AP Environmental Science — Practice Questions flashcards
6 of 60 questions free to study here · 9 topics · the whole deck is built into Willys
Multiple-choice practice questions, one best answer each, on ecosystems, populations, Earth systems, land and water use, energy, pollution and global change, with data calculations.
Practice deck · part of AP Environmental Science · written against: College Board AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description (nine units). Updated 2026-10-10.
Study the free sample
6 questions from the deck as they are. Flip, rate yourself, filter by topic; your progress stays in this browser.
Tap the card or press Space to flip
The 6 sample questions as a list
-
In a grassland, a bird species follows grazing bison and eats the insects stirred up by the bison's hooves. The bison are neither helped nor harmed. Which type of interaction is this?
A) Resource partitioning
B) Mutualism
C) Commensalism
D) ParasitismC) CommensalismEcosystems › Interactions and Biomes
In commensalism one species benefits and the other is unaffected. It would be mutualism only if the bison also gained something, such as having ticks removed. -
A population of 5,000 animals grows at a constant 3.5% per year. Using the rule of 70, about how many years will it take to reach 20,000?
A) 20 years
B) 35 years
C) 40 years
D) 70 yearsC) 40 yearsPopulations
Doubling time = 70 ÷ 3.5 = 20 years. Going from 5,000 to 20,000 takes two doublings, so about 40 years; 20 years only reaches 10,000. -
Along a coastline, a deep ocean trench lies offshore and a chain of active volcanoes runs parallel to the coast inland. Which type of plate boundary best explains these features?
A) A transform boundary where two plates slide horizontally past each other
B) A divergent boundary where seafloor spreading forms a mid-ocean ridge
C) A convergent boundary where oceanic crust subducts under a continent
D) A convergent boundary where two continental plates collide head-onC) A convergent boundary where oceanic crust subducts under a continentEarth Systems and Resources › Geology and Soil
Dense oceanic crust subducts beneath the continent, forming the trench; melting at depth feeds the volcanoes inland, as in the Andes. Continental collisions build high mountains with little volcanism. -
A 1,500-watt space heater runs for 4 hours a day for 30 days. How much electrical energy does it use in that time?
A) 6 kWh
B) 18 kWh
C) 180 kWh
D) 180,000 kWhC) 180 kWhEnergy Resources and Consumption › Fossil Fuels
1,500 W = 1.5 kW, and 1.5 kW × 4 h/day × 30 days = 180 kWh. 180,000 is the answer in watt-hours; 6 kWh is the energy for one day only. -
On a sunny day in a large city, nitrogen dioxide peaks in mid-morning, but ground-level ozone peaks in the afternoon. What best explains the later ozone peak?
A) Ozone sinks to the ground from the stratosphere as the air warms up
B) Ozone forms as sunlight breaks down NO₂, so it builds up through the day
C) Ozone is emitted directly by vehicles during heavy afternoon traffic
D) Ozone forms from sulfur dioxide once the morning fog has burned offB) Ozone forms as sunlight breaks down NO₂, so it builds up through the dayAtmospheric Pollution › Smog and Acid Deposition
Ground-level ozone is a secondary pollutant: sunlight splits NO₂, and the freed oxygen atoms form ozone, with VOCs keeping the reactions going. It accumulates through the sunniest hours. -
Why can a single chlorine atom released from a CFC molecule destroy thousands of ozone molecules?
A) It absorbs ultraviolet light and heats the surrounding ozone
B) It splits into several new chlorine atoms after each reaction
C) It acts as a catalyst and is regenerated after each reaction cycle
D) It bonds permanently to oxygen, making a long-lived new pollutantC) It acts as a catalyst and is regenerated after each reaction cycleGlobal Change › Ozone Depletion
Chlorine is a catalyst: it breaks down an ozone molecule and is freed again in a later step, so it can repeat the cycle many times before it is locked into a stable compound.
Unlock the whole deck
You are studying a free 6-question sample. All 60 questions of AP Environmental Science — Practice Questions, the other 2 AP Environmental Science decks, and spaced-repetition scheduling are built into Willys. 14-day free trial, then $14.99 a year.
In Willys, tap Exam Library at the top of your Decks (or Browse Exam Library… under the + button), find the exam on its shelf or by search, tick it and tap Add.
More AP Environmental Science decks
← All AP Environmental Science decks, with the study guide and topic outline.
About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Topic outline follows the College Board AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description (effective Fall 2026), Units 1–9 (outline only; no course or exam text reproduced).
- OpenStax Biology 2e and OpenStax Chemistry 2e, consulted as references; no text copied.
- Concepts checked against U.S. EPA public information pages (U.S. government works) (reference only; no text copied).
- Facts also checked against NOAA National Ocean Service, NASA, U.S. Energy Information Administration and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission pages and the Clean Water Act definitions in 33 U.S.C. 1362 (U.S. government works); Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer: 2022 Update (Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2022, World Meteorological Organization); the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis (2005); and the IPBES 2019 Global Assessment media release (reference only; no text copied).
These are independent study notes written for Willys. They are not official exam material, may contain mistakes, and are no substitute for your course, your teacher or the exam owner's own publications. Found an error? Tell us — corrections ship as a new version of the deck.
AP® is a trademark registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this product.
Use of these pages is covered by our Terms of Use.