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. When the signs and symptoms of an illness can be attributed to a specific infectious organism that resides in the building.






2. Organisms that consume primary consumers.






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






4. An opening in the Earth's crust through which molten lava - ash - and gases are ejected.






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






6. 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.






7. The process of burning.






8. 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.






9. When an area of vegetation is cut down and burned before being planted with crops.






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






11. An influential theory that concerns the long-term rate of conventional oil (and other fossil fuel) extraction and depletion. It predicts that future world oil production will soon reach a peak and then rapidly decline.






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






13. The dosage level of a toxin at which a negative effect occurs.






14. The energy of motion.






15. The area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs.






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






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






18. Open or forested areas built at the outer edge of a city.






19. 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.






20. 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.






21. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






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






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






24. Transition in species composition of a biological community - often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological community in any area virtually barren of life.






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






26. The edges of tectonic plates.






27. 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.






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






29. The removal of trees for agricultural purposes or purposes of exportation.






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






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






32. The capacity to do work.






33. 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.






34. A lowland area - such as a marsh or swamp - that is saturated with moisture - especially when regarded as the natural habitat of wildlife.






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






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






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






38. A cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America - occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years and affecting Pacific and other weather patterns.






39. 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.






40. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






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






42. The removal of select trees in an area; this leaves the majority of the habitat in place and has less of an impact on the ecosystem.






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






44. 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.






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






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






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






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






49. The point at which 50 percent of the test organisms show a negative effect from a toxin.






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