AP Env Sci Unit 1 Test Terms

Organic vs Inorganic

Organic compounds contain carbon-hydrogen bonds vs inorganic compounds do not

Natural vs Synthetic

Natural material vs artificially made by humans

Kinetic vs Pontential Energy

Energy of motion vs stored possible energy

Radioactive decay

Breakdown of unstable element that releases radiation

Half Life

The time required for half of the radioactive substance to decay

Law of Conservation of Matter

Matter cannot created nor destroyed but instead rearranged

1st Law of Thermodynamics

Energy cannot be created or destroyed but transformed

2nd Law of Thermodynamics

Whenever energy changes form, it loses usability and transitions toward chaos, or entropy

Entropy

A measure of disorder or randomness in a system such as heat.

Organism

A living being ex. plant, animal, bacteria, etc

Species

Group of closely related organisms which can breed

Population

Number of entities within an area

Community

Interactions of all populations in a location

Ecosystem

a community of living things (biotic) interacting with their non-living surroundings (abiotic) like air, water, and soil

Producers/Autotrophs

Organisms that manufacture their own energy via sun or chemical energy

Consumers

Organisms that consume other organisms for energy

Decomposers

Organisms that break down dead organic material

Photosynthesis

H20 + CO2 + Sunlight —> O2 + C6H12O6

Cellular Respiration

O2 + C6H12O6 —> H20 + CO2 + ATP

Aerobic vs Anaerobic

Muscle cells use oxygen to create energy (Endurance) vs Muscle cells use glucose without oxygen to create energy (Sprint)

Adaptation

Trait that helps an organism survive

Mutation

A change in DNA genome that produces a different trait

Gene

Unit of heredity composed by DNA

Trait

A characteristic determined by genes and/or the environment

Chromosome

Thread of structure that carries genetic information in the nucleus

Gene pool

Total collection of all distinct genes and alleles within a population

Natural selection

organisms with helpful traits survive and reproduce more than others

Biodiversity

Variety/varaiability of life forms within an ecosystem

Extinction

Complete termination of a species

Plate Tectonics

Earth’s outer shell of moving plates

Weathering

Breakdown/alteration of rocks and minerals

Climate Change

Long term shifts in global/regional climate patterns

Minerals vs Rocks

Fixed chemical compositions vs multiple minerals packed together

Weather vs Climate

Short term atmospheric conditions vs long term pattern of weather