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 place where two plates abut each other.






2. Any process that breaks rock down into smaller pieces without changing the chemistry of the rock; typically wind and water.






3. An animal that only consumes other animals.






4. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






5. An opening in the Earth's crust through which molten lava - ash - and gases are ejected.






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






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






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






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






10. The rocks and Earth that is removed when mining for a commercially valuable mineral resource.






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






12. The value of natural resources.






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






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






15. 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.






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






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






18. The second-purest form of coal.






19. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






20. An organism that must obtain food energy from secondary sources - for example - by eating plant or animal matter.






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






22. Involves the sinking of shafts to reach underground deposits. In this type of mining - networks of tunnels are dug or blasted and humans enter these tunnels in order to manually retrieve the coal.






23. An introduced - normative species.






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






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






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






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






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






30. Piles of gangue - which is the waste material that results from mining.






31. A soil horizon; B receives the minerals and organic materials that are leached out of the A horizon.






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






33. The number of live births per 1 -000 members of the population in a year.






34. The fraction of solar energy that is reflected back into space.






35. The layer of the Earth between the crust and the core.






36. Is equal to the number of deaths per 1 -000 members of the population in a year.






37. The process of burning.






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






39. Power generated using water.






40. 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






41. 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






42. The process in which soil becomes saltier and saltier until - finally - the salt prevents the growth of plants. Salinization is caused by irrigation because salts brought in with the water remain in the soil as water evaporates.






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






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






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






46. 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).






47. A region of the ocean near the equator - characterized by calms - light winds - or squalls.






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






49. When one species feeds on another.






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