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






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






3. A model that's used to predict population trends based on the birth and death rates as well as economic status of a population.






4. A waste product produced by the burning of coal.






5. 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. ...






6. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






7. 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






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






9. Soil with particles 0.002 -0.05 mm in diameter.






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






11. 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.






12. Open or forested areas built at the outer edge of a city.






13. The least pure coal.






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






15. The unit used to describe the volume of fossil fuels.






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






17. 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.






18. Organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter.






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






20. 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.






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






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






23. The process of fusing two nuclei.






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






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






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






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






28. 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.






29. The third purest form of coal.






30. The day-to-day use of environmental resources as food - clothing - and housing.






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






32. 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.






33. To convert or change into a vapor.






34. A species whose very presence contributes to an ecosystem's diversity and whose extinction would consequently lead to the extinction of other forms of life.






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






36. 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).






37. 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






38. 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.






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






40. The degree to which a substance is biologically harmful.






41. 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.






42. 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.






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






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






45. The phenomenon whereby the Earth's atmosphere traps solar radiation - caused by the presence in the atmosphere of gases such as carbon dioxide - water vapor - and methane that allow incoming sunlight to pass through - but absorb heat radiated back fr






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






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






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






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






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