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 use of building materials - building placement - and design to passively collect solar energy that can be used to keep a building warm or cool.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






9. A symbiotic relationship in which one member is helped by the association and the other is harmed.






10. A fishing technique in which the ocean floor is literally scraped by heavy nets that smash everything in their path.






11. The liquid that percolates to the bottom of a landfill.






12. A soil horizon; B receives the minerals and organic materials that are leached out of the A horizon.






13. A species whose very presence contributes to an ecosystem's diversity and whose extinction would consequently lead to the extinction of other forms of life.






14. The observed effect of the Coriolis force - especially the deflection of an object moving above the Earth - rightward in the Northern Hemisphere - and leftward in the Southern Hemisphere.






15. The amount of energy that plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem.






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






17. When the majority of a building's occupants experience certain symptoms that vary with the amount of time spent in the building.






18. 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.






19. In fishing - the use of long lines that have baited hooks and will be taken by numerous aquatic organisms.






20. The removal of all of the trees in an area.






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






22. Organisms that reproduce early in life and often and have a high capacity for reproductive growth.






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






24. Organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter.






25. 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).






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






27. A process in which an organism is exposed to a toxin at different concentrations - and the dosage that causes the death of the organism is recorded.






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






29. An effect that results from long -term exposure to low levels of toxin.






30. The second-purest form of coal.






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






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






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






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






35. 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.






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






37. The edges of tectonic plates.






38. In a sewage treatment plant - the initial filtration that is done to remove debris such as stones - sticks - rags - toys - and other objects that were flushed down the toilet.






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






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






41. The bedrock - which lies below all of the other layers of soil - is referred to as the R horizon.






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






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






44. An organism that must obtain food energy from secondary sources - for example - by eating plant or animal matter.






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






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






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






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






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






50. 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.