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 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.






2. The management or regulation of a resource so that its use does not exceed the capacity of the resource to regenerate itself.






3. 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.






4. An underground layer of porous rock - sand - or other material that allows the movement of water between layers of nonporous rock or clay. Aquifers are frequently tapped for wells.






5. The random fluctuations in the frequency of the appearance of a gene in a small isolated population - presumably owing to chance - rather than natural selection.






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






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






8. When one species feeds on another.






9. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.






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






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






12. When populations are well below the size dictated by the carrying capacity of the region they live in - they will grow exponentially - but as they approach the carrying capacity - their growth rate will decrease and the size of the population will ev






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






14. 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.






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






16. The process of burning.






17. 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






18. One that has never been cut; these forests have not been seriously disturbed for several hundred years.






19. The number of live births per 1 -000 members of the population in a year.






20. 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.






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






22. The area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs.






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






24. 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.






25. An estimate of the amount of fossil fuel that can be obtained from reserve.






26. The least pure coal.






27. When grass is consumed by animals at a faster rate than it can regrow.






28. 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






29. 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.






30. A semiconductor device that converts the energy of sunlight into electric energy.






31. The process of fusing two nuclei.






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






33. The region draining into river system or other body of water.






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






35. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






36. 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.






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






38. Living or derived from living things.






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






40. 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).






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






42. Refers to resources - such as plants and animals - which can be regenerated if harvested at sustainable yields.






43. The third purest form of coal.






44. Being extinct or the process of becoming extinct.






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






46. A usually triangular alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river.






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






48. The process that occurs when two different species in a region compete and the better adapted species wins.






49. 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.






50. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.