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






2. One that has never been cut; these forests have not been seriously disturbed for several hundred years.






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






4. Also known as plantations - these are planted and managed tracts of trees of the same age that are harvested for commercial use.






5. 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.






6. Living or derived from living things.






7. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






8. The coarsest soil - with particles 0.05 -2.0 mm in diameter.






9. A semiconductor device that converts the energy of sunlight into electric energy.






10. A usually triangular alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river.






11. Any water that has been used by humans. This includes human sewage - water drained from showers - tubs - sinks - dishwashers - washing machines - water from industrial processes - and storm water runoff.






12. Bacteria or fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter like plant material - the wastes of living organisms - and corpses. They convert these materials into inorganic forms.






13. Organisms that consume primary consumers.






14. Transition in species composition of a biological community - often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological community in any area virtually barren of life.






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






16. The part of the wide lower course of a river where its current is met by the tides.






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






18. The A layer of soil is often referred to as topsoil and is most important for plant growth.






19. Refers to resources - such as plants and animals - which can be regenerated if harvested at sustainable yields.






20. A long - relatively narrow island running parallel to the mainland-built up by the action of waves and currents and serving to protect the coast from erosion by surf and tidal surges.






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






22. A group of modern windmills.






23. The solids that remain after the secondary treatment of sewage.






24. To convert or change into a vapor.






25. When photochemical smog - NOx compounds - VOCs - and ozone combine to form smog with a brownish hue.






26. Organisms that reproduce early in life and often and have a high capacity for reproductive growth.






27. Fish farming in which fish are caught in the wild and not raised in captivity for consumption.






28. 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.






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






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






31. The amount of energy that plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem.






32. 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.






33. Energy at rest - or stored energy.






34. The process by which the concentration of toxic substances increases in each successive link in the food chain.






35. When soil becomes water-logged and then dries out - and salt forms a layer on its surface.






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






37. The third purest form of coal.






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






39. The use of building materials - building placement - and design to passively collect solar energy that can be used to keep a building warm or cool.






40. Calculating risk - or the degree of likelihood that a person will become ill upon exposure to a toxin or pathogen.






41. The structure obtained if we organize the amount of energy contained in producers and consumers in an ecosystem by kilocalories per square meter - from largest to smallest.






42. A group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area.






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






44. The more or less constant winds blowing in horizontal directions over the Earth's surface - as part of Hadley cells.






45. A soil horizon; B receives the minerals and organic materials that are leached out of the A horizon.






46. The cleanest-burning coal; almost pure carbon.






47. When each family in a community grows crops for themselves and rely on animal and human labor to plant and harvest crops.






48. When materials - such as plastic or aluminum - are used to rebuild the same product. An example of this is the use of the aluminum from aluminum cans to produce more aluminum cans.






49. When the energy released from waste incineration is used to generate electricity.






50. The process in which animals (and plants!) breathe and give off carbon dioxide from cellular metabolism.