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






2. When companies are allowed to buy permits that allow them a certain amount of discharge of substances into certain environmental outlets. If they can reduce their amount of discharge - they are allowed to sell the remaining portion of their permit to






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






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






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






6. Radioactive wastes that produce high levels of ionizing radiation.






7. A plate boundary where two plates are moving toward each other.






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






9. The process of fusing two nuclei.






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






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






12. The process of soil particles being carried away by wind or water. Erosion moves the smaller particles first and hence degrades the soil to a coarser - sandier - stonier texture.






13. The process by which specialized bacteria (mostly anaerobic bacteria) convert ammonia to NOy NO2 - and N2 and release it back to the atmosphere.






14. The practice of alternating the crops grown on a piece of land - for example - corn one year - legumes for two years - and then back to corn.






15. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.






16. 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.






17. Sunlight.






18. The molten core of the Earth.






19. 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).






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






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






22. When the size of an organism's natural habitat is reduced - or when development occurs that isolates a habitat.






23. A method of supplying irrigation water through tubes that literally drip water onto the soil at the base of each plant.






24. A platinum - coated device that oxidizes most of the VOCs and some of the CO that would otherwise be emitted in exhaust - converting them to CO2.






25. Any other species of fish - mammals - or birds that are caught that are not the target organism.






26. 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.






27. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






28. The use of devices - such as solar panels - to collect - focus - transport - or store solar energy.






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






30. The total sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment.






31. Pollution that does not have a specific point of release - open -loop recycling -when materials are reused to form new products.






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






33. Open or forested areas built at the outer edge of a city.






34. 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.






35. The dark - crumbly - nutrient-rich material that results from the decomposition of organic material.






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






37. The raising of fish and other aquatic species in captivity for harvest.






38. Any noise that causes stress or has the potential to damage human health.






39. Also known as transform faults - boundaries at which plates are moving past each other - sideways.






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






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






42. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






43. The right - as to fishing or to the use of a riverbed - of one who owns riparian land (the land adjacent to a river or stream).






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






45. States that matter can neither be created nor destroyed.






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






47. A place where a large quantity of a resource sits for a long period of time.






48. Refers to when farmers plant seeds without using a plow to turn the soil.






49. The area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs.






50. The layer of the Earth between the crust and the core.