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. A process in which cold - often nutrient-rich - waters from the ocean depths rise to the surface.






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






3. 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.






4. 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.






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






6. 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.






7. A fiscal policy that lowers taxes on income - including wages and profit - and raises taxes on consumption - particularly the unsustainable consumption of non-renewable resources.






8. 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.






9. 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.






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






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






12. Species that originate and live - or occur naturally - in an area or environment.






13. 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.






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






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






16. Organisms that consume primary consumers.






17. A tank filled with aerobic bacteria that's used to treat sewage.






18. An organism that is capable of converting radiant energy or chemical energy into carbohydrates.






19. The area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs.






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






21. The more or less constant winds blowing in horizontal directions over the Earth's surface - as part of Hadley cells.






22. 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.






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






24. The total sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment.






25. Close - prolonged associations between two or more different organisms of different species that may - but do not necessarily benefit the members.






26. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.






27. 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.






28. Living or derived from living things.






29. 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.






30. The raising of fish and other aquatic species in captivity for harvest.






31. 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.






32. The process of fusing two nuclei.






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






34. 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.






35. A plate boundary where two plates are moving toward each other.






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






37. When the size of an organism's natural habitat is reduced - or when development occurs that isolates a habitat.






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






39. The effect caused by a short exposure to a high level of toxin.






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






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






42. 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.






43. 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.






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






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






46. Power generated using water.






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






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






49. Calculating risk - or the degree of likelihood that a person will become ill upon exposure to a toxin or pathogen.






50. The atmospheric pressure conditions corresponding to the periodic warming of El Nino and cooling of La Nina.