APES EXAM STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED
ANSWERS
aerobic respiration - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅a process where organic molecules (like glucose)
combines with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water as well as energy (ATP).
aquifer - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅porous, water-saturated layers of sand, gravel, or bedrock that can
yield an economically significant amount of water.
atmosphere - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅whole mass of air surrounding earth.
biomass - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅organic matter produced by plants and other photosynthetic
producers; total dry weight of all living organisms that can be supported to each trophic level in a food
chain or web.
biosphere - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅zone of the earth where life is found in the atmosphere,
hydrosphere, and lithosphere.
carbon cycle - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅cyclic movement of carbon in different chemical forms from
the environment to organisms and then back to the environment.
consumer (heterotroph) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅organism that cannot synthesize the organic
nutrients it needs and gets its organic nutrients by feeding on the tissues of producers or other
consumers.
decomposer - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅organism that digests part of dead organisms and cast-off
fragments and wastes of living organisms by breaking down the complex organic molecules AND
RETURNING NUTRIENTS TO SOIL & WATER!
detritivore - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅consumer organism that feeds on detritus, parts of dead
organisms, and cast-off fragments and wastes of living organisms.
,food chain - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅series of organisms in which one eats or decomposes the
preceding one. The sequence of organisms in an ecosystem through which energy is transferred.
food web - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅complex network of many interconnected food chains and
feeding relationships.
geosphere - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅the earth's immensely hot core, thick mantle comprised mostly
of rock and a thin outer crust that contains most of the earth's rock, soil, and sediment.
greenhouse effect - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅natural effect that releases heat into the atmosphere
near the earth's surface. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, and other gases in the troposphere absorb
some of the infrared radiation radiated by the earth's surface & release it as heat.
gross primary productivity - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅rate at which an ecosystem's producers
capture and store a given amount of chemical energy as biomass in a given length of time.
groundwater - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅water that sinks into the soil and is stored in slowly flowing
and slowly renewed underground reservoirs called aquifers; underground water in the zone of
saturation, below the water table.
hydrologic cycle - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅biogeochemical cycle that collects, purifies, and
distributes the earth's fixed supply of water from the environment to living organisms and then back to
the environment.
hydrosphere - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅the earth's liquid water (lakes, rivers, ponds, ocean,
underground water), frozen water (icecaps, glaciers, permafrost), and gaseous water (water vapor in the
atmosphere).
net primary productivity - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅rate at which all plants in an ecosystem produce
net useful chemical energy; equal to the difference between the rate at which the plants in an
ecosystem produce useful chemical energy (gross primary productivity) & the rate at which they use
some of that energy through cellular respiration.
, nitrogen cycle - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅cyclic movement of nitrogen in different chemical forms
from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment.
nutrient - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅any chemical an organism must take in to live, grow, and
reproduce.
nutrient cycle (biogeochemical cycle) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅natural process that recycles
nutrients in various chemical forms from the nonliving environment to living organisms & then back to
the nonliving environment.
omnivore - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅animal that can use both plants and animals as food sources.
phosphorous cycle - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅cyclic movement of phosphorous in different chemical
forms from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment.
photosynthesis - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅complex process in the cells of green plants that captures
light energy and converts it to chemical bond energy.
primary consumer (herbivore) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅organism that feeds on some of all parts of
plants or on other producers.
producer (autotroph) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅organism that uses solar energy or chemical energy
to manufacture the organic compounds it needs as nutrients from simple inorganic compounds
obtained from the environment.
pyramid of energy flow (trophic pyramid) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅diagram representing the flow
of energy through each trophic level in a food chain or food web. With each energy transfer, 10% of
usable energy is transferred to the next level.
secondary consumer (carnivore) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅organism that feeds only on primary
consumers.
ANSWERS
aerobic respiration - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅a process where organic molecules (like glucose)
combines with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water as well as energy (ATP).
aquifer - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅porous, water-saturated layers of sand, gravel, or bedrock that can
yield an economically significant amount of water.
atmosphere - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅whole mass of air surrounding earth.
biomass - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅organic matter produced by plants and other photosynthetic
producers; total dry weight of all living organisms that can be supported to each trophic level in a food
chain or web.
biosphere - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅zone of the earth where life is found in the atmosphere,
hydrosphere, and lithosphere.
carbon cycle - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅cyclic movement of carbon in different chemical forms from
the environment to organisms and then back to the environment.
consumer (heterotroph) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅organism that cannot synthesize the organic
nutrients it needs and gets its organic nutrients by feeding on the tissues of producers or other
consumers.
decomposer - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅organism that digests part of dead organisms and cast-off
fragments and wastes of living organisms by breaking down the complex organic molecules AND
RETURNING NUTRIENTS TO SOIL & WATER!
detritivore - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅consumer organism that feeds on detritus, parts of dead
organisms, and cast-off fragments and wastes of living organisms.
,food chain - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅series of organisms in which one eats or decomposes the
preceding one. The sequence of organisms in an ecosystem through which energy is transferred.
food web - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅complex network of many interconnected food chains and
feeding relationships.
geosphere - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅the earth's immensely hot core, thick mantle comprised mostly
of rock and a thin outer crust that contains most of the earth's rock, soil, and sediment.
greenhouse effect - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅natural effect that releases heat into the atmosphere
near the earth's surface. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, and other gases in the troposphere absorb
some of the infrared radiation radiated by the earth's surface & release it as heat.
gross primary productivity - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅rate at which an ecosystem's producers
capture and store a given amount of chemical energy as biomass in a given length of time.
groundwater - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅water that sinks into the soil and is stored in slowly flowing
and slowly renewed underground reservoirs called aquifers; underground water in the zone of
saturation, below the water table.
hydrologic cycle - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅biogeochemical cycle that collects, purifies, and
distributes the earth's fixed supply of water from the environment to living organisms and then back to
the environment.
hydrosphere - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅the earth's liquid water (lakes, rivers, ponds, ocean,
underground water), frozen water (icecaps, glaciers, permafrost), and gaseous water (water vapor in the
atmosphere).
net primary productivity - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅rate at which all plants in an ecosystem produce
net useful chemical energy; equal to the difference between the rate at which the plants in an
ecosystem produce useful chemical energy (gross primary productivity) & the rate at which they use
some of that energy through cellular respiration.
, nitrogen cycle - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅cyclic movement of nitrogen in different chemical forms
from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment.
nutrient - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅any chemical an organism must take in to live, grow, and
reproduce.
nutrient cycle (biogeochemical cycle) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅natural process that recycles
nutrients in various chemical forms from the nonliving environment to living organisms & then back to
the nonliving environment.
omnivore - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅animal that can use both plants and animals as food sources.
phosphorous cycle - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅cyclic movement of phosphorous in different chemical
forms from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment.
photosynthesis - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅complex process in the cells of green plants that captures
light energy and converts it to chemical bond energy.
primary consumer (herbivore) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅organism that feeds on some of all parts of
plants or on other producers.
producer (autotroph) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅organism that uses solar energy or chemical energy
to manufacture the organic compounds it needs as nutrients from simple inorganic compounds
obtained from the environment.
pyramid of energy flow (trophic pyramid) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅diagram representing the flow
of energy through each trophic level in a food chain or food web. With each energy transfer, 10% of
usable energy is transferred to the next level.
secondary consumer (carnivore) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅✅organism that feeds only on primary
consumers.
