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 water rights are given to those who have historically used the water in a certain area.






2. 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.






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






4. A group of modern windmills.






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






6. A plate boundary where two plates are moving toward each other.






7. The amount of energy that plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem.






8. Countries that have a renewable annual water supply of less than 1 -000 m3 per person.






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






10. Radioactive wastes that produce low levels of ionizing radiation.






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






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






13. Nets that are dragged through the water and indiscriminately catch everything in their path.






14. 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.






15. A severe tropical cyclone originating in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea or eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean - traveling north - northwest - or northeast from its point of origin - and usually involving heavy rains.






16. The place where two plates abut each other.






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






18. The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source. Most forms of photosynthesis release oxygen as a byproduct.






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






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






21. The bedrock - which lies below all of the other layers of soil - is referred to as the R horizon.






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






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






24. Living or derived from living things.






25. Creating flat platforms in the hillside that provide a level planting surface - which reduces soil runoff from the slope.






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






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






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






29. An organism that must obtain food energy from secondary sources - for example - by eating plant or animal matter.






30. 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.






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






32. 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






33. Refers to when farmers plant seeds without using a plow to turn the soil.






34. Organisms that reproduce later in life - produce fewer offspring - and devote significant time and energy to the nurturing of their offspring.






35. Piles of gangue - which is the waste material that results from mining.






36. Power generated using water.






37. 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.






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






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






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






41. The edges of tectonic plates.






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






43. A climate variation that takes place in the tropical Pacific about every three to seven years - for a duration of about one year.






44. 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.






45. The capacity to do work.






46. 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.






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






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






49. The coarsest soil - with particles 0.05 -2.0 mm in diameter.






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