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






2. The molten core of the Earth.






3. A basic substance; chemically - a substance that absorbs hydrogen ions or releases hydroxyl ions; in reference to natural water - a measure of the base content of the water.






4. The broad category under which selective cutting and shelter-wood cutting fall; selective deforestation.






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






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






7. The process by which specialized bacteria (mostly anaerobic bacteria) convert ammonia to NOy NO2 - and N2 and release it back to the atmosphere.






8. 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.






9. Says that the entropy (disorder) of the universe is increasing. One corollary of the Second Law of thermodynamics is the concept that - in most energy transformations - a significant fraction of energy is lost to the universe as heat.






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






11. Areas where cutting has occurred and a new - younger forest has arisen.






12. An organism such as a bacterium or protozoan - that obtains its nourishment through the oxidation of inorganic chemical compounds - as opposed to photosynthesis.






13. The right - as to fishing or to the use of a riverbed - of one who owns riparian land (the land adjacent to a river or stream).






14. 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.






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






16. Bacteria or fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter like plant material - the wastes of living organisms - and corpses. They convert these materials into inorganic forms.






17. To convert or change into a vapor.






18. A group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area.






19. A climate variation that takes place in the tropical Pacific about every three to seven years - for a duration of about one year.






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






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






22. 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.






23. The act or process of transpiring - or releasing water vapor - especially through the stomata of plant tissue or the pores of the skin.






24. An erosion-resistant marine ridge or mound consisting chiefly of compacted coral together with algal material and biochemically deposited magnesium and calcium carbonates.






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. The bedrock - which lies below all of the other layers of soil - is referred to as the R horizon.






27. The number of individuals of a population that inhabit a certain unit of land or water area.






28. A process that allows the organic material in solid waste to be decomposed and reintroduced into the soil - often as fertilizer.






29. Pollutants that are formed by the combination of primary pollutants in the atmosphere.






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






31. A process in which an organism is exposed to a toxin at different concentrations - and the dosage that causes the death of the organism is recorded.






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






33. Resources that are often formed by very slow geologic processes - so we consider them incapable of being regenerated within the realm of human existence.






34. 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.






35. Graphical representations of populations' ages.






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






37. Any substance than is inhaled - ingested - or absorbed at dosages sufficient to damage a living organism.






38. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.






39. Any weathering that's caused by the activities of living organisms.






40. 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






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






42. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.






43. 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.






44. A hydrocarbon that forms as sediments are buried and pressurized.






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






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






47. A symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit.






48. The degree to which a substance is biologically harmful.






49. A severe tropical cyclone originating in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea or eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean - traveling north - northwest - or northeast from its point of origin - and usually involving heavy rains.






50. The capacity to do work.