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 capacity to do work.






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






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






4. 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.






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






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






7. The thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica (and to some extent - over the Arctic).






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






9. 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.






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






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






12. 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).






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






14. Power generated using water.






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






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






17. The result of graphing a dose-response analysis.






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






19. The use of devices - such as solar panels - to collect - focus - transport - or store solar energy.






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






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






22. The place where two plates abut each other.






23. 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.






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






25. 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.






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






27. The gradual breakdown of rock into smaller and smaller particles - caused by natural chemical - physical - and biological factors.






28. The movement of individuals out of a population.






29. 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






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






31. A process that allows the organic material in solid waste to be decomposed and reintroduced into the soil - often as fertilizer.






32. 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.






33. The process in which animals (and plants!) breathe and give off carbon dioxide from cellular metabolism.






34. 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.






35. The uppermost horizon of soil. It is primarily made up of organic material - including waste from organisms - the bodies of decomposing organisms - and live organisms.






36. A waste product produced by the burning of coal.






37. An animal that only consumes other animals.






38. Is the practice of planting bands of different crops across a hillside.






39. 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.






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






41. 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.






42. 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.






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






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






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






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






47. 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.






48. Sunlight.






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






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