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






2. Air currents caused by the vertical movement of air due to atmospheric heating and cooling.






3. The uppermost horizon of soil. It is primarily made up of organic material - including waste from organisms - the bodies of decomposing organisms - and live organisms.






4. When materials - such as plastic or aluminum - are used to rebuild the same product. An example of this is the use of the aluminum from aluminum cans to produce more aluminum cans.






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






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






7. The vertical movement of a mass of matter due to heating and cooling; this can happen in both the atmosphere and Earth's mantle.






8. Occurs when infection causes a change in the state of health.






9. The number of children a couple must have in order to replace themselves in a population.






10. Poor nutrition that results from an insufficient or poorly balanced diet.






11. 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.






12. 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.






13. A basic substance; chemically - a substance that absorbs hydrogen ions or releases hydroxyl ions; in reference to natural water - a measure of the base content of the water.






14. When each family in a community grows crops for themselves and rely on animal and human labor to plant and harvest crops.






15. The total sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment.






16. An area in which a particular mineral is concentrated - mining -the excavation of the Earth for the purpose of extracting ore or minerals.






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






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






19. 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






20. The outer part of the Earth - consisting of the crust and upper mantle - approximately 100 km (62 miles) thick.






21. A cyclonic storm having winds ranging from approximately 48 to 121 km (30 to 75 miles) per hour.






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






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






24. Energy at rest - or stored energy.






25. 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.






26. 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.






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






28. A specific location from which pollution is released; an example of a point source location is a factory where wood is being burned.






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






30. A group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area.






31. To convert or change into a vapor.






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






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






34. 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.






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






36. An opening in the Earth's crust through which molten lava - ash - and gases are ejected.






37. 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.






38. 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.






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






40. The number of children an average woman will bear during her lifetime; this information is based on an analysis of data from preceding years in the population in question.






41. 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.






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






43. An intensification of the Greenhouse Effect due to the increased presence of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.






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






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






46. 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.






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






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






49. The energy of motion.






50. 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.