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 industry or occupation devoted to the catching - processing - or selling of fish - shellfish - or other aquatic animals.






2. The process in which plants absorb ammonium (NH3) - ammonia ions (NH4+) - and nitrate ions (NO3) through their roots.






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






4. 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.






5. 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.






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






7. The fraction of solar energy that is reflected back into space.






8. The day-to-day use of environmental resources as food - clothing - and housing.






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






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






11. The molten core of the Earth.






12. A cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America - occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years and affecting Pacific and other weather patterns.






13. Acid rain - acid hail - acid snow; all of which occur as a result of pollution in the atmosphere.






14. 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






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






16. 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.






17. A plate boundary at which plates are moving away from each other. This causes an upwelling of magma from the mantle to cool and form new crust.






18. 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.






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






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






21. Is the practice of planting bands of different crops across a hillside.






22. The A layer of soil is often referred to as topsoil and is most important for plant growth.






23. The condition in which - at ecosystem boundaries - there is greater species diversity and biological density than there is in the heart of ecological communities.






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






25. 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






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






27. The number of individuals of a population that inhabit a certain unit of land or water area.






28. 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.






29. A nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus - especially a heavy nucleus such as an isotope of uranium - splits into fragments - usually two fragments of comparable mass - releasing from 100 million to several hundred million electron volts of ener






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






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






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






33. 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.






34. Close - prolonged associations between two or more different organisms of different species that may - but do not necessarily benefit the members.






35. The result of graphing a dose-response analysis.






36. Sunlight.






37. A layer of soil.






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






39. A process in which cold - often nutrient-rich - waters from the ocean depths rise to the surface.






40. 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






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






42. When each family in a community grows crops for themselves and rely on animal and human labor to plant and harvest crops.






43. A group of modern windmills.






44. Says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transferred and transformed.






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






46. When trees and crops are planted together - creating a mutualistic symbiotic relationship between them.






47. A lowland area - such as a marsh or swamp - that is saturated with moisture - especially when regarded as the natural habitat of wildlife.






48. 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






49. An effect that results from long -term exposure to low levels of toxin.






50. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.