AP Environmental Science Vocabulary Exam
Questions and Answers
air pollution - -presence of unwanted substances in air
-noise pollution - -presence of unwanted noise
-Water pollution - -presence of unwanted substance in water
-Point Source - -pollution that can be traced to specific source
-Non-point Source - -source of pollution is many or specific, but can't be traced
-Sustainable Yield - -amount of resources that can be removed/harvested w/o
compromising ecosystem/initial natural capital
-sustainable society - -society whose processes/function can continue forever
-Sustainability - -ability to maintain function, state of being, processes
-Greenwashing - -marketing term for practices that suggest sustainability when its not
-hunter-gather - -small, mobile bands of humans that survive on whatever resources they
have in territory
-pastoralism - -herding of animals that have been domesticated/partly domesticated
-Agriculture - -process of raising crops & livestock in single, sml area
-Renewable - -Resources that can be replenished at rate =/> rate at which used
-Non-Renewable - -Resources that cannot be replenished at rate they are used
-Potentially Renewable - -Resources that are generally renewable, but can become
nonrenewable if not used wisely
-Reduce - -Limiting the consumption of products, decreases amount of trash & resources
needed overall
Includes producing and buying fewer goods and services, buying long-lasting products that
do not need to be replaced frequently, and buying smaller sizes of items
-Reuse - -Taking old products and using them again, keep waste out of landfills
•Reusing goods in the way they were intended to be used and repurposing them
,-Recycle - -processing used materials into new materials
Breaking down the original product by some physical or chemical means, retrieving the
materials, and using them as raw materials to make new products
-Degradable - -Resources that break down over shorter amts of time & include
biodegradable waste that originates from plants/animals
-Slowly Degradable - -Resources that break down over long periods of time
-Non-degradable - -Resources that virtually never break down & have indefinite life spans
-Biodiversity - -# & variety of species living in area
-Public Land - -any areas controlled by gov (in city, county, state, federal), funded by
taxpayers
-Conservationalists - -lobby to preserve/maintain land & natural resources so that they
may be cont to be used by humans
-Preservationists - -lobby to preserve lands & resources so they can't be used by humans
-Theory - -explanation that has been tested & supported by wide variety of observations &
that new info in unlikely to discredit
-Data - -points that are measurable = quantitative or observations w/o numbers =
qualitative
-Experiment - -organic way of testing hypotheses
-Environmental Science - -interdisciplinary field of study of interactions in the
environment
-Peer Review - -scientific research is evaluated by experts in same field
-Technology - -application of science to human problems/needs
-Model - -Representation of process or object
-Scientific Law - -statement/math relationship that describes single concept & is widely
accepted by science community, but is not modified over time
-First Law of Thermodynamics - -In physical & chemical changes, energy cannot be
created/destroyed, only transformed
-Boyle's Law - -PV = k where P = pressure, V = volume, K = constant
,-Globalization - -process in which countries all over world are related in terms of global
market in goods
-Natural Resources - -resources existing in nature
-Manufactured Capital - -resources such as tools/factories
-Human Capital - -human beings w/ skills, talents, abilities
-Marginal Cost - -Cost of producing 1 additional unit of product
-External costs / externalities - -Costs that are incurred in the process but not reflected in
cost of product
-External benefits - -benefits that are received by those not immediately involved in
economic transaction
-Cost-benefit analysis - -analysis compares potential cost/benefits of product or process
-Full-cost pricing - -products that include external costs, especially negative externalities
-Economy - -system that produces, distributes, & consumes goods/services
-Centrally Planned - -Economy that relies on gov/another central authority to determine
allocation of goods & services & to set prices
-Market - -Economy that relies on marketplace where buyers & sellers interact to
determine allocation of goods/services & to set prices
-Mixed - -Economy that relies on blend of gov & markets to determine allocation of
goods/services & to set prices
-Arable - -Able to be used for agriculture
-Gross Domestic Product - -Value of final goods/services produced over time period in
county
-Gross National Product - -value of everything produced by nation's residents, no matter
where they live
-Sustainable Development - -concept that sustainable methods for meeting humans needs
& wants are possible
-Endangered - -organism at risk for extinction in signif # of habitats
-Threatened - -organism at risk of being endangered in future
, -Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) - -Required by NEPA (National Environment
Policy Act)
Is complex prediction of environmental changes filed for proposed federal action
-Second Law of Thermodynamics - -when energy is transformed, some useful energy is
degraded into a less useful form, like heat
-Photosynthesis - -Converting the energy in sunlight into food;
Producers take in carbon dioxide, water and light energy to yield glucose and oxygen
-Cellular Respiration - -process in which cells release energy stored in food
Done by ALL organisms
-6CO2 + 6H20 + light energy -> C6H12O6 + 6O2 - -Chemical Equation for Photosynthesis
-C6H12O6 + 6O2 -> 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy - -Chemical Equation for Cellular Respiration
-Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) - -All energy absorbed by Producers
-Net Primary Productivity (NPP) - -Energy available to the next trophic level
Is difference b/t gross primary productivity & cellular respiration
-Biotic - -Living
-Abiotic - -Non-living
-Producer / Autotroph - -Organisms that preform photosynthesis
First level of food chain / web
-Heterotroph / Consumer - -Organisms that must eat other organisms for energy
-Primary Consumer - -Eats producers
-Secondary Consumer - -Eats Primary consumers
-Tertiary Consumer - -Eats Secondary consumers
-Omnivore - -Eats both plants and animals
-Ten Percent Rule - -relates to energy flow in food webs and food chains
only about 10% of useful energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next
-Primary Succession - -development of communities in a previously lifeless area without
