AP Environmental Science EXAM STUDY GUIDE
http://www.brookscole.com/cgiwadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&discipline_number=22&product_isbn_issn=0534397980
Chapter 1
1. Environmental Sustainability- What is it? Are
we there yet?
2. Human Impact on Environment
3. I = P x A x T  Variables and Impact
Calculation
4. Types of Human Impact
5. Ethics, Worldviews, and Modes of Thinking
Chapter 2
1. Steps of the Scientific Method
2. Reasoning
3. Variables and Controls
4. Theories and Models
5. Risk Assessment
6. Health Effects of Pollutants/Toxicology
7. Precautionary Principle
8. Cost-Benefit Analysis
9. Tragedy of the Commons
Chapter 3
1. Environmental History of US
2. Environmental Laws
3. Environmental Economics & Economics of Pollution
4. GDP v. NDP
5. Cost of Pollution & Cost of Pollution Abatement
6. Pollution Control Strategies
Chapter 4
1. Organization of matter and ecology
2. What are biomes?
3. What are ecotones/edge effects?
4. Abiotic vs. Biotic Factors
5. What are limiting factors?
6. Components of food chains and food webs
7. Role of organisms in food chains and the transfer of energy
8. Pyramid comparisons (numbers, biomass, energy)
9. Gross vs. Net primary productivity
10. relationship between productivity and biodiversity
11. Biogeochemical cycles – transformation of energy in each cycle
12. Ecosystem services
13. Review previous quiz
Chapter 5
1. Theory of evolution, natural selection, and adaptations over time
2. What is coevolution?
3. Ecological niches – fundamental vs. realized, overlapping niches
4. Habitat vs. niche
5. Role of specialist vs. generalist
Chapter 8
1. What is community structure?
2. Species diversity v. species abundance
3. Ecotones and edge effects
4. Roles of species and examples – native, alien, indicator, keystone
5. Species interactions- symbioitic relationships
6. Interspecific vs. intraspecific competition
7. What is the competitive exclusion principle?
8. How does resource partitioning relate to #7?
9. Predator-Prey Relationships: defenses, mechanisms, and adaptations
10. Primary vs. Secondary Succession :pioneer species vs. climax community
11. Stability and the Precautionary Principle
Chapter 6
1.Distinguish between weather and climate
2.Describe at least five different factors which contribute to global air-circulation patterns.
3. Describe how ocean currents generally redistribute heat.
4.Describe an upwelling and how it might be affected by an El Nino-Southern Oscillation.
5.Define greenhouse effect. Name greenhouse gases. State the significance of the greenhouse effect.
6. Compare the climate and adaptations of plants and animals in deserts, grasslands, and forests. Describe the
distinctive qualities of a chaparral ecosystem. Be sure to distinguish among the three major kinds of forests.
Chapter 7
1.Summarize the distribution of light, salt, and temperature in different aquatic life zones.
2.Evaluate the significance of the ecological contributions of the oceans.
3.Briefly describe the characteristics and ecological significance of coral reefs. Describe environmental and
economic problems of coral reefs.
4.Distinguish between coastal and inland wetlands. Describe the ecological functions performed by wetlands.
Describe environmental problems associated with coastal and inland wetlands.
5.List and compare the four zones of a lake. Distinguish between oligotrophic and eutrophic lakes.Describe
stratification and a turnover in a lake.
6.Define watershed. List and distinguish the three zones of a river system.
Chapter 9
1.List and define four variables which collectively determine population dynamics. Write an equation that
expresses the relationships among four variables that determine changes in population.
2.Define zero population growth. Define biotic potential. List four factors which contribute to biotic potential.
3.Define carrying capacity. Draw population growth curves that reflect exponential growth, exponential growth
leveling off gradually to limits, and exponential growth limited by a reproductive time lag.
4.Distinguish between density-dependent and density-independent checks on population growth, and list three
examples of each.
5.List three types of population curves found in nature, and identify one organism which exemplifies each.
6.Distinguish between r-strategists and K-strategists, and give two examples of each. Draw the type of
survivorship curve you would expect each type of strategist to exhibit.
CHAPTER 12 – HUMAN DEMOGRAPHICS
Population Equation (birth, death, emigration, immigration)
Human Population trends, Doubling Time, Carrying Capacity,
Factors impacting birth rate and death rate (fertility, mortality)
Two Indicators of overall health of a population
Four Stages of demographic transition – birth rate, death rate, overall population/stage
Age Structure Diagrams for developed vs. developing countries
Rapid v. Negative v. Zero Growth Structures
Baby Booms (bulges), built in momentum, and Declining Populations – Problems??
Factors to limit population size
Specific govt. policies to limit population size (Legislation)
CHAPTER 13 – FOOD RESOURCES
Types of food resources – what do we eat?
