FINAL EXAM REVIEW AP Environmental Science I, Mr. Doc Miller

North Central High School

Name: _________________________ Period: __________ Seat #: __________ Date: __________

NORTH CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDY GUIDE

AP Environmental Science I

FINAL EXAM

Additional resources available at www.mrdocsonlinelab.com

Grade Chart: (For Teacher Use Only) Section Assignment Score ( or ) Points (Out of)

1 1-1 Introduction to Environmental Science

2 1-2 Systems and Human Population

3 1-3 Ecosystem Fundamentals & Abiotic Factors

4 1-4 Biological Diversity & Species Interactions

5 1-5 Ecosystems & Biomes

6 Final Exam Essay Practice

REPLACE-A-GRADE TOTAL Replaced Assignment:

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REVIEW: 1-1 Introduction to Environmental Science 1. Explain the concepts listed below. a. Environmental Unity b. Uniformitarianism c. Precautionary Principle d. Gaia Hypothesis e. Tragedy of the Commons 2. List, in order, the steps of the Scientific Method and briefly explain the importance of each

step. 3. Differentiate between the independent variable, the dependent variable, experimental group,

control group, and constants.

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REVIEW: 1-2 Systems and Human Population 1. In terms of environmental systems, explain the following concepts and give and example of

each: a. Input b. Output

c. Open System: d. Closed System: e. Static System f. Dynamic System g. Carrying Capacity: h. Density-Dependent Limiting Factors: i. Density-Independent Limiting Factors: j. Biological Resistance

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2. Describe the concept of Average Residence time, explain hot to calculate it, and identify the various impacts it can have on an environmental system.

3. In terms of environmental systems, explain the difference positive and negative feedback loops

and give an example of each. 4. Given the following scenarios, plot a line on the graph for each scenario that shows what you

would expect to happen to the population given the specifics of that scenario, then explain what kind of growth curve is demonstrated and how you came to that conclusion below. For each scenario, assume a starting population of 200,000 people.

A. In this population, 10% of the population are women of child-bearing age, each of whom

will give birth to 2 children during a 5-year period.

B. In this population, 50,000 people are added to the population every 5 years. The

doubling time remains constant at 25 years.

C. In this population, 10% of the population are women of child-bearing age, each of whom

will give birth to 3 children during a 5-year period. However, due to limitations in the availability of food, the system can only support about 1.5 million individuals.

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5. Describe how the following factors influence populations sizes: a. Birth Rate: b. Death Rate: c. Life Expectancy: d. Growth Rate: 5. Define the concept of Doubling Time and explain how to calculate it using a practical

example. 6. Explain the potential risks and possible outcomes when a population exceeds its natural

carrying capacity.

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REVIEW: 1-3 Ecosystem Fundamentals and Abiotic Factors 1. Distinguish between potential, kinetic, and thermal energy. Distinguish between endothermic

and exothermic reactions. 2. Define the 1st Law of Thermodynamics, and explain how it impacts environmental systems. 3. Define the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, and explain how it impacts environmental systems

(include energy efficiency as part of your response.) 4. Label each level of the food pyramid with one or more of the following terms: Tertiary

Consumer, Decomposer, Primary Consumer, Producer, Secondary Consumer, Herbivore, Carnivore, Omnivore.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 5. Draw a food web with the

information provided. Label each organisms of one of the following: producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, or tertiary consumer.

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In the savannahs of Africa there is a complex system of organisms that depend on each other for survival. The plentiful grass provides food for insects, small rodents like mice, and gazelles. Trees provide a food source for giraffes. Birds eat the insects and mice. Hyenas often eat the mice and from time to time a pack of hyenas will eat a gazelle. Lions, the king of the savannah, will eat gazelles, hyenas, and giraffes.

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6. Where does most of the energy and matter/biomass in an environment come from and how much is passed on at each trophic level?

