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 complex of interrelated food chains in an ecological community.






2. A platinum - coated device that oxidizes most of the VOCs and some of the CO that would otherwise be emitted in exhaust - converting them to CO2.






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






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






5. The day-to-day variations in temperature - air pressure - wind - humidity - and precipitation mediated by the atmosphere in a given region.






6. 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.






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






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






9. In fishing - the use of long lines that have baited hooks and will be taken by numerous aquatic organisms.






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






11. The process of soil particles being carried away by wind or water. Erosion moves the smaller particles first and hence degrades the soil to a coarser - sandier - stonier texture.






12. 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.






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






14. An animal that only consumes other animals.






15. 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.






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






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






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






19. The liquid that percolates to the bottom of a landfill.






20. The solids that remain after the secondary treatment of sewage.






21. The cultivation of a single crop on a farm or in a region or country; a single - homogeneous culture without diversity or dissension.






22. Transition in species composition of a biological community - often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological community in any area virtually barren of life.






23. Power generated using water.






24. 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.






25. A group of modern windmills.






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






27. 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.






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






29. 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.






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






31. An introduced - normative species.






32. 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.






33. A long - relatively narrow island running parallel to the mainland-built up by the action of waves and currents and serving to protect the coast from erosion by surf and tidal surges.






34. Any compound that releases hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. Also - a water solution that contains a surplus of hydrogen ions.






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






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






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






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






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






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






41. The amount of sugar that the plants produce in photosynthesis and subtracting from it the amount of energy the plants need for growth maintenance - repair - and reproduction.






42. 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






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






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






45. The dosage level of a toxin at which a negative effect occurs.






46. 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. ...






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






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






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






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