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. The result of graphing a dose-response analysis.






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






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






4. A layer of soil.






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






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






7. The number of live births per 1 -000 members of the population in a year.






8. A model that's used to predict population trends based on the birth and death rates as well as economic status of a population.






9. A specific location from which pollution is released; an example of a point source location is a factory where wood is being burned.






10. 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).






11. 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.






12. Non-moving sources of pollution - such as factories.






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






14. This category includes organisms that consume producers (plants and algae).






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






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






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






18. An organism that is capable of converting radiant energy or chemical energy into carbohydrates.






19. Open or forested areas built at the outer edge of a city.






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






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






22. 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.






23. Organisms that reproduce early in life and often and have a high capacity for reproductive growth.






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






25. 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.






26. 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.






27. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






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






29. The total sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment.






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






31. An opening in the Earth's crust through which molten lava - ash - and gases are ejected.






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






33. Can consist of hazardous waste - industrial solid waste - or municipal waste. Many types of solid waste provide a threat to human health and the environment.






34. To convert or change into a vapor.






35. The coarsest soil - with particles 0.05 -2.0 mm in diameter.






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






37. The more or less constant winds blowing in horizontal directions over the Earth's surface - as part of Hadley cells.






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






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






40. The A layer of soil is often referred to as topsoil and is most important for plant growth.






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






42. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.






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






44. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.






45. Close - prolonged associations between two or more different organisms of different species that may - but do not necessarily benefit the members.






46. 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.






47. 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.






48. The process in which animals (and plants!) breathe and give off carbon dioxide from cellular metabolism.






49. Also known as transform faults - boundaries at which plates are moving past each other - sideways.






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.