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






2. When one species feeds on another.






3. Organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter.






4. A layer of soil.






5. 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.






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






7. When the size of an organism's natural habitat is reduced - or when development occurs that isolates a habitat.






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






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






10. The process by which the concentration of toxic substances increases in each successive link in the food chain.






11. One that has never been cut; these forests have not been seriously disturbed for several hundred years.






12. To convert or change into a vapor.






13. 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.






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






15. 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).






16. The cultivation of a single crop on a farm or in a region or country; a single - homogeneous culture without diversity or dissension.






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






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






19. 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.






20. A tank filled with aerobic bacteria that's used to treat sewage.






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






22. The value of natural resources.






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






24. 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.






25. The place where two plates abut each other.






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






27. 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.






28. 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.






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






30. 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.






31. The day-to-day variations in temperature - air pressure - wind - humidity - and precipitation mediated by the atmosphere in a given region.






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






33. 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.






34. Occurs when infection causes a change in the state of health.






35. When an area of vegetation is cut down and burned before being planted with crops.






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






37. The region draining into river system or other body of water.






38. 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.






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






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






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






42. When each family in a community grows crops for themselves and rely on animal and human labor to plant and harvest crops.






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






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






45. Devices containing alkaline substances that precipitate out much of the sulfur dioxide from industrial plants.






46. Fires that typically burn only the forest's underbrush and do little damage to mature trees. Surface fires actually serve to protect the forest from more harmful fires by removing underbrush and dead materials that would burn quickly and at high temp






47. In tectonic plates - the site at which an oceanic plate is sliding under a continental plate.






48. 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.






49. 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).






50. 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.