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. Soil with particles 0.002 -0.05 mm in diameter.






2. The movement of individuals into a population.






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






4. 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






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






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






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






8. The amount of time it takes for half of a radioactive sample to disappear.






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






10. The day-to-day variations in temperature - air pressure - wind - humidity - and precipitation mediated by the atmosphere in a given region.






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






12. Pollutants that are released directly into the lower atmosphere.






13. 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.






14. 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.






15. 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.






16. Power generated using water.






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






18. A long - relatively narrow island running parallel to the mainland-built up by the action of waves and currents and serving to protect the coast from erosion by surf and tidal surges.






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






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






21. 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.






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






23. 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.






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






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






26. The third purest form of coal.






27. Any process that breaks rock down into smaller pieces without changing the chemistry of the rock; typically wind and water.






28. The edges of tectonic plates.






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






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






31. Living or derived from living things.






32. When one species feeds on another.






33. A fiscal policy that lowers taxes on income - including wages and profit - and raises taxes on consumption - particularly the unsustainable consumption of non-renewable resources.






34. 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.






35. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






36. 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.






37. 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






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






39. A layer of soil.






40. To convert or change into a vapor.






41. 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.






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






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






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






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






46. When water rights are given to those who have historically used the water in a certain area.






47. The result of graphing a dose-response analysis.






48. An organism that must obtain food energy from secondary sources - for example - by eating plant or animal matter.






49. 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. ...






50. Calculating risk - or the degree of likelihood that a person will become ill upon exposure to a toxin or pathogen.