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 total sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment.






2. The development and introduction of new varieties of (mainly) wheat and rice that has increased yields per acre dramatically in countries since the 1960s.






3. An animal that only consumes other animals.






4. The third purest form of coal.






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






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






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






8. A fiscal policy that lowers taxes on income - including wages and profit - and raises taxes on consumption - particularly the unsustainable consumption of non-renewable resources.






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






10. This category includes organisms that consume producers (plants and algae).






11. 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.






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






13. Radioactive wastes that produce high levels of ionizing radiation.






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






15. Any compound that releases hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. Also - a water solution that contains a surplus of hydrogen ions.






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






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






18. The result of chemical interaction with the bedrock that is typical of the action of both water and atmospheric gases.






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






20. The solids that remain after the secondary treatment of sewage.






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






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






23. 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






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






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






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






27. 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.






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






29. A place where a large quantity of a resource sits for a long period of time.






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






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






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






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






34. Also known as transform faults - boundaries at which plates are moving past each other - sideways.






35. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






36. A layer in a large body of water - such as a lake - that sharply separates regions differing in temperature - so that the temperature gradient across the layer is abrupt.






37. Graphical representations of populations' ages.






38. The practice of alternating the crops grown on a piece of land - for example - corn one year - legumes for two years - and then back to corn.






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






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






41. The amount of the Earth's surface that's necessary to supply the needs of - and dispose of the waste from a particular population.






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






43. 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.






44. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






45. A model that's used to predict population trends based on the birth and death rates as well as economic status of a population.






46. One that has never been cut; these forests have not been seriously disturbed for several hundred years.






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






48. An organism such as a bacterium or protozoan - that obtains its nourishment through the oxidation of inorganic chemical compounds - as opposed to photosynthesis.






49. 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.






50. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.