7. Draw and label a diagram of the Rock Cycle and explain what is happening at each major

step. 8. Explain the importance of the Rock Cycle to living organisms and ecosystems as a whole. 9. Draw and label a diagram of the Water Cycle and explain what is happening at each major

step. 10. Explain the importance of the Water Cycle to living organisms and ecosystems as a whole.

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11. Draw and label a diagram of the Carbon Cycle and explain what is happening at each major step.

12. Explain the importance of the Carbon Cycle to living organisms and ecosystems as a whole. 13. Draw and label a diagram of the Nitrogen Cycle and explain what is happening at each major

step. 14. Explain the importance of the Nitrogen Cycle to living organisms and ecosystems as a whole.

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15. Draw and label a diagram of the Phosphorus Cycle and explain what is happening at each major step.

16. Explain the importance of the Phosphorus Cycle to living organisms and ecosystems as a

whole. 17. Draw and label a diagram of the Sulfur Cycle and explain what is happening at each major

step. 18. Explain the importance of the Sulfur Cycle to living organisms and ecosystems as a whole. 19. Describe the process of primary succession. (Draw a diagram to help explain your answer.) 20. Describe the process of secondary succession. (Draw a diagram to help explain your answer.)

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REVIEW: 1-4 Biological Diversity & Species Interactions 1. Give a description of each driving force behind natural selection in the chart below and give an

example of each. DRIVING FORCE

DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE

Production of larger numbers

of offspring

Ability to compete

Genetic Variation

Non-Random Mating

2. How would the gene pool of a species be affected to the following responses to environmental

changes? RESPONSE EFFECT ON GENE POOL

Migration

Adaptation

Death

3. Explain the importance of having high biodiversity in an ecosystem. 4. Explain the difference between convergent and divergent evolution. 5. Explain why a population of rabbits that have been isolated by mountains may evolve in a

different way than the same species that has been allowed to migrate over a large area.

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6. What factors are included in an organism’s niche? 7. Explain the impact that non-native species, such as zebra mussels in the great lakes, can have

on an ecosystem. 8. Complete the following chart by describing the relationships using these terms and their

definitions: parasitism, mutualism, commensalism, competition, and predator-prey. ORGANISMS RELATIONSHIP DEFINITION

A lynx hunts and eats a hare.

Zebras and gazelles eat the same grass.

An intestinal worm takes energy from a dog.

A bee pollinates a flower and gets pollen to make its own food.

Cattle stomp the ground while walking forcing up bugs for the egrets to eat.

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REVIEW: 1-5 Ecosystems & Biomes 1. Fill in the chart below regarding biomes.

BIOME CHARACTERISTICS (CLIMATE/ORGANISMS) LOCAIONS

Tropical Rain Forest

Tundra

Desert

Grasslands

Deciduous Forest

2. Differentiate between climate and weather. 3. Explain the 3 major factors that determine the conditions in a biome and how they influence it. 4. Why is climate such an influential factor in determining the communities that establish

themselves in a given biome? 5. Identify and explain 2 major reasons why estuaries commonly have extensive biodiversity

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REVIEW: Final Exam Essays Instructions: Write a response to each question that follows. Be sure to address all parts of the question and answer in complete sentence/paragraph format. 1.

(a) Support Dr. Tate’s assertion that “the leaf litter is critical to the survival of local species of forest plants.” Include in your discussion the roles of leaf litter in a deciduous forest ecosystem.

(b) Describe THREE abiotic changes that would be likely to result if the exotic worms consumed all the leaf litter in a single year.

(c) For one of the changes you identified in part (b), explain how the change could set the stage for the takeover of Japanese stilt grass or other exotic species.

(d) Design a controlled experiment to determine whether the worms, in fact, do change the forest ecosystem. Identify the environmental factor you will measure, and include the specific hypothesis you will test and the data you will collect.

