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 carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






2. 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.






3. An estimate of the amount of fossil fuel that can be obtained from reserve.






4. The dark - crumbly - nutrient-rich material that results from the decomposition of organic material.






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






6. The amount of sugar that the plants produce in photosynthesis and subtracting from it the amount of energy the plants need for growth maintenance - repair - and reproduction.






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






8. 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.






9. The condition in which - at ecosystem boundaries - there is greater species diversity and biological density than there is in the heart of ecological communities.






10. When companies are allowed to buy permits that allow them a certain amount of discharge of substances into certain environmental outlets. If they can reduce their amount of discharge - they are allowed to sell the remaining portion of their permit to






11. Acid rain - acid hail - acid snow; all of which occur as a result of pollution in the atmosphere.






12. When ecological succession begins in a virtually lifeless area - such as the area behind a moving glacier.






13. Living or derived from living things.






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






15. 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.






16. The number of live births per 1 -000 members of the population in a year.






17. 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.






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






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






20. Sunlight.






21. The amount that the population would grow if there were unlimited resources in its environment.






22. The outermost shell of the atmosphere - between the mesosphere and outer space - where temperatures increase steadily with altitude.






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






24. The more or less constant winds blowing in horizontal directions over the Earth's surface - as part of Hadley cells.






25. 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.






26. Is equal to the number of deaths per 1 -000 members of the population in a year.






27. 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.






28. The process of soil particles being carried away by wind or water. Erosion moves the smaller particles first and hence degrades the soil to a coarser - sandier - stonier texture.






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






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






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






32. The coarsest soil - with particles 0.05 -2.0 mm in diameter.






33. 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






34. 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.






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






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






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






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






39. The part of the Earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life.






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






41. Gave the EPA power to set emission standards for major sources of noise - including transportation - machinery - and construction.






42. The movement of individuals into a population.






43. Graphical representations of populations' ages.






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






45. A symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit.






46. Urban areas that heat up more quickly and retain heat more than do nonurban areas.






47. 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.






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






49. The capacity to do work.






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