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. Organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter.






2. 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.






3. The removal of trees for agricultural purposes or purposes of exportation.






4. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






5. Urban areas that heat up more quickly and retain heat more than do nonurban areas.






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






7. 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.






8. The phenomenon whereby the Earth's atmosphere traps solar radiation - caused by the presence in the atmosphere of gases such as carbon dioxide - water vapor - and methane that allow incoming sunlight to pass through - but absorb heat radiated back fr






9. A process in which an organism is exposed to a toxin at different concentrations - and the dosage that causes the death of the organism is recorded.






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






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






12. The cleanest-burning coal; almost pure carbon.






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






14. Pertaining to factors or things that are separate and independent from living things; nonliving.






15. Energy at rest - or stored energy.






16. 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).






17. 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.






18. A group of modern windmills.






19. Any compound that releases hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. Also - a water solution that contains a surplus of hydrogen ions.






20. 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.






21. An intensification of the Greenhouse Effect due to the increased presence of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.






22. The point at which 50 percent of the test organisms die from a toxin.






23. Being extinct or the process of becoming extinct.






24. 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






25. Nets that are dragged through the water and indiscriminately catch everything in their path.






26. When one species feeds on another.






27. Involves the sinking of shafts to reach underground deposits. In this type of mining - networks of tunnels are dug or blasted and humans enter these tunnels in order to manually retrieve the coal.






28. The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source. Most forms of photosynthesis release oxygen as a byproduct.






29. The part of the wide lower course of a river where its current is met by the tides.






30. A fishing technique in which the ocean floor is literally scraped by heavy nets that smash everything in their path.






31. 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.






32. A plate boundary where two plates are moving toward each other.






33. 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.






34. The second-purest form of coal.






35. To convert or change into a vapor.






36. The management or regulation of a resource so that its use does not exceed the capacity of the resource to regenerate itself.






37. Piles of gangue - which is the waste material that results from mining.






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






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






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






41. A soil horizon; the layer below the O layer is called the A layer. The A layer is formed of weathered rock - with some organic material; often referred to as topsoil.






42. Open or forested areas built at the outer edge of a city.






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






44. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.






45. 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).






46. The use of building materials - building placement - and design to passively collect solar energy that can be used to keep a building warm or cool.






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






48. 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.






49. The observed effect of the Coriolis force - especially the deflection of an object moving above the Earth - rightward in the Northern Hemisphere - and leftward in the Southern Hemisphere.






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