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2. Cichlids are a fish that provided a major food source for the people who live around Lake Victoria, which borders Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya in Africa. There were numerous varieties occupying all the niches of the lake. Many varieties were extremely colorful. In the 1960’s, the Nile perch was introduced to the lake in an effort to provide another food source for the fishermen of the lake. The perch multiplied very successfully, but the devastating consequences of the introduction of this alien species on the cichlid populations were not recognized for about two decades because of the political turmoil in eastern Africa. The Nile perch has a voracious appetite due to its size, up to six feet in length. It feeds on cichlids, so a number of varieties have completely disappeared from the lake. Preparing the Nile perch for consumption involves drying, which requires firewood from the surrounding forest. As trees are cut down, sedimentation in the lake increases. In the muddy waters, the cichlids have evolved with a significant decrease in the vibrancy of colors to the point that many of these varieties have become brown. The large net production of algae and water hyacinth in the lake are causing problems. The large net production of the plants decreases the amount of sunlight to reach lower levels of the lake. This causes the plants inhabiting lower levels of the lake to die. Decomposers living in the lake are consuming the algae and water hyacinth that die. Consumption of the dead plants has an affect on the lake that is opposite to the affect that photosynthesis has on the lake.

In three paragraphs respond to three of the lettered items described below. a) Explain the evolutionary mechanism by which sediment in the lake could have an effect

on the colors of fish in the lake.

b) Restoration of the lake may be impossible, but some positive steps can be taken to improve the water quality in the lake. Discuss what can be done to improve the ecosystem of Lake Victoria.

c) Explain how the net production of algae and water hyacinth affects the cichlid

populations. (5 points)

d) Design a controlled experiment to determine whether the Nile perch do in fact change the aquatic ecosystem of Lake Victoria. Identify the environmental factor you will measure, the specific hypothesis you will test, and the data you will attempt to collect

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3.

The figures above show the age structures of human populations in three countries, X, Y and Z. (a) Which of the three countries has the largest rate of population growth? Which has the

smallest rate? Explain. (b) Compare the infant mortality rates that are likely in Countries X and Y. Explain your

reasoning. (c) Describe the changes in both the birth rate and the death rate for a country making the

transition from a preindustrial society to an industrial society. (d) Describe one incentive that the government of a country could offer its citizens that

would favor a reduction in the growth rate of its population. Explain how this incentive would work, and describe one possible drawback.

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4. A certain fictional country called Industria is tracking its population data. In 1855, the first year vital statistics were reported for the country, the population was 1.6 million, with a crude birth rate of 43 per 1,000. At that time the population of Industria was growing quite slowly, because of the high death rate of 41 per 1,000. In 1875 the population began to grow very rapidly as the birth rate remained at its 1855 level, while the crude death rate dropped dramatically to 20 per 1,000. Population growth continued to increase in the small country into the late 1800’s, even though birth rates began to decline slowly. In 1895 the crude birth rate had dropped to 37, and the death rate to 12 per 1,000. In that year (1895) a complete census revealed that the population of Industria had grown to 2.5 million. By 1950 population growth gradually began to decline as the death rate remained at its 1895 level, while the birth rate continued to decline to 22 per 1,000. In 1977 vital statistics revealed that the death rate was 10 per 1,000, and that population growth had slowed even more to an annual rate of 0.4%. By 1990 Industria had reduced its birth rate to that of its now constant, low death rate, and the population transition was complete. (a) On the axes below, plot the crude birth-rate data from 1855 to 1990. Now plot the crude

death-rate data on the same axes. Clearly label the axes and the curves. (b) What was the annual growth rate of Industria in 1950 ? What was the birth rate in

Industria in 1977 ? (c) Indicate TWO factors that might have accounted for the rapid decline in the death rate

in Industria between 1855 and 1895. Indicate one specific reason why the birth rate might have been so high in 1855 and was so slow to decrease between 1855 and 1950.

(d) Determine what the population size of Industria would have been in 1951 if the population had continued to grow at the annual rate of growth recorded for Industria in 1895.