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






2. 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.






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






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






5. When soil becomes water-logged and then dries out - and salt forms a layer on its surface.






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






7. A soil horizon - horizon C is made up of larger pieces of rock that have not undergone much weathering.






8. 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.






9. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






10. Soil with particles 0.002 -0.05 mm in diameter.






11. 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.






12. The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into compounds - such as ammonia - by natural agencies or various industrial processes.






13. Smog resulting from emissions from industry and other sources of gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels.






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






15. The management or regulation of a resource so that its use does not exceed the capacity of the resource to regenerate itself.






16. Land that's fit to be cultivated.






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






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






19. A program funded by the federal government and a trust that's funded by taxes on chemicals; identifies pollutants and cleans up hazardous waste sites.






20. The number of children a couple must have in order to replace themselves in a population.






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






22. 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






23. A group of modern windmills.






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






25. 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.






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






27. Says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transferred and transformed.






28. The bedrock - which lies below all of the other layers of soil - is referred to as the R horizon.






29. The capacity to do work.






30. When photochemical smog - NOx compounds - VOCs - and ozone combine to form smog with a brownish hue.






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






32. A succession of organisms in an ecological community that constitutes a continuation of food energy from one organism to another as each consumes a lower member and - in turn - is preyed upon by a higher member.






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






34. The least pure coal.






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






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






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






38. 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.






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






40. A severe tropical cyclone originating in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea or eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean - traveling north - northwest - or northeast from its point of origin - and usually involving heavy rains.






41. When mature trees are cut over a period of time (usually10 -20 years); this leaves mature trees - which can reseed the forest - in place.






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






43. The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source. Most forms of photosynthesis release oxygen as a byproduct.






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






45. When the signs and symptoms of an illness can be attributed to a specific infectious organism that resides in the building.






46. When a species occupies a smaller niche than it would in the absence of competition.






47. The number of individuals of a population that inhabit a certain unit of land or water area.






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






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






50. Graphical representations of populations' ages.