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






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






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






4. 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






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






6. A platinum - coated device that oxidizes most of the VOCs and some of the CO that would otherwise be emitted in exhaust - converting them to CO2.






7. Resources that are often formed by very slow geologic processes - so we consider them incapable of being regenerated within the realm of human existence.






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






9. 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.






10. 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.






11. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.






12. The total sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment.






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






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






15. 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.






16. The dosage level of a toxin at which a negative effect occurs.






17. Soil composed of a mixture of sand - clay - silt - and organic matter.






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






19. The outermost shell of the atmosphere - between the mesosphere and outer space - where temperatures increase steadily with altitude.






20. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






21. In a sewage treatment plant - the initial filtration that is done to remove debris such as stones - sticks - rags - toys - and other objects that were flushed down the toilet.






22. 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.






23. Any noise that causes stress or has the potential to damage human health.






24. Land that's fit to be cultivated.






25. When the energy released from waste incineration is used to generate electricity.






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






27. The part of the Earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life.






28. When one species feeds on another.






29. A hydrocarbon that forms as sediments are buried and pressurized.






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






31. A process that allows the organic material in solid waste to be decomposed and reintroduced into the soil - often as fertilizer.






32. 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






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






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






35. Any weathering that's caused by the activities of living organisms.






36. The process in which animals (and plants!) breathe and give off carbon dioxide from cellular metabolism.






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






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






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






40. States that matter can neither be created nor destroyed.






41. A basic substance; chemically - a substance that absorbs hydrogen ions or releases hydroxyl ions; in reference to natural water - a measure of the base content of the water.






42. The value of natural resources.






43. The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into compounds - such as ammonia - by natural agencies or various industrial processes.






44. The result of vibrations (often due to plate movements) deep in the Earth that release energy. They often occur as two plates slide past one another at a transform boundary.






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






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






47. 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






48. The capacity to do work.






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






50. Any other species of fish - mammals - or birds that are caught that are not the target organism.