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 layer of the Earth between the crust and the core.






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






3. A soil horizon - horizon C is made up of larger pieces of rock that have not undergone much weathering.






4. 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






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






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






7. When mature trees are cut over a period of time (usually10 -20 years); this leaves mature trees - which can reseed the forest - in place.






8. 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.






9. 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






10. The value of natural resources.






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






12. The low-rainfall region that exists on the leeward (downwind) side of a mountain range. This rain shadow is the result of the mountain range's causing precipitation on the windward side.






13. The amount that the population would grow if there were unlimited resources in its environment.






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






15. 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.






16. The development and introduction of new varieties of (mainly) wheat and rice that has increased yields per acre dramatically in countries since the 1960s.






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






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






19. An animal that only consumes other animals.






20. Also known as transform faults - boundaries at which plates are moving past each other - sideways.






21. The outer part of the Earth - consisting of the crust and upper mantle - approximately 100 km (62 miles) thick.






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






23. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.






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






25. 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.






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






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






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






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






30. 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.






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






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






33. The act or process of transpiring - or releasing water vapor - especially through the stomata of plant tissue or the pores of the skin.






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






35. A bloom of dinoflagellates that causes reddish discoloration of coastal ocean waters. Certain dinoflagellates of the genus Gonyamfox produce toxins that kill fish and contaminate shellfish.






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






37. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






45. Areas where cutting has occurred and a new - younger forest has arisen.






46. The result of chemical interaction with the bedrock that is typical of the action of both water and atmospheric gases.






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






48. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






49. The process of burning.






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