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Test your basic knowledge |
AP Environmental Science
Start Test
Study First
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 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.
combustion
species
photosynthesis
salinization
2. 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.
A layer
convection currents
sludge processor
decomposer
3. Organisms that consume primary consumers.
atmosphere
reservoir
primary treatment
secondary consumers
4. Smog resulting from emissions from industry and other sources of gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels - especially coal.
gray smog (industrial smog)
industrial smog (gray smog)
biotic
toxicity
5. In tectonic plates - the site at which an oceanic plate is sliding under a continental plate.
point source pollution
niche
global warming
subduction zone
6. 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.
closed-loop recycling
subduction zone
pathogens
fly ash
7. The outer part of the Earth - consisting of the crust and upper mantle - approximately 100 km (62 miles) thick.
O layer
plate boundaries
lithosphere
divergent boundary
8. A symbiotic relationship in which one member is helped by the association and the other is harmed.
monoculture
parasitism
Southern Oscillation
scrubbers
9. The maximum population size that can be supported by the available resources in a region.
prior appropriation
estuary
fly ash
carrying capacity
10. 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.
parasitism
catalytic converter
jet stream
LD50
11. A process that allows the organic material in solid waste to be decomposed and reintroduced into the soil - often as fertilizer.
detritivore
long lining
natural selection
composting
12. The broad category under which selective cutting and shelter-wood cutting fall; selective deforestation.
weather
Uneven-aged management
bioaccumulation
tree farms
13. The cleanest-burning coal; almost pure carbon.
watershed
anthracite
global warming
land degradation
14. 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.
energy
weather
divergent boundary
silt
15. The effect caused by a short exposure to a high level of toxin.
acute effect
albedo
Half-life
biotic
16. 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.
anthracite
keystone species
no-till
physical treatmen
17. A layer of soil.
watershed
malnutrition
Horizon
chemotroph (chemoautotroph)
18. Any substance that has an LD50 - of 50 mg or less per kg of body weight.
plate boundaries
poison
water-stressed
ED50
19. The point at which 50 percent of the test organisms die from a toxin.
LD50
thermocline
denitrification
fly ash
20. The outermost shell of the atmosphere - between the mesosphere and outer space - where temperatures increase steadily with altitude.
thermosphere
volcanoes
thermocline
Second Law of Thermodynamics
21. Piles of gangue - which is the waste material that results from mining.
lithosphere
gray smog (industrial smog)
tailings
sludge processor
22. Organisms that reproduce later in life - produce fewer offspring - and devote significant time and energy to the nurturing of their offspring.
pathogens
k-selected
atmosphere
indigenous species
23. The least pure coal.
lignite
natural resources
trade winds
hurricane (typhoon - cyclone)
24. A process in which rows of crops are plowed across the hillside; this prevents the erosion that can occur when rows are cut up and down on a slope. ...
predation
contour farming
evolution
edge effect
25. When the signs and symptoms of an illness can be attributed to a specific infectious organism that resides in the building.
trophic level
greenbelt
building-related illness
risk assessment
26. When mature trees are cut over a period of time (usually10 -20 years); this leaves mature trees - which can reseed the forest - in place.
greenbelt
food chain
extinction
shelter-wood cutting
27. When an area of vegetation is cut down and burned before being planted with crops.
clear-cutting
slash-and-burn
keystone species
La Nina
28. The molten core of the Earth.
inner core
Waste-to-Energy (WTE) program
terracing
scrubbers
29. A method of supplying irrigation water through tubes that literally drip water onto the soil at the base of each plant.
drip irrigation
hydroelectric power
demographic transition model
nitrogen fixation
30. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.
tailings
noise pollution
natural resources
water-scarce
31. An organism that must obtain food energy from secondary sources - for example - by eating plant or animal matter.
gray smog (industrial smog)
old growth forest
clear-cutting
consumer
32. Poor nutrition that results from an insufficient or poorly balanced diet.
selective cutting
active collection
death rate (crude death rate)
malnutrition
33. Involves the removal of the Earth's surface all the way down to the level of the mineral seam.
weathering
divergent boundary
strip mining
ecological succession
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.
tertiary consumers
detritivore
primary treatment
consumer
35. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.
radiant energy
sludge
Green Revolution
crude oil
36. The part of the wide lower course of a river where its current is met by the tides.
estuary
B layer
fossil fuel
community
37. The fraction of solar energy that is reflected back into space.
bioaccumulation
albedo
evaporation
sand
38. The development and introduction of new varieties of (mainly) wheat and rice that has increased yields per acre dramatically in countries since the 1960s.
petroleum
producer
acute effect
Green Revolution
39. Refers to when farmers plant seeds without using a plow to turn the soil.
humus
logistic population growth
plate boundaries
no-till
40. 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.
risk assessment
Hubbert peak (peak oil)
jet stream
secondary pollutants
41. A hydrocarbon that forms as sediments are buried and pressurized.
rain shadow
petroleum
green tax
chemical weathering
42. The area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs.
pioneer species
lignite
Waste-to-Energy (WTE) program
habitat
43. The dosage level of a toxin at which a negative effect occurs.
k-selected
catalytic converter
intercropping (also called strip cropping)
threshold dose
44. 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.
B layer
Gross Primary Productivity
plate boundaries
erosion
45. An animal that only consumes other animals.
carnivore
niche
lithosphere
kinetic energy
46. Radioactive wastes that produce high levels of ionizing radiation.
high-level radioactive waste
catalytic converter
overburden
overgrazed
47. The energy of motion.
selective cutting
extinction
net Primary Productivity (NPP)
kinetic energy
48. The result of a pathogen invading a body.
Infection
catalytic converter
LD50
secondary consumers
49. 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.
biological weathering
La Nina
crude oil
radiant energy
50. The practice of alternating the crops grown on a piece of land - for example - corn one year - legumes for two years - and then back to corn.
O layer
Immigration
demographic transition model
crop rotation