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. Fires that typically burn only the forest's underbrush and do little damage to mature trees. Surface fires actually serve to protect the forest from more harmful fires by removing underbrush and dead materials that would burn quickly and at high temp






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






3. Any substance that has an LD50 - of 50 mg or less per kg of body weight.






4. Land that's fit to be cultivated.






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






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






7. 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.






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






9. 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.






10. 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.






11. A group of modern windmills.






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






13. Any substance than is inhaled - ingested - or absorbed at dosages sufficient to damage a living organism.






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






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






16. 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.






17. A nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus - especially a heavy nucleus such as an isotope of uranium - splits into fragments - usually two fragments of comparable mass - releasing from 100 million to several hundred million electron volts of ener






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






19. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






27. Each of the feeding levels in a food chain.






28. The point at which 50 percent of the test organisms show a negative effect from a toxin.






29. Pertaining to factors or things that are separate and independent from living things; nonliving.






30. A soil horizon; B receives the minerals and organic materials that are leached out of the A horizon.






31. 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.






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






33. Says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transferred and transformed.






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






35. Any weathering that's caused by the activities of living organisms.






36. Calculating risk - or the degree of likelihood that a person will become ill upon exposure to a toxin or pathogen.






37. Sunlight.






38. Is the practice of planting bands of different crops across a hillside.






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






40. When soil becomes water-logged and then dries out - and salt forms a layer on its surface.






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






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






44. The dark - crumbly - nutrient-rich material that results from the decomposition of organic material.






45. The process by which - according to Darwin's theory of evolution - only the organisms best adapted to their environment tend to survive and transmit their genetic characteristics in increasing numbers to succeeding generations - while those less adap






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






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






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






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






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