fresh air, fresh water, fertile soil, plants and animals.  

Destruction & degradation of wildlife habitats:  How do habitats become destructed and degraded? Wildlife refers to all free, undomesticated species (plants and animals). The greatest threat to a wild species is habitat loss, which may occur by tropical deforestation, destruction of coral reefs and wetlands, plowing of grasslands, pollution of freshwater and marine habitat, and in temperate climate, widespread development of agriculture, homes, outdoor recreation, and livestock grazing.

Premature extinction of plants and animals:   What is the difference between extinction and premature extinction? Extinction is the complete disappearance of a species from the earth. This happens when a species cannot adapt and successfully reproduce under new environmental conditions or when it evolves into one or more new species. Premature extinction: is largely due to human activities such as habitat destruction, over-hunting, and deliberate or accidental introduction of nonnative species.

Poverty:  What is the relationship between poverty and environmental problems?  Poverty is defined as the inability to meet one's basic economic needs.  The effects of poverty are 1) premature death and preventable health problems 2) increased birth rate 3) destruction of potentially renewable resources. The relationship is self-perpetuating because areas of poverty are often areas of neglect by private industry and the government.

Pollution: Where do pollutants come from and what types of harm do they cause?  Pollution is defined as any addition to air, water, soil, or food that threatens the health, survival, or activities of other living organisms. Pollutants can enter the environment naturally  or through human activities.  Pollutant sources are;  POINT sources, where pollutants come from single, identifiable sources - for example, smokestacks, factory drain-pips and automobile exhaust.  NONPOINT sources, where pollutants come from dispersed sources - for example, runoff of fertilizers and pesticides into streams and lakes, pesticides sprayed into the air or blown by the wind into the atmosphere.  Unwanted effects of pollutants include: 1) disruption of life-support systems for humans and other species, 2) damage to wildlife, human health, and property, and 3) nuisances such as noise and unpleasant smells, tastes, and sight.