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 part of the mantle that lies just below the lithosphere.






2. Bacteria or fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter like plant material - the wastes of living organisms - and corpses. They convert these materials into inorganic forms.






3. The movement of individuals into a population.






4. The day-to-day use of environmental resources as food - clothing - and housing.






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






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






7. To convert or change into a vapor.






8. The edges of tectonic plates.






9. Non-moving sources of pollution - such as factories.






10. 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.






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






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






13. 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.






14. The process by which specialized bacteria (mostly anaerobic bacteria) convert ammonia to NOy NO2 - and N2 and release it back to the atmosphere.






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






16. 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.






17. Fish farming in which fish are caught in the wild and not raised in captivity for consumption.






18. 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.






19. 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.






20. Any substance that has an LD50 - of 50 mg or less per kg of body weight.






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






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






23. 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.






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






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






26. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






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






28. A climate variation that takes place in the tropical Pacific about every three to seven years - for a duration of about one year.






29. The bedrock - which lies below all of the other layers of soil - is referred to as the R horizon.






30. The process of fusing two nuclei.






31. 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.






32. The place where two plates abut each other.






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






34. An organism that obtains organic food molecules without eating other organisms or substances derived from other organisms. autotrophs use energy from the sun or from the oxidation of inorganic substances to make organic molecules from inorganic ones.






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






36. When one species feeds on another.






37. An area in which a particular mineral is concentrated - mining -the excavation of the Earth for the purpose of extracting ore or minerals.






38. 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.






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






40. 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.






41. The dark - crumbly - nutrient-rich material that results from the decomposition of organic material.






42. A group of modern windmills.






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






44. A usually triangular alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river.






45. A place where a large quantity of a resource sits for a long period of time.






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






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






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






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






50. Using strategies to reduce the amount of risk (the degree of likelihood that a person will become ill upon exposure to a toxin or pathogen).