Environmental Science Review
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____
1. Using scientific information from chemistry and biology to devise a plan to clean up a lake and make it
healthy again describes
a. ecology.
c. earth science.
b. environmental science.
d. social science.
____
2. Why is the world’s loss of biodiversity a source of concern?
a. Humans depend upon other organisms for food and oxygen.
b. Species extinctions have been rare throughout history.
c. Loss of biodiversity is not a concern because extinctions are common.
d. Both (a) and (b)
____
3. All of the following issues involve environmental science except
a. measuring smog levels in cities.
b. asking people questions about the cost of various resources.
c. studying the loss of plant and animal species.
d. publishing the results of a study on fossil fuel depletion.
____
4. The group that does not receive the experimental treatment in an experiment is the
a. control group.
c. data.
b. experimental group.
d. variable.
____
5. In an experiment, the factor of interest is called the
a. control group.
c. hypothesis.
b. experimental group.
d. variable.
____
6. The average mass of a wolf in a pack of wolves is an example of
a. mean.
c. sample size.
b. distribution.
d. statistical population.
____
7. Which step in the experimental method are scientists conducting when they photograph birds in flight?
a. observing
c. drawing conclusions
b. hypothesizing
d. analyzing data
____
8. If you visited a savanna, you would likely see
a. large herds of grazing animals, such as rhinos, gazelles, and giraffes.
b. a dense forest.
c. snow and ice.
d. a coastal ecosystem.
____
9. Animals that live in the desert
a. hibernate in winter.
b. are usually nocturnal.
c. usually have thin skin to absorb water.
d. include camels, moose, and various reptiles.
____ 10. The tundra
a. has a layer of soil that is permanently frozen beneath the top soil.
b. is too cold to support insect life.
c. is resistant to environmental damage because it is usually frozen.
d. All of the above
____ 11. As you travel from the North Pole toward the equator, you would expect to see
a. tropical rain forests, then deserts, then taiga.
b. temperate deciduous forests, then taiga, then tropical rain forests.
c. tundra, then grasslands, then tropical rain forests.
d. taiga, then desert, then tundra.
____ 12. All of the following are characteristics of temperate rain forests except
a. high humidity and moderate temperatures.
b. abundant mosses, ferns, and lichens.
c. low rainfall in summer but abundant snow in winter.
d. large evergreen trees, such as Sitka spruce and Douglas fir.
____ 13. The distance north or south of the equator, as measured in degrees, is called
a. altitude.
c. longitude.
b. latitude.
d. magnitude.
____ 14. The main factor that determines what type of plants grow in a biome is
a. temperature.
c. altitude.
b. precipitation.
d. Both (a) and (b)
____ 15. Tropical rain forests are threatened by
a. deforestation and the trade of rain forest plants and animals.
b. a decrease in the average temperature at the equator.
c. a decrease in rainfall at the equator.
d. a thinning of the soil.
____ 16. Adaptations of desert animals that help them survive in the hot, dry desert often include
a. searching for water at midday.
b. thin skin that readily absorbs water.
c. large, bulky size to retain body heat on cold nights.
d. searching for food at night.
____ 17. An example of a population is
a. all trees in a forest.
b. all maple trees in a forest.
c. all plants in a forest.
d. all animals in a forest.
____ 18. The density of a population is
a. the number of individuals born every year.
b. the proportion of males and females.
c. the number of individuals living in cities.
d. the number of individuals per unit area.
____ 19. In which of the following relationships is neither species harmed?
a. predation
c. parasitism
b. competition
d. commensalism
____ 20. Which of the following would most likely cause a large number of density-independent deaths in a
population?
a. winter storms
c. predators
b. disease-carrying insects
d. limited resources
____ 21. The difference between a predator and a parasite is that a predator
a. usually kills and eats its prey.
c. lives in or on a host.
b. benefits from another organism.
d. harms another organism.
____ 22. Which factor contributed most to the exponential growth of the human population?
a. more food, better hygiene
c. higher fertility rates
b. higher birth rates
d. increased immigration
____ 23. A population pyramid is created by
a. studying a group of people and noting when each member dies.
b. graphing the distribution of ages in a population at a specific time.
c. calculating the number of children a woman gives birth to in her lifetime.
d. estimating the demand for services within a community.
____ 24. Human population growth was most rapid during which period of human history?
a. Ice Ages
c. Bronze and Iron Ages
b. Stone Ages
d. Modern Age
____ 25. Between 1880 and 1930 human population doubled due to
a. the Industrial revolution.
b. a combination of high birth rates and low death rates.
c. improvements in societal infrastructure and services.
d. All of the above
____ 26. An endangered species is
a. a species in danger of extinction.
b. a species growing on public land.
c. an organism brought to a place where it has not lived before.
d. a species that has disappeared entirely.
