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. Drilling a hole in the ground that's below the water table to hold waste.






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






3. Gave the EPA power to set emission standards for major sources of noise - including transportation - machinery - and construction.






4. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






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






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






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






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






9. A succession of organisms in an ecological community that constitutes a continuation of food energy from one organism to another as each consumes a lower member and - in turn - is preyed upon by a higher member.






10. To convert or change into a vapor.






11. The part of the Earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life.






12. 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






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






14. 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.






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






16. A layer of soil.






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






18. Refers to when farmers plant seeds without using a plow to turn the soil.






19. The second-purest form of coal.






20. A symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit.






21. 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.






22. An introduced - normative species.






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






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






25. Ozone that exists in the trophosphere.






26. Occurs when infection causes a change in the state of health.






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






28. Pollution that does not have a specific point of release - open -loop recycling -when materials are reused to form new products.






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






30. Land that's fit to be cultivated.






31. The uppermost horizon of soil. It is primarily made up of organic material - including waste from organisms - the bodies of decomposing organisms - and live organisms.






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






33. Organisms in the first stages of succession.






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






35. Sunlight.






36. A nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus - especially a heavy nucleus such as an isotope of uranium - splits into fragments - usually two fragments of comparable mass - releasing from 100 million to several hundred million electron volts of ener






37. 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.






38. A waste product produced by the burning of coal.






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






40. Being extinct or the process of becoming extinct.






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






42. Bacteria - virus - or other microorganisms that can cause disease.






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






44. 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.






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






46. The water from which a river rises; a source.






47. The process by which specialized bacteria (mostly anaerobic bacteria) convert ammonia to NOy NO2 - and N2 and release it back to the atmosphere.






48. A usually triangular alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river.






49. 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.






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