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 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.






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






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






4. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.






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






6. 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.






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






8. The movement of individuals into a population.






9. The solids that remain after the secondary treatment of sewage.






10. The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into compounds - such as ammonia - by natural agencies or various industrial processes.






11. 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.






12. Pertaining to factors or things that are separate and independent from living things; nonliving.






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






14. Any other species of fish - mammals - or birds that are caught that are not the target organism.






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






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






17. Change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals and resulting in the development of new species.






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






19. An introduced - normative species.






20. 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.






21. The process by which the concentration of toxic substances increases in each successive link in the food chain.






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






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






24. 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.






25. 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.






26. 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.






27. Is the practice of planting bands of different crops across a hillside.






28. 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






29. The use of devices - such as solar panels - to collect - focus - transport - or store solar energy.






30. The process in which soil becomes saltier and saltier until - finally - the salt prevents the growth of plants. Salinization is caused by irrigation because salts brought in with the water remain in the soil as water evaporates.






31. Radioactive wastes that produce high levels of ionizing radiation.






32. Organisms that are capable of interbreeding with one another and incapable of breeding with other species.






33. 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).






34. A region of the ocean near the equator - characterized by calms - light winds - or squalls.






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






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






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






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






39. When soil becomes water-logged and then dries out - and salt forms a layer on its surface.






40. The fraction of solar energy that is reflected back into space.






41. An intensification of the Greenhouse Effect due to the increased presence of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.






42. The edges of tectonic plates.






43. The molten core of the Earth.






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






45. The value of natural resources.






46. 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.






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






48. When the signs and symptoms of an illness can be attributed to a specific infectious organism that resides in the building.






49. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






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