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






2. Bacteria or fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter like plant material - the wastes of living organisms - and corpses. They convert these materials into inorganic forms.






3. Living or derived from living things.






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






5. Also known as plantations - these are planted and managed tracts of trees of the same age that are harvested for commercial use.






6. A symbiotic relationship in which one member is helped by the association and the other is harmed.






7. Drilling a hole in the ground that's below the water table to hold waste.






8. Any other species of fish - mammals - or birds that are caught that are not the target organism.






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






10. When soil becomes water-logged and then dries out - and salt forms a layer on its surface.






11. 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.






12. 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.






13. 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.






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






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






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






17. The value of natural resources.






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






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






20. Pollution that does not have a specific point of release - open -loop recycling -when materials are reused to form new products.






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






22. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






23. The place where two plates abut each other.






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






25. Using strategies to reduce the amount of risk (the degree of likelihood that a person will become ill upon exposure to a toxin or pathogen).






26. 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.






27. 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).






28. A succession of organisms in an ecological community that constitutes a continuation of food energy from one organism to another as each consumes a lower member and - in turn - is preyed upon by a higher member.






29. A hydrocarbon that forms as sediments are buried and pressurized.






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






31. 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.






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






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






34. An introduced - normative species.






35. 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.






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






37. The biological treatment of wastewater in order to continue to remove biodegradable waste.






38. Species that originate and live - or occur naturally - in an area or environment.






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






40. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






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






42. Says that the entropy (disorder) of the universe is increasing. One corollary of the Second Law of thermodynamics is the concept that - in most energy transformations - a significant fraction of energy is lost to the universe as heat.






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






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






45. 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.






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






47. Involves the removal of the Earth's surface all the way down to the level of the mineral seam.






48. Each of the feeding levels in a food chain.






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






50. When the signs and symptoms of an illness can be attributed to a specific infectious organism that resides in the building.