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 symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit.






2. 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.






3. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.






4. The water from which a river rises; a source.






5. 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.






6. The right - as to fishing or to the use of a riverbed - of one who owns riparian land (the land adjacent to a river or stream).






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






8. The number of children a couple must have in order to replace themselves in a population.






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






10. Formed from populations of different species occupying the same geographic area.






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






12. Graphical representations of populations' ages.






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






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






15. 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.






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






17. 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






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






19. The result of chemical interaction with the bedrock that is typical of the action of both water and atmospheric gases.






20. Pollutants that are released directly into the lower atmosphere.






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






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






23. The third purest form of coal.






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






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






26. The capacity to do work.






27. 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).






28. Organisms in the first stages of succession.






29. 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.






30. 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.






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






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






34. Power generated using water.






35. The movement of individuals out of a population.






36. Smog resulting from emissions from industry and other sources of gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels - especially coal.






37. 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.






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






39. The number of children an average woman will bear during her lifetime; this information is based on an analysis of data from preceding years in the population in question.






40. The gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a celestial body - especially the one surrounding the Earth - which is retained by the celestial body's gravitational field.






41. 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.






42. The practice of alternating the crops grown on a piece of land - for example - corn one year - legumes for two years - and then back to corn.






43. The process of fusing two nuclei.






44. Any process that breaks rock down into smaller pieces without changing the chemistry of the rock; typically wind and water.






45. 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






46. The amount that the population would grow if there were unlimited resources in its environment.






47. A region of the ocean near the equator - characterized by calms - light winds - or squalls.






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






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






50. 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.