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. Any other species of fish - mammals - or birds that are caught that are not the target organism.






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






3. Involves the removal of the Earth's surface all the way down to the level of the mineral seam.






4. The removal of all of the trees in an area.






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






6. A plate boundary where two plates are moving toward each other.






7. 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






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






9. A soil horizon; the layer below the O layer is called the A layer. The A layer is formed of weathered rock - with some organic material; often referred to as topsoil.






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






11. The part of the mantle that lies just below the lithosphere.






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






13. A layer in a large body of water - such as a lake - that sharply separates regions differing in temperature - so that the temperature gradient across the layer is abrupt.






14. The area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs.






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






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






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






18. The condition in which - at ecosystem boundaries - there is greater species diversity and biological density than there is in the heart of ecological communities.






19. Power generated using water.






20. The place where two plates abut each other.






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






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






23. An organism such as a bacterium or protozoan - that obtains its nourishment through the oxidation of inorganic chemical compounds - as opposed to photosynthesis.






24. Land that's fit to be cultivated.






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






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






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






28. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






29. The process of soil particles being carried away by wind or water. Erosion moves the smaller particles first and hence degrades the soil to a coarser - sandier - stonier texture.






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






31. 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.






32. An erosion-resistant marine ridge or mound consisting chiefly of compacted coral together with algal material and biochemically deposited magnesium and calcium carbonates.






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






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






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






36. The maintenance of a species or ecosystem in order to ensure their perpetuation - with no concern as to their potential monetary value






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






38. 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






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






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






41. When one species feeds on another.






42. Formed from populations of different species occupying the same geographic area.






43. The second-purest form of coal.






44. Countries that have a renewable annual water supply of about 1 -000 -2 -000 m3 per person.






45. An underground layer of porous rock - sand - or other material that allows the movement of water between layers of nonporous rock or clay. Aquifers are frequently tapped for wells.






46. 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.






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






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






49. 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.






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