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 of burning.






2. A stable - mature community in a successive series that has reached equilibrium after having evolved through stages and adapted to its environment.






3. Creating flat platforms in the hillside that provide a level planting surface - which reduces soil runoff from the slope.






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






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






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






7. A layer of soil.






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






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






10. A system of vertical and horizontal air circulation predominating in tropical and subtropical regions and creating major weather patterns.






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






12. The finest soil - made up of particles that are less than 0.002 mm in diameter.






13. The thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica (and to some extent - over the Arctic).






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






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






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






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






18. Can consist of hazardous waste - industrial solid waste - or municipal waste. Many types of solid waste provide a threat to human health and the environment.






19. 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.






20. Pollutants that are formed by the combination of primary pollutants in the atmosphere.






21. The development and introduction of new varieties of (mainly) wheat and rice that has increased yields per acre dramatically in countries since the 1960s.






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






23. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






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






25. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






26. The process of fusing two nuclei.






27. 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.






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






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






30. When the size of an organism's natural habitat is reduced - or when development occurs that isolates a habitat.






31. The management or regulation of a resource so that its use does not exceed the capacity of the resource to regenerate itself.






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






33. Pollution that does not have a specific point of release - open -loop recycling -when materials are reused to form new products.






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






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






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






37. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






38. A fiscal policy that lowers taxes on income - including wages and profit - and raises taxes on consumption - particularly the unsustainable consumption of non-renewable resources.






39. Radioactive wastes that produce high levels of ionizing radiation.






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






41. Organisms that consume primary consumers.






42. 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.






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






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






45. Power generated using water.






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






47. An influential theory that concerns the long - term rate of conventional oil (and other fossil fuel) extraction and depletion. It predicts that future world oil production will soon reach a peak and then rapidly decline.






48. 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.






49. The gradual breakdown of rock into smaller and smaller particles - caused by natural chemical - physical - and biological factors.






50. Energy at rest - or stored energy.