____ 27. How many species are estimated to be living on Earth?
a. between 10,000 and 100,000
c. between 1 and 2 million
b. between 500,000 and 1 million
d. between 10 and 50 million
____ 28. In what part of the world are the greatest number of extinctions occurring?
a. in tropical rain forests
c. in the Arctic
b. in deserts
d. in Europe and the United States
____ 29. The United States laws that protect endangered species
a. are considered to be the strongest in the world.
b. are much weaker than the legal protections in most other countries.
c. are rarely enforced.
d. apply to only 10 species of animals and about 20 species of plants.
____ 30. Which of the following would not be illegal under the Endangered Species Act?
a. capturing a wild animal listed as a threatened species for exhibition in a zoo, provided the
animal is well cared for
b. digging up an endangered plant in a public park and selling it
c. destroying the habitat of an endangered plant during the building of a federal highway
d. having a permit to capture and conduct research with endangered species
____ 31. The current rate of species extinction is
a. slower than at any other time in this century.
b. attributable to the actions of humans.
c. the result of natural environmental processes.
d. of little consequence to Earth’s long-term survival.
____ 32. The level of biodiversity that involves a variety of habits and communities is
a. ecosystem diversity.
c. population diversity.
b. genetic diversity.
d. species diversity.
____ 33. Reasons for preserving biodiversity include all of the following except
a. isolating unique genetic material so it can be incorporated into existing crops.
b. increasing the chances of discovering organisms with medicinal value.
c. preventing natural evolution.
d. finding new plants that can supplement the world’s food supply.
____ 34. Germ-plasm banks are unique because they focus on
a. saving individual organisms.
c. preserving animal species.
b. storing genetic material.
d. All of the above
____ 35. What level of biodiversity is most commonly equated with the overall concept of biodiversity?
a. genetic diversity
c. ecosystem diversity
b. species diversity
d. All of the above
____ 36. What groups of organisms are most in danger of extinction?
a. those with small populations
b. those that migrate or need special habitats
c. those with large populations that breed quickly
d. Both (a) and (b)
____ 37. The major human causes of extinction today are
a. hunting and destroying habitats.
b. polluting and introducing non-native species.
c. Both (a) and (b)
d. Neither (a) nor (b)
____ 38. Germ plasm is
a. an infection caused by germs.
b. the genetic material of a species.
c. a conservation strategy.
d. an endemic plant of California.
____ 39. Which areas of the United States represent ecosystems with high levels of biodiversity?
a. coastal California
c. Florida Everglades
b. Hawaiian Islands
d. All of the above
____ 40. An uncut lawn becomes a meadow and eventually a forest. This process is an example of _____.
a. aphotic zones
c. estuary
b. primary succession
d. secondary succession
____ 41. Which of the following is NOT a unit of measurement in the metric system?
a. Meter
b. Second
c. Centimeter
d. Foot
____ 42. How many centimeters are there in a stick 3 meters long?
a. 0.3 cm
b. 30 cm
c. 300 cm
d. 3,000 cm
____ 43. A control variable is:
a. a variable that stays the same throughout an experiment.
b. a variable that is changed in an experiment.
c. the largest, most powerful variable in an experiment.
d. rarely used in scientific experiments.
____ 44. Most often, an experiment involving the scientific method begins with a:
a. hypothesis.
b. conclusion.
c. procedure.
d. question.
____ 45. What essential characteristic does a good experiment have?
a. A control group is given the experimental treatment.
b. A single variable is tested.
c. A control is used.
d. Both (b) and (c)
____ 46. Grasslands, such as the prairies of North America,
a. are suitable for corn and wheat, but not suitable for soybeans.
b. are threatened by soil erosion because native grasses have been damaged or destroyed by
plowing and overgrazing.
c. support almost no animal life now that the millions of buffalo that once roamed there are
gone.
d. support a rich layer of dense grasses because they receive at least 250 cm (100 in.) of rain
per year.
____ 47. Each of the following is an example of a parasite except
a. a roundworm in a human’s intestine.
c. a tick on a cat.
b. a cow in a pasture.
d. mistletoe on a tree.
____ 48. Which of the following organisms has the highest reproductive potential?
a. dogs
c. bacteria
b. elephants
d. humans
____ 49. The number of wild horses per square kilometer in a prairie is the horse populations
a. density.
c. size.
b. dispersion.
d. birth rate.
____ 50. If over a long period of time, each pair of adults in a population had only two offspring and the offspring lived
to reproduce, the population would
a. grow.
c. remain the same.
b. shrink.
d. disperse randomly.