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. Countries that have a renewable annual water supply of less than 1 -000 m3 per person.






3. The day-to-day use of environmental resources as food - clothing - and housing.






4. A climate variation that takes place in the tropical Pacific about every three to seven years - for a duration of about one year.






5. The industry or occupation devoted to the catching - processing - or selling of fish - shellfish - or other aquatic animals.






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






7. The bedrock - which lies below all of the other layers of soil - is referred to as the R horizon.






8. 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.






9. A specific location from which pollution is released; an example of a point source location is a factory where wood is being burned.






10. A complex of interrelated food chains in an ecological community.






11. The maximum population size that can be supported by the available resources in a region.






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






13. The place where two plates abut each other.






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






15. The process of fusing two nuclei.






16. Occurs when infection causes a change in the state of health.






17. A group of modern windmills.






18. The region draining into river system or other body of water.






19. The result of vibrations (often due to plate movements) deep in the Earth that release energy. They often occur as two plates slide past one another at a transform boundary.






20. The liquid that percolates to the bottom of a landfill.






21. A process in which cold - often nutrient-rich - waters from the ocean depths rise to the surface.






22. When trees and crops are planted together - creating a mutualistic symbiotic relationship between them.






23. To convert or change into a vapor.






24. The maintenance of a species or ecosystem in order to ensure their perpetuation - with no concern as to their potential monetary value






25. 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.






26. Being extinct or the process of becoming extinct.






27. The point at which 50 percent of the test organisms die from a toxin.






28. 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.






29. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.






30. The unit used to describe the volume of fossil fuels.






31. A soil horizon; the layer below the O layer is called the A layer. The A layer is formed of weathered rock - with some organic material; often referred to as topsoil.






32. The least pure coal.






33. Poor nutrition that results from an insufficient or poorly balanced diet.






34. When mature trees are cut over a period of time (usually10 -20 years); this leaves mature trees - which can reseed the forest - in place.






35. Any compound that releases hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. Also - a water solution that contains a surplus of hydrogen ions.






36. A high-speed - meandering wind current - generally moving from a westerly direction at speeds often exceeding 400 km (250 miles) per hour at altitudes of 15 to 25 km (10 to 15 miles).






37. Smog resulting from emissions from industry and other sources of gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels - especially coal.






38. 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.






39. Any process that breaks rock down into smaller pieces without changing the chemistry of the rock; typically wind and water.






40. When one species feeds on another.






41. Radioactive wastes that produce low levels of ionizing radiation.






42. Organisms that consume secondary consumers or other tertiary consumers.






43. Devices containing alkaline substances that precipitate out much of the sulfur dioxide from industrial plants.






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






45. The number of live births per 1 -000 members of the population in a year.






46. When a species occupies a smaller niche than it would in the absence of competition.






47. The thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica (and to some extent - over the Arctic).






48. The process in which soil bacteria convert ammonium (NH4+) to a form that can be used by plants; nitrate - or NO3.






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






50. A basic substance; chemically - a substance that absorbs hydrogen ions or releases hydroxyl ions; in reference to natural water - a measure of the base content of the water.