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 waste product produced by the burning of coal.






2. The capacity to do work.






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






4. Graphical representations of populations' ages.






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






6. A fishing technique in which the ocean floor is literally scraped by heavy nets that smash everything in their path.






7. 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).






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






9. A climate variation that takes place in the tropical Pacific about every three to seven years - for a duration of about one year.






10. A soil horizon; the layer below the O layer is called the A layer. The A layer is formed of weathered rock - with some organic material; often referred to as topsoil.






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






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






13. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






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






15. Involves the removal of the Earth's surface all the way down to the level of the mineral seam.






16. When populations are well below the size dictated by the carrying capacity of the region they live in - they will grow exponentially - but as they approach the carrying capacity - their growth rate will decrease and the size of the population will ev






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






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






19. A hydrocarbon deposit - such as petroleum - coal - or natural gas - derived from living matter of a previous geologic time and used for fuel.






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






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






22. 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.






23. When the signs and symptoms of an illness can be attributed to a specific infectious organism that resides in the building.






24. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






25. The result of graphing a dose-response analysis.






26. Non-moving sources of pollution - such as factories.






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






28. The amount that the population would grow if there were unlimited resources in its environment.






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






30. The process in which soil bacteria convert ammonium (NH4+) to a form that can be used by plants; nitrate - or NO3.






31. The amount of time it takes for half of a radioactive sample to disappear.






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






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






34. Organisms that consume primary consumers.






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






36. 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.






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






38. A process in which an organism is exposed to a toxin at different concentrations - and the dosage that causes the death of the organism is recorded.






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






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






41. The point at which 50 percent of the test organisms die from a toxin.






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






43. 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.






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






45. The degree to which a substance is biologically harmful.






46. The observed effect of the Coriolis force - especially the deflection of an object moving above the Earth - rightward in the Northern Hemisphere - and leftward in the Southern Hemisphere.






47. A program funded by the federal government and a trust that's funded by taxes on chemicals; identifies pollutants and cleans up hazardous waste sites.






48. The random fluctuations in the frequency of the appearance of a gene in a small isolated population - presumably owing to chance - rather than natural selection.






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






50. 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.