A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

1.  Earth Systems and Resources

  1. Chemistry
  2. What is an isotope?
  3. What is an ionic compound, and what are some examples?
  4. What is a covalent compound, and what are some examples?
  5. What makes a chemical compound “organic”?
  6. What is an inorganic compound? Give examples.
  7. What is a synthetic chemical? How many are there? How are they regulated? What do we know about the effects of these of humans?
  8. Earth Science Concepts:

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. Geologic time scale
  2. Plate tectonics
  3. Earthquakes
  4. Volcanism
  5. Seasons
  6. Solar intensity
  7. Latitude
  8. Rock cycle (metamorphic, sedimentary, igneous rocks)
  9. Crust
  10. Core
  11. Mantle
  12. Convergent boundary
  13. Divergent boundary
  14. Transform fault boundary

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. What is the composition of each of Earth’s layers?
  2. What is the practical significance today of the way Earth’s resources were distributed when the planet formed and cooled?
  3. What are some environmental consequences of the tectonic cycle?
  4. How and why do volcanoes and earthquakes occur?
  5. What’s the difference between weathering and erosion? Why are both processes important?
  6. Atmosphere

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. Atmospheric Composition
  2. Weather
  3. Climate
  4. Coriolis effect
  5. El-nino, La Nina, ENSO
  6. Troposphere
  7. Greenhouse effect
  8. Greenhouse gases
  9. Convection Currents
  10. Precipitation
  11. Hadley Cell
  12. Trade winds
  13. Westerly
  14. Polar easterlies
  15. Doldrums
  16. Jet Stream
  17. Monsoon
  18. Rain shadow effect

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. How do winds and ocean currents transport nutrients and energy around the globe?
  2. How do winds and ocean currents (gyres) transport pollution and waste? Where do they tend to concentrate? What does upwelling do for the oceans?
  3. Know the layers of the atmosphere and what occurs in each. temperature, ozone,
  4. Global Water, Surface Water, Resources and Use

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. Freshwater
  2. Seawater
  3. Watershed
  4. Estuary
  5. Littoral zone
  6. Limnetic zone
  7. Profundal zone
  8. Benthic zone
  9. Coastal zone
  10. Euphotic zone
  11. Bathyal zone
  12. Abyssal zone
  13. Upwelling
  14. Red tide
  15. Algal bloom
  16. Groundwater
  17. Aquifer
  18. Ocean currents
  19. Water-stressed
  20. Water-scarce
  21. Prior Appropriation
  22. Coral reef
  23. Epilimmion
  24. Headwaters

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. Discuss ways in which humans manage water distribution.
  2. What are the major human uses of water?
  3. What factors will affect the future availability of water?
  4. What are the natural sources of water on Earth?
  5. What are the primary repositories of fresh water on Earth? Which of these repositories is the largest?
  6. What’s the difference between a confined and an unconfined aquifer? How do their recharge rates differ?
  7. How do human activities worsen the effects of droughts and floods?
  8. How can desalination contribute to water supplies? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Where in the world is desalination widely used?
  9. Discuss the disadvantages of transporting large amounts of water (example: southern California)
  10. Absolutely be able to discuss 6-10 ways in which the average American can reduce their water consumption.
  11. What are the advantages and disadvantages of large dams?
  12. How can corporate take over of water supplies affect the actual distribution?
  13. Soil and Soil Dynamics

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. Silt
  2. Abiotic
  3. Biotic
  4. Clay
  5. Sand
  6. Physical, Chemical, Biological weathering
  7. O,A,B,C horizons
  8. Arable land
  9. Loamy soil
  10. Aggregates
  11. Monoculture

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. How do soils form?
  2. What are the roles of soils in the ecosystems?
  3. How do a soil’s physical and chemical properties influence its role as a medium for plant growth?
  4. What role can alternating crops play in the quality of the soil? Specifically legumes.
  5. List some negative effects humans have had on the soils of the world.
  6. What factors caused the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s?

