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






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






3. 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.






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






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






6. The outermost shell of the atmosphere - between the mesosphere and outer space - where temperatures increase steadily with altitude.






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






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






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






10. 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.






11. The number of children an average woman will bear during her lifetime; this information is based on an analysis of data from preceding years in the population in question.






12. A symbiotic relationship in which one member is helped by the association and the other is harmed.






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






14. Any waste that poses a danger to human health; it must be dealt with in a different way from other types of waste.






15. Organisms that are capable of interbreeding with one another and incapable of breeding with other species.






16. 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.






17. The molten core of the Earth.






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






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






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






21. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






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






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






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






25. 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.






26. A region of the ocean near the equator - characterized by calms - light winds - or squalls.






27. The phenomenon whereby the Earth's atmosphere traps solar radiation - caused by the presence in the atmosphere of gases such as carbon dioxide - water vapor - and methane that allow incoming sunlight to pass through - but absorb heat radiated back fr






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






29. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






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






31. The number of individuals of a population that inhabit a certain unit of land or water area.






32. A symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit.






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






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






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






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






37. 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.






38. 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.






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






40. Resources that are often formed by very slow geologic processes - so we consider them incapable of being regenerated within the realm of human existence.






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






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






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






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






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






46. 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.






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






48. An organism that must obtain food energy from secondary sources - for example - by eating plant or animal matter.






49. This category includes organisms that consume producers (plants and algae).






50. Being extinct or the process of becoming extinct.