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






2. The gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a celestial body - especially the one surrounding the Earth - which is retained by the celestial body's gravitational field.






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






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






5. The outermost shell of the atmosphere - between the mesosphere and outer space - where temperatures increase steadily with altitude.






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






7. 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






8. To convert or change into a vapor.






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






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






11. The result of graphing a dose-response analysis.






12. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






13. An organism that obtains organic food molecules without eating other organisms or substances derived from other organisms. autotrophs use energy from the sun or from the oxidation of inorganic substances to make organic molecules from inorganic ones.






14. A program funded by the federal government and a trust that's funded by taxes on chemicals; identifies pollutants and cleans up hazardous waste sites.






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






16. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






22. 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.






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






24. An organism that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition.






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






26. The molten core of the Earth.






27. The development and introduction of new varieties of (mainly) wheat and rice that has increased yields per acre dramatically in countries since the 1960s.






28. The part of the mantle that lies just below the lithosphere.






29. 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.






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






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






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






33. Graphical representations of populations' ages.






34. Using strategies to reduce the amount of risk (the degree of likelihood that a person will become ill upon exposure to a toxin or pathogen).






35. The amount that the population would grow if there were unlimited resources in its environment.






36. When trees and crops are planted together - creating a mutualistic symbiotic relationship between them.






37. The place where two plates abut each other.






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






39. 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.






40. In a sewage treatment plant - the initial filtration that is done to remove debris such as stones - sticks - rags - toys - and other objects that were flushed down the toilet.






41. Land that's fit to be cultivated.






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






43. A fishing technique in which the ocean floor is literally scraped by heavy nets that smash everything in their path.






44. The process in which plants absorb ammonium (NH3) - ammonia ions (NH4+) - and nitrate ions (NO3) through their roots.






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






46. 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.






47. The process of fusing two nuclei.






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






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






50. The removal of trees for agricultural purposes or purposes of exportation.