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. 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.






2. When one species feeds on another.






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






4. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






5. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






6. A semiconductor device that converts the energy of sunlight into electric energy.






7. Smog resulting from emissions from industry and other sources of gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels - especially coal.






8. The least pure coal.






9. The removal of select trees in an area; this leaves the majority of the habitat in place and has less of an impact on the ecosystem.






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






11. 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).






12. The unit used to describe the volume of fossil fuels.






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






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






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






16. The gradual breakdown of rock into smaller and smaller particles - caused by natural chemical - physical - and biological factors.






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






18. Drilling a hole in the ground that's below the water table to hold waste.






19. When trees and crops are planted together - creating a mutualistic symbiotic relationship between them.






20. The outermost shell of the atmosphere - between the mesosphere and outer space - where temperatures increase steadily with altitude.






21. In tectonic plates - the site at which an oceanic plate is sliding under a continental plate.






22. The place where two plates abut each other.






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






24. 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






25. 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.






26. Being extinct or the process of becoming extinct.






27. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






33. An intensification of the Greenhouse Effect due to the increased presence of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.






34. The process by which the concentration of toxic substances increases in each successive link in the food chain.






35. Power generated using water.






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






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






38. Any water that has been used by humans. This includes human sewage - water drained from showers - tubs - sinks - dishwashers - washing machines - water from industrial processes - and storm water runoff.






39. A symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit.






40. The dosage level of a toxin at which a negative effect occurs.






41. The biological treatment of wastewater in order to continue to remove biodegradable waste.






42. The capacity to do work.






43. Organisms that consume primary consumers.






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






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






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






47. 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.






48. The phenomenon whereby the Earth's atmosphere traps solar radiation - caused by the presence in the atmosphere of gases such as carbon dioxide - water vapor - and methane that allow incoming sunlight to pass through - but absorb heat radiated back fr






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






50. An introduced - normative species.