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. 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.






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






3. The point at which 50 percent of the test organisms die from a toxin.






4. 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.






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






6. The biological treatment of wastewater in order to continue to remove biodegradable waste.






7. 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.






8. The phenomenon whereby the Earth's atmosphere traps solar radiation - caused by the presence in the atmosphere of gases such as carbon dioxide - water vapor - and methane that allow incoming sunlight to pass through - but absorb heat radiated back fr






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






10. The structure obtained if we organize the amount of energy contained in producers and consumers in an ecosystem by kilocalories per square meter - from largest to smallest.






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






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






13. An organism that is capable of converting radiant energy or chemical energy into carbohydrates.






14. 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






15. The place where two plates abut each other.






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






17. A layer of soil.






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






19. 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.






20. A long - relatively narrow island running parallel to the mainland-built up by the action of waves and currents and serving to protect the coast from erosion by surf and tidal surges.






21. An introduced - normative species.






22. Any other species of fish - mammals - or birds that are caught that are not the target organism.






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






24. The process in which plants absorb ammonium (NH3) - ammonia ions (NH4+) - and nitrate ions (NO3) through their roots.






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






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






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






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






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






30. The cultivation of a single crop on a farm or in a region or country; a single - homogeneous culture without diversity or dissension.






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






32. The least pure coal.






33. A process in which rows of crops are plowed across the hillside; this prevents the erosion that can occur when rows are cut up and down on a slope. ...






34. Nets that are dragged through the water and indiscriminately catch everything in their path.






35. 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.






36. 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.






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






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






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






40. 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.






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






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






43. 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.






44. 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.






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






46. 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.






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






48. Sunlight.






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






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