Traditional vs. Subsistence Agriculture (energy, chemicals, yields)
Developed v. Developing Countries and agriculture
Under/mal/overnutrition and impacts
Monoculture vs. Polyculture
Interplanting Techniques (intercropping, polyvarietal, alley cropping, etc.)
Increasing Crop Yields :
Green revolution
Genetic engineering (GMFs) and food supplies – Pros vs. Cons
Is arable land available?
Distribution of current supplies
Alternative Food Sources
Increasing Meat Production – CAFO, rangelands, overgrazing, desertification, degradation
Fisheries: Commercial Fishing methods, Aquaculture, legislation
CHAPTER 14 – WATER RESOURCES
Earth’s Water Budget
Surface water vs. Groundwater
Aquifer structure and replenishment (confined vs. unconfined)
Uses of water (agriculture, industrial, consumption)
Methods of increasing water supply (diversion, dams/reservoirs, aqueducts, pumping, cloud seeding, towing
icebergs  )
Lessons learned from:
Colorado River project
Aral Sea disaster
California Water Project
Ogallala Aquifer use
China’s Three Gorges
Columbia River Basin
Environmental impacts of water use
Increasing water use efficiency
CHAPTER 17 – Air Pollution
Structure/Layers of the Atmosphere & Processes of the Atmosphere
Major Types and Sources of Outdoor Air Pollutants
Photochemical vs. Industrial SMOG (formation equations and effects)
Temperature Inversions (Subsidence and Radiation- formation, duration, geographic setting)
Acidic Deposition – acidity of “normal” rainfall, formation equation, areas most affected, effects on humans,
plants, aquatic ecosystems, materials
Reduction of Acid Rain – methods to prevent acidic deposition
Indoor Air Pollution – major types, sources, and human health effects
Clean Air Act – goal/purpose
CHAPTER 18 – Global Climate Change
Greenhouse Effect- importance, influence of human activities on climate
Measuring changes in global temperatures- specific scientific measurements to chart changes in temperature over
time, cause and effect of climate change
Montreal Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
Measures to remove CO2 from atmosphere
Ozone and the stratosphere vs. Ozone and the troposphere
Causes of ozone depletion, thinning over the poles
CHAPTER 19 – Water Pollution
Major Types of Water Pollutants and Effects
Point Source vs. Nonpoint Source Pollution
Pollution of streams and lakes – Cultural Eutrophication, Oligotrophic vs. Eutrophic Lakes
Oxygen Sag Curve- BOD and DO, waste streams and effects on BOD and DO
Water treatment – primary vs. secondary treatment and disposal, septic system operations
Safe Drinking Water Act
Clean Water Act
Chapter 20 - The Pesticide Dilemma
1. Define pesticide, distinguish among various types of pesticides such as insecticides and herbicides and
describe the major groups of insecticides and herbicides.
2. Summarize the problems associated with pesticide use, including development of genetic resistance; creation
of imbalances in the ecosystem; persistence, bioaccumulation, and biological magnification; and mobility in
the environment.
3. Discuss pesticide risks to human health, including short-term effects, long-term effects, pesticides as
endocrine disrupters, and risks to children.
4. Describe alternative ways to control pests, including cultivation methods, biological controls, reproductive
controls, pheromones and hormones, genetic controls, quarantine, integrated pest management, and irradiating
foods.
5. Briefly summarize the three U.S. laws that regulate pesticides: the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act; the
Federal Insecticides, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; and the Food Quality Protection Act.
6. Describe the purpose of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
Chapter 21 - Solid and Hazardous Wastes
1. Distinguish between municipal solid waste and nonmunicipal solid waste.
2. Describe the features of a modern sanitary landfill and relate some of the problems associated with sanitary
landfills.
3. Describe some of the problems associated with incinerators.
4. Define hazardous waste and briefly characterize representative hazardous wastes (dioxins, PCBs, and
radioactive wastes).
5. Contrast the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (the Superfund Act).
6. Discuss the shortcomings of the Superfund Program.
Chapter 22/23/24 - Preserving Earth’s Biological Diversity
1.Define biological diversity and distinguish among genetic diversity, species richness, and ecosystem diversity.
2. Discuss five important ecosystem services provided by biological diversity.
3. Contrast threatened, endangered, and extinct species, and list four characteristics common to many endangered
species.
4. Define biodiversity hotspots and explain where most of the world’s biodiversity hotspots are located.
6. Define biotic pollution and explain how invasive species endanger native species.
Chapter 24/25 - Land Resources and Conservation
7. Relate at least five ecosystem services provided by natural areas.
8. Define deforestation and relate the main causes of tropical deforestation.
9. Define desertification and explain its relationship to overgrazing.
10. Describe the current threats to freshwater and coastal wetlands, and explain why the definition of wetlands is
controversial.