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






2. 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.






3. The vertical movement of a mass of matter due to heating and cooling; this can happen in both the atmosphere and Earth's mantle.






4. The molten core of the Earth.






5. 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.






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






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






8. An estimate of the amount of fossil fuel that can be obtained from reserve.






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






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






11. The effect caused by a short exposure to a high level of toxin.






12. The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into compounds - such as ammonia - by natural agencies or various industrial processes.






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






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






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






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






18. The result of chemical interaction with the bedrock that is typical of the action of both water and atmospheric gases.






19. The number of children a couple must have in order to replace themselves in a population.






20. 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.






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






22. 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.






23. 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).






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






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. The edges of tectonic plates.






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






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






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






30. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.






31. 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.






32. A tank filled with aerobic bacteria that's used to treat sewage.






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






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. Soil composed of a mixture of sand - clay - silt - and organic matter.






36. The part of the mantle that lies just below the lithosphere.






37. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.






38. The cultivation of a single crop on a farm or in a region or country; a single - homogeneous culture without diversity or dissension.






39. The rocks and Earth that is removed when mining for a commercially valuable mineral resource.






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






41. A soil horizon - horizon C is made up of larger pieces of rock that have not undergone much weathering.






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






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






45. In fishing - the use of long lines that have baited hooks and will be taken by numerous aquatic organisms.






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






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






48. 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.






49. The least pure coal.






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