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. 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.






2. The process by which - according to Darwin's theory of evolution - only the organisms best adapted to their environment tend to survive and transmit their genetic characteristics in increasing numbers to succeeding generations - while those less adap






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






4. A complex of interrelated food chains in an ecological community.






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






6. An estimate of the amount of fossil fuel that can be obtained from reserve.






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






8. The water from which a river rises; a source.






9. A nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus - especially a heavy nucleus such as an isotope of uranium - splits into fragments - usually two fragments of comparable mass - releasing from 100 million to several hundred million electron volts of ener






10. A layer of soil.






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






12. A system of vertical and horizontal air circulation predominating in tropical and subtropical regions and creating major weather patterns.






13. Species that originate and live - or occur naturally - in an area or environment.






14. 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).






15. 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.






16. When materials - such as plastic or aluminum - are used to rebuild the same product. An example of this is the use of the aluminum from aluminum cans to produce more aluminum cans.






17. The removal of trees for agricultural purposes or purposes of exportation.






18. Any noise that causes stress or has the potential to damage human health.






19. The movement of individuals out of a population.






20. To convert or change into a vapor.






21. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






22. When the energy released from waste incineration is used to generate electricity.






23. 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.






24. Land that's fit to be cultivated.






25. A hydrocarbon deposit - such as petroleum - coal - or natural gas - derived from living matter of a previous geologic time and used for fuel.






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






27. 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.






28. Organisms that are capable of interbreeding with one another and incapable of breeding with other species.






29. The use of building materials - building placement - and design to passively collect solar energy that can be used to keep a building warm or cool.






30. A specific location from which pollution is released; an example of a point source location is a factory where wood is being burned.






31. The process in which soil bacteria convert ammonium (NH4+) to a form that can be used by plants; nitrate - or NO3.






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






33. 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.






34. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.






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






36. Organisms that reproduce later in life - produce fewer offspring - and devote significant time and energy to the nurturing of their offspring.






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






38. Also known as plantations - these are planted and managed tracts of trees of the same age that are harvested for commercial use.






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






40. A group of modern windmills.






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






42. The edges of tectonic plates.






43. The movement of individuals into a population.






44. An influential theory that concerns the long-term rate of conventional oil (and other fossil fuel) extraction and depletion. It predicts that future world oil production will soon reach a peak and then rapidly decline.






45. 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.






46. An animal that only consumes other animals.






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






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






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






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