2.  The Living World

  1. Ecosystem Structure

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. Habitat
  2. Niche
  3. Population
  4. Community
  5. Competition; intra and interspecific
  6. Gause’s principal
  7. Realized niche
  8. Fundamental niche
  9. Symbiotic relationships (parasitism, mutualism, commensalism)
  10. Predation
  11. Keystone species
  12. Ecotones
  13. Biomes

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. How do the terms “closed system/open system” apply to the cycling of matter and energy on Earth?
  2. What are the different biomes around the world and what are the general characteristics of each?
  3. How does deforestation affect the ability of an ecosystem to function?
  4. Energy Flow

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. Autotrophs
  2. Heterotrophs
  3. Producers
  4. Chemotrophs
  5. Net primary productivity
  6. Gross primary productivity
  7. Primary consumers
  8. Secondary consumers
  9. Detritivores
  10. Albedo
  11. Decomposers
  12. Trophic level
  13. Food chain
  14. Energy pyramid
  15. Bioaccumulation
  16. Biomagnification

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. How does net primary productivity impact humans? Why is there a difference between GPP and NPP (where does that energy go)?
  2. Why is photosynthesis so important to us?
  3. How does the second law of thermodynamics apply to energy moving through an ecosystem?
  4. Give an example of a toxin that biomagnifies.
  5. Ecosystem Diversity

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. Biomes
  2. Aquatic life zone
  3. Law of tolerance
  4. Law of the minimum
  5. Evolution
  6. Phylogenetic tree
  7. Speciation
  8. Species
  9. Microevolution
  10. Macroevolution
  11. Bottleneck effect
  12. Allopatric speciation
  13. Sympatric speciation
  14. Extinction
  15. Provisions
  16. Instrumental value
  17. Intrinsic value
  18. Aesthetic value

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. What are the regulating services that nature provides?
  2. What support systems does nature provide?
  3. What factors impact an ecosystems resilience?
  4. What is the theory of island biogeography?
  5. Where are the greatest areas of biodiversity on Earth?
  6. Natural Ecosystem Change

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. Ecological succession
  2. Primary and secondary succession
  3. Climax community
  4. Pioneer species
  5. Habitat fragmentation
  6. Edge effect
  7. Endemic species
  8. Indigenous species
  9. Invasive species

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. What were the effects of the 90’s fire at Yellowstone National Park? Why was this one incident such a great ecological study?
  2. Be able to list at least 10 different invasive species and their impact on the environment? (Please include at least 5 Michigan specific examples)
  3. Natural Biogeochemical Cycles

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. Reservoir
  2. Exchange pool
  3. Residency time
  4. Conservation of matter
  5. Precipitation
  6. Evaporation
  7. Transpiration

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. Carbon cycle
  2. Respiration
  3. Photosynthesis
  4. Combustion
  5. How are human actions impacting the carbon cycle? Specifically how does; a. combustion, b. deforestation, c. agriculture change carbon cycle?
  6. Where are the largest carbon sinks on Earth? What’s happening to these specific areas?
  7. Nitrogen cycle
  8. Ammonia
  9. Nitrates
  10. Nitrification
  11. Assimilation
  12. Ammonification
  13. How is nitrogen a limiting factor and what have humans done to change this?
  14. What are the effects on the environment from artificial nitrogen fixation?
  15. How can nutrient leaching effect the environment?
  16. Phosphorous cycle
  17. Phosphate
  18. Terrestrial cycle
  19. Inorganic fertilizers
  20. What changes to the phosphorous cycle have human made? What are the affects of those changes?
  21. How do excess nitrogen and phosphorous lead to cultural eutrophication? What are the issues with that?
  22. Sulfur
  23. Sulfur dioxide
  24. Hydrogen sulfide
  25. How does sulfur impact acid deposition around the world?
  26. Conservation
  27. What efforts are being done by individuals and governments to preserve biodiversity and ecosystems?

3.  Population

  1. Population Biology Concepts

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. Age-structure pyramids
  2. Carrying capacity
  3. Clumping dispersion
  4. K-selected species
  5. R-selected species
  6. Competitive exclusion principle
  7. Predation
  8. Parasites (pathogens)

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review

You should know these words extremely well, that means be able to use them in sentences and explain the meaning of each. This is the first step to being successful on the A.P. exam. Then you should answer all of these questions and be able to explain your answers to someone else.

  1. How do populations and communities differ?
  2. Be able to discuss how size, density, and distribution all effect populations.
  3. What’s the difference between density-independent and density-dependent factors? Give examples of both.
  4. How can limiting factors affect a population? List some common limiting factors.
  5. What factors go into exponential growth? What eventually happens to all populations experiencing exponential growth?
  6. Be able to explain and give examples of predator-prey relationships.
  7. Human Population

A.P. Environmental Science Exam Vocabulary Review