APES Midyear Exam Practice One
1.
2.
We buy a table that is made from a beautiful tropical hardwood. The table's price is high.
Even so, the price usually does not include:
a. the cost of shipping the table to the US; b. the cost to pay the logger who cut down the
tree; c. the cost to the environment of removing the tree from the forest;
d. the cost of
the energy used to make the table; e. all of the above; f. none of the above
In an acre of forest, net primary productivity is best measured as:
a. carbon taken up by the plants in the sunlight plus carbon released by plants in the
dark; c. biomass of the plants; c. the amount of oxygen released by the plants
during photosynthesis; b. the mass of the lumber produced in the forest
3.
The littoral zone is defined as the area of a lake where:
a. algae and emergent plants grow; b. sunlight does not reach; b. nutrient levels are
low; d. the thermocline exists; e. the pH is very low
4.
Consider the following gardens
# of spiders of each species in gardens
Species of Spider
Grass spider
Orb Weaver
Jumping Spider
Wolf Spider
A
20
0
0
1
B
7
1
2
1
C
0
3
1
1
D
3
2
0
2
Which garden has the greatest diversity of spiders?
5.
Write the chemical equation for photosynthesis.
6.
Write the chemical equation for respiration.
7.
Which of the following is an organic chemical?
a. NaF;
b. CH4;
c. K2SO4; d. none of the above
8.
The United States produces 8 million tons of oranges in a single year. However, many
orange crops are succumbing to a deadly invasive bacteria. If 10,000 hectares of
orange groves are lost in a year to this bacteria, and a single acre can produce 20 tons
of oranges, what percentage of the total orange crop is lost to the disease in a year?
(Note: 1 hectare = 2.5 acres)
You must show your work and include units.
9.
A population with an age distribution shaped like a pyramid:
a. exhibits a stable population size; b. is likely to exhibit high population
momentum; c. has a low crude birth rate; d. is likely to be in the postindustrial
stage of demographic transition; e. none of the above
10.
A country has a net immigration rate of 3 per 1,000, a CBR of 9 per 1,000, and a CDR of
11 per 1,000. What is the growth rate of the country?
11.
The primary component of natural gas is ____________________.
12.
Which of the following is NOT an example of a potentially renewable source of energy?
a. wind;
b. geothermal; c. solar; d. biomass;
e. nuclear
13.
A radioactive isotope has a half-life of 40 years and a radioactivity level of 4 curies.
How many years will it take for the radioactivity to become 0.25 curies?
14.
Currently what is done with high-level radioactive waste from nuclear reactors in the
United States?
15.
In 2012, there were 20 births per 1000 people and 5 deaths per 1,000 people in a
community. What is the approximate doubling time? Assume rates of immigration
and emigration are equal.
16.
Give an example of an r-selected species. Why is it an r-selected species?
17.
Give an example of a k-selected species. Why is it a k-selected species?
18.
In the coniferous forests of Oregon, eight species of woodpeckers coexist. Four species
select their nesting sites based on tree diameter, while the fifth species nests only in
fir trees that have been dead for at least a decade. The sixth species nests in fir trees
that are alive or only just recently dead. The two remaining species nest in pine trees,
but each selects trees of different sizes. This pattern is an example of:
a. keystone species; b. resource partitioning; c. mutualism; d. parasitism; e.
none of the above
19.
The change in plant communities over time in an abandoned field is an example of:
a. commensalism; b. primary succession; c. secondary succession; d. densitydependent factors
20.
A high intrinsic growth rate would most likely be a characteristic of:
a. a K-selected species; b. an r-selected species; c. a species that is near extinction’
d. a species that is aquatic
21.
In which layer of the Earth’s atmosphere does most weather occur?
22.
Which biome contains the aphotic zone?
a. coral reefs; b. mangrove swamps; c. streams and rivers; d. open ocean
23.
Summer in the northern hemisphere is warmer primarily because:
a. at this time of the year the Earth is closer to the sun; b. a higher percentage of
sunlight is absorbed than reflected; c. the tilt of the Earth’s axis; d. increased
greenhouse gases
24.
Which stage(s) of the nitrogen cycle do not involve bacteria?
25.
The average efficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels is approximately:
a. 1 %; b.4%;
c. 10%; d. 15%; e. 28%;
f. 40%
26.
If gross primary productivity in a wetland is 3 kg C/m2/year and respiration is
1.6 kg C/m2/year , what is the net primary productivity of the wetland?
27.
What is the function of the moderator in a nuclear power plant?
28.
Give three examples of autotrophs.
29.
Explain how carbon is removed from the atmosphere in the carbon cycle.
Explain how carbon is returned to the atmosphere in the carbon cycle.
30.
Algal blooms may be caused by excess _______________________ or _____________________ in
bodies of water.
31.
Which of the following has no gaseous phase as it cycles through the environment?
a. carbon; b. oxygen; c. nitrogen; d. phosphorus; e. sulfur
32.
The reaction of sodium hydroxide, NaOH, and hydrochloric acid, HCl, results in the
following: NaOH + HCl  NaCl + H2O. Which of the following is true?
a. the product is acidic; b. the product is neutral; c. the product is basic; d. both
and inorganic and organic product form; e. matter is lost
33.
Consider I-131.
a. This is an ___________________ of the element iodine.
b. What is the atomic number of this element? __________
c. What is the mass number of this element? ____________
d. An atom of I-131 contains _____ neutrons and _____ protons. (How many?)
e. If the half-life of I-131 is 8 days, and you start with 9.0 mg of I-131, how many mg
will remain after 32 days?
f. True or false. As it undergoes radioactive decay, I-131 changes into a different
element and releases radiation.
34.
The pollutant least likely to be emitted from a smokestack would be:
a. carbon monoxide; b. carbon dioxide; c. ozone; d. nitrogen dioxides;
e. particulates
35.
The pollutant that can be removed by electrostatic precipitators is:
a. carbon monoxide; b. carbon dioxide; c. ozone,
d. nitogen dioxide;
e. particulates
36.
What isotope is most commonly used as fuel in nuclear power plants?
37.
What is the purpose of nuclear fuel enrichment?
38.
What is one advantage of nuclear power compared with fossil fuels?
39.
What is a disadvantage of nuclear power compared with fossil fuels?
40.
If a 5 gram sample of Ti-44 has a half-life of 63 years, how long will it take to have just
1/16 of the original amount of Ti-44?
41.
42.
43.
What is the purpose of control rods in a nuclear power plant?
Which fossil fuel is a significant source of sulfur pollution? _______________
What is hydraulic fracturing?
What resource is obtained by hydraulic fracturing?
What is one advantage of fracking?
What are two disadvantages of fracking?
44.
What are tar sands?
What are two significant disadvantages to the extraction and use of tar sands?
45.
A thermal inversion:
a. improves air quality;
46.
What is by-catch?
47.
What is the difference between biomagnification and bioaccumulation?
b. reduces air quality;
Give an example of each.
48.
What is an endocrine disruptor?
c. has no effect on air quality