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. 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.






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






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






4. A layer of soil.






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






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






7. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






8. 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.






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






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






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






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






13. The third purest form of coal.






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






15. The atmospheric pressure conditions corresponding to the periodic warming of El Nino and cooling of La Nina.






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






17. In a sewage treatment plant - the initial filtration that is done to remove debris such as stones - sticks - rags - toys - and other objects that were flushed down the toilet.






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






19. The accumulation of a substance - such as a toxic chemical - in various tissues of a living organism.






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






21. The removal of trees for agricultural purposes or purposes of exportation.






22. Gave the EPA power to set emission standards for major sources of noise - including transportation - machinery - and construction.






23. 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.






24. A symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit.






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






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






27. When ecological succession begins in a virtually lifeless area - such as the area behind a moving glacier.






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






29. The process of burning.






30. The region draining into river system or other body of water.






31. The energy of motion.






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






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






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






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






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






37. 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.






38. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.






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






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






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






42. The least pure coal.






43. An organism such as a bacterium or protozoan - that obtains its nourishment through the oxidation of inorganic chemical compounds - as opposed to photosynthesis.






44. Energy at rest - or stored energy.






45. A model that's used to predict population trends based on the birth and death rates as well as economic status of a population.






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






47. An effect that results from long -term exposure to low levels of toxin.






48. 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.






49. 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.






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