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






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






3. A long - relatively narrow island running parallel to the mainland-built up by the action of waves and currents and serving to protect the coast from erosion by surf and tidal surges.






4. The least pure coal.






5. Creating flat platforms in the hillside that provide a level planting surface - which reduces soil runoff from the slope.






6. The layer of the Earth between the crust and the core.






7. Any process that breaks rock down into smaller pieces without changing the chemistry of the rock; typically wind and water.






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






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. The second-purest form of coal.






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






12. The process of fusing two nuclei.






13. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






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






15. The point at which 50 percent of the test organisms die from a toxin.






16. 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.






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






18. 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.






19. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






20. The result of vibrations (often due to plate movements) deep in the Earth that release energy. They often occur as two plates slide past one another at a transform boundary.






21. Any weathering that's caused by the activities of living organisms.






22. A system of vertical and horizontal air circulation predominating in tropical and subtropical regions and creating major weather patterns.






23. The process of burning.






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






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






26. The unit used to describe the volume of fossil fuels.






27. A hydrocarbon deposit - such as petroleum - coal - or natural gas - derived from living matter of a previous geologic time and used for fuel.






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






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






30. 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.






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






32. Says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transferred and transformed.






33. Any waste that poses a danger to human health; it must be dealt with in a different way from other types of waste.






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






35. The broad category under which selective cutting and shelter-wood cutting fall; selective deforestation.






36. The maintenance of a species or ecosystem in order to ensure their perpetuation - with no concern as to their potential monetary value






37. 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).






38. A plate boundary at which plates are moving away from each other. This causes an upwelling of magma from the mantle to cool and form new crust.






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






40. Smog resulting from emissions from industry and other sources of gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels.






41. 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.






42. Land that's fit to be cultivated.






43. The maximum population size that can be supported by the available resources in a region.






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






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






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






47. 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.






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






49. 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.






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