Test your basic knowledge |

AP Environmental Science

Subjects : science, ap
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. An organism that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition.






2. Is equal to the number of deaths per 1 -000 members of the population in a year.






3. Countries that have a renewable annual water supply of about 1 -000 -2 -000 m3 per person.






4. A severe tropical cyclone originating in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea or eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean - traveling north - northwest - or northeast from its point of origin - and usually involving heavy rains.






5. Non-moving sources of pollution - such as factories.






6. A lowland area - such as a marsh or swamp - that is saturated with moisture - especially when regarded as the natural habitat of wildlife.






7. The process that occurs when two different species in a region compete and the better adapted species wins.






8. The removal of all of the trees in an area.






9. When one species feeds on another.






10. A process that allows the organic material in solid waste to be decomposed and reintroduced into the soil - often as fertilizer.






11. Organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter.






12. Soil composed of a mixture of sand - clay - silt - and organic matter.






13. Change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals and resulting in the development of new species.






14. The gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a celestial body - especially the one surrounding the Earth - which is retained by the celestial body's gravitational field.






15. The gradual breakdown of rock into smaller and smaller particles - caused by natural chemical - physical - and biological factors.






16. The finest soil - made up of particles that are less than 0.002 mm in diameter.






17. Using strategies to reduce the amount of risk (the degree of likelihood that a person will become ill upon exposure to a toxin or pathogen).






18. A fiscal policy that lowers taxes on income - including wages and profit - and raises taxes on consumption - particularly the unsustainable consumption of non-renewable resources.






19. The accumulation of a substance - such as a toxic chemical - in various tissues of a living organism.






20. Each of the feeding levels in a food chain.






21. A bloom of dinoflagellates that causes reddish discoloration of coastal ocean waters. Certain dinoflagellates of the genus Gonyamfox produce toxins that kill fish and contaminate shellfish.






22. Graphical representations of populations' ages.






23. The random fluctuations in the frequency of the appearance of a gene in a small isolated population - presumably owing to chance - rather than natural selection.






24. Soil with particles 0.002 -0.05 mm in diameter.






25. A process in which an organism is exposed to a toxin at different concentrations - and the dosage that causes the death of the organism is recorded.






26. The outer part of the Earth - consisting of the crust and upper mantle - approximately 100 km (62 miles) thick.






27. The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source. Most forms of photosynthesis release oxygen as a byproduct.






28. Being extinct or the process of becoming extinct.






29. The part of the Earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life.






30. Pollutants that are released directly into the lower atmosphere.






31. When ecological succession begins in a virtually lifeless area - such as the area behind a moving glacier.






32. A layer in a large body of water - such as a lake - that sharply separates regions differing in temperature - so that the temperature gradient across the layer is abrupt.






33. Urban areas that heat up more quickly and retain heat more than do nonurban areas.






34. The point at which 50 percent of the test organisms show a negative effect from a toxin.






35. The amount of time it takes for half of a radioactive sample to disappear.






36. The development and introduction of new varieties of (mainly) wheat and rice that has increased yields per acre dramatically in countries since the 1960s.






37. Involves the sinking of shafts to reach underground deposits. In this type of mining - networks of tunnels are dug or blasted and humans enter these tunnels in order to manually retrieve the coal.






38. A cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America - occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years and affecting Pacific and other weather patterns.






39. The amount of the Earth's surface that's necessary to supply the needs of - and dispose of the waste from a particular population.






40. A hydrocarbon that forms as sediments are buried and pressurized.






41. A program funded by the federal government and a trust that's funded by taxes on chemicals; identifies pollutants and cleans up hazardous waste sites.






42. When an area of vegetation is cut down and burned before being planted with crops.






43. The management of forest plantations for the purpose of harvesting timber.






44. Piles of gangue - which is the waste material that results from mining.






45. Organisms that reproduce later in life - produce fewer offspring - and devote significant time and energy to the nurturing of their offspring.






46. A plate boundary at which plates are moving away from each other. This causes an upwelling of magma from the mantle to cool and form new crust.






47. In a sewage treatment plant - the initial filtration that is done to remove debris such as stones - sticks - rags - toys - and other objects that were flushed down the toilet.






48. The fraction of solar energy that is reflected back into space.






49. An organism that is capable of converting radiant energy or chemical energy into carbohydrates.






50. The amount of sugar that the plants produce in photosynthesis and subtracting from it the amount of energy the plants need for growth maintenance - repair - and reproduction.