soil
Questions and Answers
air pollution - -presence of unwanted substances in air
-noise pollution - -presence of unwanted noise
-Water pollution - -presence of unwanted substance in water
-Point Source - -pollution that can be traced to specific source
-Non-point Source - -source of pollution is many or specific, but can't be traced
-Sustainable Yield - -amount of resources that can be removed/harvested w/o
compromising ecosystem/initial natural capital
-sustainable society - -society whose processes/function can continue forever
-Sustainability - -ability to maintain function, state of being, processes
-Greenwashing - -marketing term for practices that suggest sustainability when its not
-hunter-gather - -small, mobile bands of humans that survive on whatever resources they
have in territory
-pastoralism - -herding of animals that have been domesticated/partly domesticated
-Agriculture - -process of raising crops & livestock in single, sml area
-Renewable - -Resources that can be replenished at rate =/> rate at which used
-Non-Renewable - -Resources that cannot be replenished at rate they are used
-Potentially Renewable - -Resources that are generally renewable, but can become
nonrenewable if not used wisely
-Reduce - -Limiting the consumption of products, decreases amount of trash & resources
needed overall
Includes producing and buying fewer goods and services, buying long-lasting products that
do not need to be replaced frequently, and buying smaller sizes of items
-Reuse - -Taking old products and using them again, keep waste out of landfills
•Reusing goods in the way they were intended to be used and repurposing them
,-Recycle - -processing used materials into new materials
Breaking down the original product by some physical or chemical means, retrieving the
materials, and using them as raw materials to make new products
-Degradable - -Resources that break down over shorter amts of time & include
biodegradable waste that originates from plants/animals
-Slowly Degradable - -Resources that break down over long periods of time
-Non-degradable - -Resources that virtually never break down & have indefinite life spans
-Biodiversity - -# & variety of species living in area
-Public Land - -any areas controlled by gov (in city, county, state, federal), funded by
taxpayers
-Conservationalists - -lobby to preserve/maintain land & natural resources so that they
may be cont to be used by humans
-Preservationists - -lobby to preserve lands & resources so they can't be used by humans
-Theory - -explanation that has been tested & supported by wide variety of observations &
that new info in unlikely to discredit
-Data - -points that are measurable = quantitative or observations w/o numbers =
qualitative
-Experiment - -organic way of testing hypotheses
-Environmental Science - -interdisciplinary field of study of interactions in the
environment
-Peer Review - -scientific research is evaluated by experts in same field
-Technology - -application of science to human problems/needs
-Model - -Representation of process or object
-Scientific Law - -statement/math relationship that describes single concept & is widely
accepted by science community, but is not modified over time
-First Law of Thermodynamics - -In physical & chemical changes, energy cannot be
created/destroyed, only transformed
-Boyle's Law - -PV = k where P = pressure, V = volume, K = constant
,-Globalization - -process in which countries all over world are related in terms of global
market in goods
-Natural Resources - -resources existing in nature
-Manufactured Capital - -resources such as tools/factories
-Human Capital - -human beings w/ skills, talents, abilities
-Marginal Cost - -Cost of producing 1 additional unit of product
-External costs / externalities - -Costs that are incurred in the process but not reflected in
cost of product
-External benefits - -benefits that are received by those not immediately involved in
economic transaction
-Cost-benefit analysis - -analysis compares potential cost/benefits of product or process
-Full-cost pricing - -products that include external costs, especially negative externalities
-Economy - -system that produces, distributes, & consumes goods/services
-Centrally Planned - -Economy that relies on gov/another central authority to determine
allocation of goods & services & to set prices
-Market - -Economy that relies on marketplace where buyers & sellers interact to
determine allocation of goods/services & to set prices
-Mixed - -Economy that relies on blend of gov & markets to determine allocation of
goods/services & to set prices
-Arable - -Able to be used for agriculture
-Gross Domestic Product - -Value of final goods/services produced over time period in
county
-Gross National Product - -value of everything produced by nation's residents, no matter
where they live
-Sustainable Development - -concept that sustainable methods for meeting humans needs
& wants are possible
-Endangered - -organism at risk for extinction in signif # of habitats
-Threatened - -organism at risk of being endangered in future
, -Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) - -Required by NEPA (National Environment
Policy Act)
Is complex prediction of environmental changes filed for proposed federal action
-Second Law of Thermodynamics - -when energy is transformed, some useful energy is
degraded into a less useful form, like heat
-Photosynthesis - -Converting the energy in sunlight into food;
Producers take in carbon dioxide, water and light energy to yield glucose and oxygen
-Cellular Respiration - -process in which cells release energy stored in food
Done by ALL organisms
-6CO2 + 6H20 + light energy -> C6H12O6 + 6O2 - -Chemical Equation for Photosynthesis
-C6H12O6 + 6O2 -> 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy - -Chemical Equation for Cellular Respiration
-Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) - -All energy absorbed by Producers
-Net Primary Productivity (NPP) - -Energy available to the next trophic level
Is difference b/t gross primary productivity & cellular respiration
-Biotic - -Living
-Abiotic - -Non-living
-Producer / Autotroph - -Organisms that preform photosynthesis
First level of food chain / web
-Heterotroph / Consumer - -Organisms that must eat other organisms for energy
-Primary Consumer - -Eats producers
-Secondary Consumer - -Eats Primary consumers
-Tertiary Consumer - -Eats Secondary consumers
-Omnivore - -Eats both plants and animals
-Ten Percent Rule - -relates to energy flow in food webs and food chains
only about 10% of useful energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next
-Primary Succession - -development of communities in a previously lifeless area without
soil
