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 degree to which a substance is biologically harmful.






2. The number of children an average woman will bear during her lifetime; this information is based on an analysis of data from preceding years in the population in question.






3. The cleanest-burning coal; almost pure carbon.






4. Organisms that consume secondary consumers or other tertiary consumers.






5. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.






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






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






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






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






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






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






12. Living or derived from living things.






13. Also known as plantations - these are planted and managed tracts of trees of the same age that are harvested for commercial use.






14. The movement of individuals into a population.






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






16. When grass is consumed by animals at a faster rate than it can regrow.






17. The dark - crumbly - nutrient-rich material that results from the decomposition of organic material.






18. The accumulation of a substance - such as a toxic chemical - in various tissues of a living organism.






19. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






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






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






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






23. 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.






24. The gradual breakdown of rock into smaller and smaller particles - caused by natural chemical - physical - and biological factors.






25. A method of supplying irrigation water through tubes that literally drip water onto the soil at the base of each plant.






26. Formed from populations of different species occupying the same geographic area.






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






28. 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.






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






30. The management or regulation of a resource so that its use does not exceed the capacity of the resource to regenerate itself.






31. When companies are allowed to buy permits that allow them a certain amount of discharge of substances into certain environmental outlets. If they can reduce their amount of discharge - they are allowed to sell the remaining portion of their permit to






32. 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.






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






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






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






36. Organisms in the first stages of succession.






37. Devices containing alkaline substances that precipitate out much of the sulfur dioxide from industrial plants.






38. The process of fusing two nuclei.






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. 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.






41. A specific location from which pollution is released; an example of a point source location is a factory where wood is being burned.






42. States that matter can neither be created nor destroyed.






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






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






45. When an area of vegetation is cut down and burned before being planted with crops.






46. 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.






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






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






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






50. The outer part of the Earth - consisting of the crust and upper mantle - approximately 100 km (62 miles) thick.