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






2. The amount of the Earth's surface that's necessary to supply the needs of - and dispose of the waste from a particular population.






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






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






5. When one species feeds on another.






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






7. 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.






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






9. The amount of sugar that the plants produce in photosynthesis and subtracting from it the amount of energy the plants need for growth maintenance - repair - and reproduction.






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






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






12. 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.






13. When the majority of a building's occupants experience certain symptoms that vary with the amount of time spent in the building.






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






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






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






17. 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.






18. Areas where cutting has occurred and a new - younger forest has arisen.






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






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






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






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






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






24. 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






25. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






26. The raising of fish and other aquatic species in captivity for harvest.






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






28. Radioactive wastes that produce high levels of ionizing radiation.






29. A cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America - occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years and affecting Pacific and other weather patterns.






30. Nets that are dragged through the water and indiscriminately catch everything in their path.






31. 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.






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






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






34. When physically treated sewage water is passed into a settling tank - where suspended solids settle out as sludge; chemically treated polymers may be added to help the suspended solids separate and settle out.






35. A method of supplying irrigation water through tubes that literally drip water onto the soil at the base of each plant.






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






37. Any waste that poses a danger to human health; it must be dealt with in a different way from other types of waste.






38. The movement of individuals out of a population.






39. The point at which 50 percent of the test organisms show a negative effect from a toxin.






40. When populations are well below the size dictated by the carrying capacity of the region they live in - they will grow exponentially - but as they approach the carrying capacity - their growth rate will decrease and the size of the population will ev






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






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






43. Each of the feeding levels in a food chain.






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






45. The capacity to do work.






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






47. A high-speed - meandering wind current - generally moving from a westerly direction at speeds often exceeding 400 km (250 miles) per hour at altitudes of 15 to 25 km (10 to 15 miles).






48. The process in which plants absorb ammonium (NH3) - ammonia ions (NH4+) - and nitrate ions (NO3) through their roots.






49. The second-purest form of coal.






50. States that matter can neither be created nor destroyed.