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. Soil composed of a mixture of sand - clay - silt - and organic matter.






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






3. 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.






4. 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.






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






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






7. 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






8. Any substance than is inhaled - ingested - or absorbed at dosages sufficient to damage a living organism.






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






10. When a species occupies a smaller niche than it would in the absence of competition.






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






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






13. Pollutants that are released directly into the lower atmosphere.






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






15. The region draining into river system or other body of water.






16. A soil horizon - horizon C is made up of larger pieces of rock that have not undergone much weathering.






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






18. Fires that typically burn only the forest's underbrush and do little damage to mature trees. Surface fires actually serve to protect the forest from more harmful fires by removing underbrush and dead materials that would burn quickly and at high temp






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






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






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






22. 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






23. The process by which the concentration of toxic substances increases in each successive link in the food chain.






24. Sunlight.






25. 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.






26. The A layer of soil is often referred to as topsoil and is most important for plant growth.






27. The process of fusing two nuclei.






28. The fraction of solar energy that is reflected back into space.






29. An animal that only consumes other animals.






30. The degree to which a substance is biologically harmful.






31. 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.






32. The process that occurs when two different species in a region compete and the better adapted species wins.






33. Organisms that are capable of interbreeding with one another and incapable of breeding with other species.






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






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






36. 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.






37. 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.






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






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






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






41. The thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica (and to some extent - over the Arctic).






42. Any noise that causes stress or has the potential to damage human health.






43. 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.






44. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






45. 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.






46. The process of burning.






47. The least pure coal.






48. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






49. A complex of interrelated food chains in an ecological community.






50. The industry or occupation devoted to the catching - processing - or selling of fish - shellfish - or other aquatic animals.