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






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






3. The removal of all of the trees in an area.






4. The maximum population size that can be supported by the available resources in a region.






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






6. A symbiotic relationship in which one member is helped by the association and the other is harmed.






7. The region draining into river system or other body of water.






8. 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.






9. The vertical movement of a mass of matter due to heating and cooling; this can happen in both the atmosphere and Earth's mantle.






10. The part of the wide lower course of a river where its current is met by the tides.






11. The capacity to do work.






12. 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.






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






14. The process of burning.






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






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






17. The process in which soil bacteria convert ammonium (NH4+) to a form that can be used by plants; nitrate - or NO3.






18. 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.






19. A lowland area - such as a marsh or swamp - that is saturated with moisture - especially when regarded as the natural habitat of wildlife.






20. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






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






22. 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.






23. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






24. A layer of soil.






25. The cultivation of a single crop on a farm or in a region or country; a single - homogeneous culture without diversity or dissension.






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






27. States that matter can neither be created nor destroyed.






28. The management of forest plantations for the purpose of harvesting timber.






29. An area in which a particular mineral is concentrated - mining -the excavation of the Earth for the purpose of extracting ore or minerals.






30. A bloom of dinoflagellates that causes reddish discoloration of coastal ocean waters. Certain dinoflagellates of the genus Gonyamfox produce toxins that kill fish and contaminate shellfish.






31. 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






32. A stable - mature community in a successive series that has reached equilibrium after having evolved through stages and adapted to its environment.






33. Countries that have a renewable annual water supply of less than 1 -000 m3 per person.






34. The amount of energy that plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem.






35. When the energy released from waste incineration is used to generate electricity.






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






37. The low-rainfall region that exists on the leeward (downwind) side of a mountain range. This rain shadow is the result of the mountain range's causing precipitation on the windward side.






38. 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.






39. Organisms that reproduce later in life - produce fewer offspring - and devote significant time and energy to the nurturing of their offspring.






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






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






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






43. Sunlight.






44. 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.






45. Any substance that has an LD50 - of 50 mg or less per kg of body weight.






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






47. Organisms that consume secondary consumers or other tertiary consumers.






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






49. 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.






50. A layer in a large body of water - such as a lake - that sharply separates regions differing in temperature - so that the temperature gradient across the layer is abrupt.