All AP Environmental Science Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Carbon Cycle
Which of the following steps is not part of the carbon cycle?
Transpiration
Combustion
Photosynthesis
Respiration
Extraction
Transpiration
Transpiration concerns the process through which water is carried through plants from roots to small pores in leaves, where it evaporates into the atmosphere. Thus transpiration is not a part of the carbon cycle, which concerns the biochemical exchange of carbon.
Example Question #1 : Carbon Cycle
All of the following are Carbon sinks in the Carbon Cycle except...?
The Atmosphere
The Ocean
Animals
Plants
The Atmosphere
The Atmosphere is largely the source of Carbon in the Carbon cycle. Plants utilize photosynthesis to convert atmospheric Carbon Dioxide into Glucose. Animals consume this Glucose and store it in their bodies until they die. the Ocean hosts a large amount of dissolved Carbon Dioxide gas and has Calcium Carbonate as a storage place in oceanic organisms like coral.
Example Question #1 : Carbon Cycle
Which of these is a type of biogeochemical cycles?
Carbon cycle
All of these
Hydraulic cycle
Nitrogen cycle
Phosphorous cycle
All of these
All of these are biogeochemical cycles:
Carbon cycle - plants and animals consume carbon dioxide and release carbon dioxide during decomposition or respiration, then the carbon dioxide returns to the atmosphere.
Phosphorus cycle - similar to the carbon cycle, plants and animals consume phosphorous and release it during decomposition. Then the phosphorous returns to the ground and waterways by way of bacteria and processes such as mineralization.
Nitrogen cycle - this is the most complicated biogeochemical cycles. This is because it takes place in multiple situations, including: nitrogen fixation, nitrification, denitrification, and ammonification.
Hydraulic cycle - the water cycle. Water evaporates, wind moves air (and water), precipitation occurs.
Example Question #1 : Biochemical Cycles
Which of the following is the major reservoir of nitrogen in the nitrogen cycle?
Plants
Soil
Animals
Atmoshpere
Bacteria
Atmoshpere
Although all of the above are part of the nitrogen cycle, the major reservoir for nitrogen is the atmosphere. The atmosphere contains nitrogen gas which cannot be extracted by plants or animals from the atmosphere. From its reservoir in the atmosphere, nitrogen gas is combined with oxygen to form nitrate and carried to Earth dissolved in rain. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria produce ammonia. This is absorbed by plants and other producers and incorporated into biological molecules that are passed through the trophic levels. Nitrate and ammonia are released by excretion or by decomposer bacteria. Other bacteria convert these molecules back to atmoshperic nitrogen, completing the cycle.
Example Question #2 : Biochemical Cycles
With reference to the biogeochemical cycles, how do elements and matter flow in the environment?
From a source to a sink
From a source to a source
From a sink to a sink
From a sink to a source
From a source to a sink
A source is an organism or physical body that releases a certain compound or element. Through energy dynamics or physical manipulations of the environment, it reaches the sink. The sink is the receiver of the element and can act as another source for a different organisms or physical body. This is how matter travels in the environment, from pairs of source to sink dynamics.
Example Question #3 : Biochemical Cycles
Why can't plants utilize atmospheric nitrogen for their metabolic processes?
Atmospheric nitrogen is poisonous to plants
It must first be fixed by cyanobacteria into ammonia
Plants cannot absorb nitrogen unless it is in the form of nitrates
Plants do not need nitrogen for their metabolic processes
It must first be fixed by cyanobacteria into ammonia
According to the principles of the Nitrogen cycle, plants can only absorb nitrogen in the form of ammonia. This is achieved by nitrogen-fixing bacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable by plants. Plants excrete nitrogen in the form of waste as nitrates which are absorbed by animals.
Example Question #1 : Biochemical Cycles
The phosphorus cycle is fundamentally different from the nitrogen and sulfur cycles. How so?
Phosphorus is cycled back into the soil through precipitation.
Phosphorus is not fixed in the atmosphere by lightning.
Phosphorus is not taken up by plants and is a strictly inorganic cycle.
Phosphorus does not enter the cycle from weathering of sediments and parent material.
The phosphorus cycle does not include a gaseous phase, resulting in no significant quantities of atmospheric phosphorus.
The phosphorus cycle does not include a gaseous phase, resulting in no significant quantities of atmospheric phosphorus.
The phosphorus cycle does not contain an atmospheric phase, while both the sulfur and nitrogen cycles do.
Example Question #2 : Biochemical Cycles
Which of the following is the major reservoir for phosphorus in the phosphorus cycle?
Soil
Rainwater
Animals
Rock
Plants
Rock
The reservoir of phosphorus in ecosystems is rock, where it is bound to oxygen in the form of phosphate. As phosphate-rich rocks are exposed and eroded, rainwater dissolves the phosphate. Dissolved phosphate is abosrbed through the roots of plants. Animals eat the plants and after they die decomposers return the phosphorus that remains in the dead bodies back to the soil and water. It may then be reincorporated into rock.
Example Question #2 : Phosphorus Cycle
Which biogeochemical cycle is the only one without an atmospheric component?
The carbon cycle
The nitrogen cycle
The phosphorus cycle
The sulfur cycle
The phosphorus cycle
All of the other cycles have at least one atmospheric component in their systems. The carbon cycle incorporates carbon dioxide in the photosynthesis portion of its cycle. The sulfur cycle incorporates gaseous sulfur dioxide when it is released by volcanic eruptions. The water cycle has the condensation of clouds in the atmosphere and the precipitation of those clouds as well. The nitrogen cycle incorporates atmospheric nitrogen gas before it is fixed by cyanobacteria. Only the phosphorus cycle does not have a phosphorus containing compound in the atmosphere that is essential for life on Earth.
Example Question #3 : Biochemical Cycles
The hydrolytic cycle is driven by which of the following?
Solar energy
Rain
Atmosphere
Rivers
Oceans
Solar energy
The water cycle remains in the form of water throughout the cycle. The major reservoir of water is the ocean. The water cycle is driven by solar energy which evaporates water, and by gravity, which draws water back to Earth in the form of precipitation from water vapor in the atmosphere.
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