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. 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.






2. The biological treatment of wastewater in order to continue to remove biodegradable waste.






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






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






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






7. A succession of organisms in an ecological community that constitutes a continuation of food energy from one organism to another as each consumes a lower member and - in turn - is preyed upon by a higher member.






8. The removal of select trees in an area; this leaves the majority of the habitat in place and has less of an impact on the ecosystem.






9. 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.






10. When the majority of a building's occupants experience certain symptoms that vary with the amount of time spent in the building.






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






12. The broad category under which selective cutting and shelter-wood cutting fall; selective deforestation.






13. Bacteria - virus - or other microorganisms that can cause disease.






14. Says that the entropy (disorder) of the universe is increasing. One corollary of the Second Law of thermodynamics is the concept that - in most energy transformations - a significant fraction of energy is lost to the universe as heat.






15. An organism that obtains organic food molecules without eating other organisms or substances derived from other organisms. autotrophs use energy from the sun or from the oxidation of inorganic substances to make organic molecules from inorganic ones.






16. The second-purest form of coal.






17. A nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus - especially a heavy nucleus such as an isotope of uranium - splits into fragments - usually two fragments of comparable mass - releasing from 100 million to several hundred million electron volts of ener






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






19. An introduced - normative species.






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






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






22. Air currents caused by the vertical movement of air due to atmospheric heating and cooling.






23. 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






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






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






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






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






28. 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).






29. Drilling a hole in the ground that's below the water table to hold waste.






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






31. Any substance that has an LD50 - of 50 mg or less per kg of body weight.






32. An area in which a particular mineral is concentrated - mining -the excavation of the Earth for the purpose of extracting ore or minerals.






33. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






34. 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.






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






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






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






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






39. In tectonic plates - the site at which an oceanic plate is sliding under a continental plate.






40. Close - prolonged associations between two or more different organisms of different species that may - but do not necessarily benefit the members.






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






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






43. The uppermost horizon of soil. It is primarily made up of organic material - including waste from organisms - the bodies of decomposing organisms - and live organisms.






44. Formed from populations of different species occupying the same geographic area.






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






46. The capacity to do work.






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






48. Species that originate and live - or occur naturally - in an area or environment.






49. Any substance than is inhaled - ingested - or absorbed at dosages sufficient to damage a living organism.






50. The movement of individuals into a population.