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 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).






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






3. 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






4. 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).






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






6. The maintenance of a species or ecosystem in order to ensure their perpetuation - with no concern as to their potential monetary value






7. Acid rain - acid hail - acid snow; all of which occur as a result of pollution in the atmosphere.






8. The finest soil - made up of particles that are less than 0.002 mm in diameter.






9. 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






10. An effect that results from long -term exposure to low levels of toxin.






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






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






13. A group of modern windmills.






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






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






16. When ecological succession begins in a virtually lifeless area - such as the area behind a moving glacier.






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






18. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.






19. Any compound that releases hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. Also - a water solution that contains a surplus of hydrogen ions.






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






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






22. Involves the sinking of shafts to reach underground deposits. In this type of mining - networks of tunnels are dug or blasted and humans enter these tunnels in order to manually retrieve the coal.






23. The movement of individuals into a population.






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






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






26. 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






27. Fires that typically burn only the forest's underbrush and do little damage to mature trees. Surface fires actually serve to protect the forest from more harmful fires by removing underbrush and dead materials that would burn quickly and at high temp






28. A cyclonic storm having winds ranging from approximately 48 to 121 km (30 to 75 miles) per hour.






29. Countries that have a renewable annual water supply of about 1 -000 -2 -000 m3 per person.






30. The least pure coal.






31. Poor nutrition that results from an insufficient or poorly balanced diet.






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






33. Soil composed of a mixture of sand - clay - silt - and organic matter.






34. Any noise that causes stress or has the potential to damage human health.






35. The use of building materials - building placement - and design to passively collect solar energy that can be used to keep a building warm or cool.






36. The third purest form of coal.






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






38. 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.






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






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






41. 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.






42. The result of chemical interaction with the bedrock that is typical of the action of both water and atmospheric gases.






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






44. 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.






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






46. A symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit.






47. 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.






48. The observed effect of the Coriolis force - especially the deflection of an object moving above the Earth - rightward in the Northern Hemisphere - and leftward in the Southern Hemisphere.






49. 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.






50. Land that's fit to be cultivated.