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. When physically treated sewage water is passed into a settling tank - where suspended solids settle out as sludge; chemically treated polymers may be added to help the suspended solids separate and settle out.






2. Is equal to the number of deaths per 1 -000 members of the population in a year.






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






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






5. Devices containing alkaline substances that precipitate out much of the sulfur dioxide from industrial plants.






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






7. A high-speed - meandering wind current - generally moving from a westerly direction at speeds often exceeding 400 km (250 miles) per hour at altitudes of 15 to 25 km (10 to 15 miles).






8. The process of fusing two nuclei.






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






10. The molten core of the Earth.






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






12. Any process that breaks rock down into smaller pieces without changing the chemistry of the rock; typically wind and water.






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






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






15. 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.






16. When companies are allowed to buy permits that allow them a certain amount of discharge of substances into certain environmental outlets. If they can reduce their amount of discharge - they are allowed to sell the remaining portion of their permit to






17. A group of modern windmills.






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






19. The management of forest plantations for the purpose of harvesting timber.






20. The act or process of transpiring - or releasing water vapor - especially through the stomata of plant tissue or the pores of the skin.






21. Organisms in the first stages of succession.






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






23. 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.






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






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






26. Also known as plantations - these are planted and managed tracts of trees of the same age that are harvested for commercial use.






27. 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.






28. A cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America - occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years and affecting Pacific and other weather patterns.






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






30. A region of the ocean near the equator - characterized by calms - light winds - or squalls.






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






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






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






34. An organism that is capable of converting radiant energy or chemical energy into carbohydrates.






35. 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.






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






37. The result of vibrations (often due to plate movements) deep in the Earth that release energy. They often occur as two plates slide past one another at a transform boundary.






38. A process in which rows of crops are plowed across the hillside; this prevents the erosion that can occur when rows are cut up and down on a slope. ...






39. 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.






40. Involves the sinking of shafts to reach underground deposits. In this type of mining - networks of tunnels are dug or blasted and humans enter these tunnels in order to manually retrieve the coal.






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






42. The low-rainfall region that exists on the leeward (downwind) side of a mountain range. This rain shadow is the result of the mountain range's causing precipitation on the windward side.






43. Organisms that consume primary consumers.






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






45. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.






46. The use of building materials - building placement - and design to passively collect solar energy that can be used to keep a building warm or cool.






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






48. A layer in a large body of water - such as a lake - that sharply separates regions differing in temperature - so that the temperature gradient across the layer is abrupt.






49. An organism that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition.






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