AP Environmental Science s4

AP Environmental Science Midterm Review 2012-2013

1. What is exponential growth? Describe its shape on a graph. Give two examples of exponential growth. 2. What are the main reasons for the rapid growth of the world’s population during the past 100 years? What are doubling time and the rule of 70? How many years would it take for the population of a country to double if it was growing at 2%/year? To quadruple? 3. What is the current population of the world? 4. A country of 60 million people has an area of 5 million km2. What is the population density? 5. Explain carrying capacity and total fertility rate. 6. What equation explains human impact on the environment? 7. What factors have influenced the human population explosion? 8. A country has a crude birth rate of 42 per 1000 individuals and a crude death rate of 33 per 1000. What is its birth rate? Its death rate? Its growth rate? 9. Why would it make sense for a poor family to have a large number of children? Explain the correlation between economics and birth rate 10. What is an hypothesis? An independent or dependent variable? 11. How does fact differ from theory? 12. How does the phosphorus cycle differ from other elements? 13. What is a system? Define in terms of input, stores, output and steady state. 14. Distinguish between a positive and a negative feedback loop. Give an environmental example of each. 15. Distinguish between the abiotic and biotic components of an ecosystem and give 3 examples of each. 16. Review the factors influencing evolution: natural selection, genetic drift, mutation, migration. 17. What do humans do that impact Earth’s biodiversity? 18. What is the equation for photosynthesis? 19. Where are the main reserves for the major chemical nutrients? 20. What fuels the hydrologic cycle? 21. Identify the 3 main types of rock. How are each formed? 22. What processes change rocks over time? 23. What are the effects of too much nitrogen in an aquatic system? Identify locations where this occurs. 24. What are the types of continental plate boundaries? What happens at each? 25. What evidence did Alfred Wegener use to support his theory of continental drift? 26. What is the demographic transition? How will a population tend to end up over time? Explain what happens in each phase. Be able to read demographic graphs and population pyramids 27. Give examples of epidemic and acute diseases. Which are you more likely to die from? What type of countries have high epidemic disease mortality? 28. Be able to read an age pyramid and determine percentages in a population. 29. What are ways of controlling population growth? Which work? Which are more controversial or less controversial? 30. Compare producers to consumers and give examples of each in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. What factors limit growth in each type of system. 31. What is an ecosystem? What are its minimum requirements? How does it differ from an ecological community? 32. What are trophic levels? Where would autotrophs/producers, consumers and decomposers be on a food chain? 33. What type of environmental conditions increase biodiversity? Decrease it? 34. What is biomass? 35. What is another name for the 2nd law of thermodynamics? Explain the 1st law. 36. What is the effect of the second law of thermodynamics on a) the flow of energy through an ecosystem and b) the amount of food energy available to top carnivores and humans? 37. How much energy is passed on between trophic levels in a food chain? 38. What are primary and secondary productivity? 39. What role does nitrogen play for organisms? How do humans alter this cycle? 40. Give examples of directional, stabilizing and diversifying natural selection. 41. Explain the Competitive Exclusion Principle. 42. What is adaptive radiation? When or where is this most likely to occur? 43. Define exotic and ubiquitous species. Give examples. 44. What is the role of decomposers in the environment? 45. Explain r-and K-selected species. Give examples of each. Be familiar w/survivorship curves. 46. Why are keystone species important? Give an example (other than humans)of a keystone species and the role it plays. 47. Describe the peppered moth of Great Britain case study. What was this evidence of? 48. Identify the biome described: i. Subarctic forest dominated by coniferous trees (firs, spruces, birches, pine) ii. The ocean bottom iii. Area with low rainfall (mostly during the cool season). Generally sunny with shrubs and low-growing plants. iv. High average temperatures. Heavy, frequent precipitation in these areas help support its famous diversity of vegetation. 49. Biomes are affected by what two major factors? 50. What is net primary productivity? How is net production determined? 51. Give examples of mutualism, parasitism and commensalism. 52. Where do most earthquakes tend to occur? Why? 53. Identify the major types of rocks. How is each formed? 54. In what ways can rocks be weathered? 55. What processes move carbon through the biosphere? 56. What steps are used in the scientific method? 57. How are traditional (subsistence) farming and industrial farming similar? Different? Note crop management, irrigation, pest management techniques. What must be done for a crop to be considered ‘organic’ by the USDA? 58. What is the ‘pesticide treadmill’? What does it often lead to? 59. What are ways to prevent soil erosion? What are the effects of soil erosion? 60. Identify ways to improve crop yield. What are the pros/cons of such methods? 61. What are some causes, effects and diseases related to famine? 62. What are the most important crops? 63. What are in the different soil horizons? 64. How is soil created? What is it comprised of? What are the 3 types of soil particles? How do they compare? 65. What are the pros & cons of genetically modified organisms? 66. What issues surround the industrial production of meat (beef, pork, chicken) and fish? 67. Review Interpreting graphs & data p109 (this was a homework assignment) 68. What is biomagnification? Give examples of each. 69. Explain what is meant by ‘the tragedy of the commons’ 70. What causes increased soil salinity? What problems does this lead to? How can it be prevented?