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






2. 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.






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






4. The second-purest form of coal.






5. The area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs.






6. 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.






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






8. The removal of all of the trees in an area.






9. Graphical representations of populations' ages.






10. A group of modern windmills.






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






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






13. 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.






14. 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.






15. Land that's fit to be cultivated.






16. 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.






17. 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.






18. 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






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






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






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






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






23. The least pure coal.






24. 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.






25. Organisms that reproduce early in life and often and have a high capacity for reproductive growth.






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






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






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






29. The movement of individuals into a population.






30. 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.






31. The random fluctuations in the frequency of the appearance of a gene in a small isolated population - presumably owing to chance - rather than natural selection.






32. A system of vertical and horizontal air circulation predominating in tropical and subtropical regions and creating major weather patterns.






33. When one species feeds on another.






34. 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.






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






36. The liquid that percolates to the bottom of a landfill.






37. The process that occurs when two different species in a region compete and the better adapted species wins.






38. Organisms that reproduce later in life - produce fewer offspring - and devote significant time and energy to the nurturing of their offspring.






39. The management of forest plantations for the purpose of harvesting timber.






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






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






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






43. The edges of tectonic plates.






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






45. Change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals and resulting in the development of new species.






46. Refers to when farmers plant seeds without using a plow to turn the soil.






47. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






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






49. 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.






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