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






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






3. A method of supplying irrigation water through tubes that literally drip water onto the soil at the base of each plant.






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






5. 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






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






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






8. Being extinct or the process of becoming extinct.






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






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






11. 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.






12. Organisms in the first stages of succession.






13. 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.






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






15. 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.






16. The process in which soil becomes saltier and saltier until - finally - the salt prevents the growth of plants. Salinization is caused by irrigation because salts brought in with the water remain in the soil as water evaporates.






17. The effect caused by a short exposure to a high level of toxin.






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






19. Is equal to the number of deaths per 1 -000 members of the population in a year.






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






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






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






23. The third purest form of coal.






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






25. An influential theory that concerns the long - term rate of conventional oil (and other fossil fuel) extraction and depletion. It predicts that future world oil production will soon reach a peak and then rapidly decline.






26. The second-purest form of coal.






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






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






29. The accumulation of a substance - such as a toxic chemical - in various tissues of a living organism.






30. Organisms that consume secondary consumers or other tertiary consumers.






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






32. An animal that only consumes other animals.






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






34. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






35. The more or less constant winds blowing in horizontal directions over the Earth's surface - as part of Hadley cells.






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






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






38. A layer in a large body of water - such as a lake - that sharply separates regions differing in temperature - so that the temperature gradient across the layer is abrupt.






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






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






41. To convert or change into a vapor.






42. 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.






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






44. 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.






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






46. A symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit.






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






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






49. In fishing - the use of long lines that have baited hooks and will be taken by numerous aquatic organisms.






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