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






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






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






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






5. Also known as transform faults - boundaries at which plates are moving past each other - sideways.






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






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






8. 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.






9. The rocks and Earth that is removed when mining for a commercially valuable mineral resource.






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






11. 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.






12. The atmospheric pressure conditions corresponding to the periodic warming of El Nino and cooling of La Nina.






13. Any water that has been used by humans. This includes human sewage - water drained from showers - tubs - sinks - dishwashers - washing machines - water from industrial processes - and storm water runoff.






14. The broad category under which selective cutting and shelter-wood cutting fall; selective deforestation.






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






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






17. A complex of interrelated food chains in an ecological community.






18. The process in which soil bacteria convert ammonium (NH4+) to a form that can be used by plants; nitrate - or NO3.






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






20. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






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






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






23. 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. ...






24. The capacity to do work.






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






26. 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.






27. The maintenance of a species or ecosystem in order to ensure their perpetuation - with no concern as to their potential monetary value






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






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






30. The place where two plates abut each other.






31. An introduced - normative species.






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






33. The edges of tectonic plates.






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






35. Pollutants that are formed by the combination of primary pollutants in the atmosphere.






36. The part of the mantle that lies just below the lithosphere.






37. The second-purest form of coal.






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






39. When physically treated sewage water is passed into a settling tank - where suspended solids settle out as sludge; chemically treated polymers may be added to help the suspended solids separate and settle out.






40. The amount of sugar that the plants produce in photosynthesis and subtracting from it the amount of energy the plants need for growth maintenance - repair - and reproduction.






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






42. A soil horizon - horizon C is made up of larger pieces of rock that have not undergone much weathering.






43. 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.






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






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






46. 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.






47. Land that's fit to be cultivated.






48. The value of natural resources.






49. Smog resulting from emissions from industry and other sources of gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels.






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