ADVANCED

PLACEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE MIDTERM
Happy New Year, everyone!
Your midterm is comprised of three (3) freeresponse questions, each of which is oriented
to one of the three (3) major units weve
covered so far this school year.
The midterm will be open from Friday, January
1st, 2016 at 12 pm (noon) to Sunday, January
3rd, 2016 at 11:59 pm (just before midnight).
To submit your answers to this midterm, click
the link below:
http://goo.gl/forms/qVpWcbDyXE

Good luck!
Ms. Gardiner

UNIT 1-ECOSYSTEMS
Humans currently dominate the majority of the planet. It is estimated that
humans use, waste, and/or destroy up to 55% of the net primary productivity
(NPP) of the planets terrestrial ecosystems and this number is increasing.
a. LIST and DISCUSS three harmful impacts humans have had on deserts that give
cause for concern for that particular biome.
b. LIST and DISCUSS two harmful impacts humans have had on grasslands that
have caused concern for this particular biome.
c. DEFINE indicator species, making sure to INCLUDE AN EXAMPLE of a terrestrial
one. PROVIDE AN ARGUMENT as to why indicator species should be protected
against extinction.
d. DEFINE foundation species and PROVIDE SOUND REASONING for preserving
them.

UNIT 2-NATURAL
BIOGEOCHEMICAL
CYCLES
Biogeochemical cycles describe the movement of certain elements (typically
bound with other elements in compounds) through Earths atmosphere,
hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere. These elements and their
compounds are necessary components of all life, and because they cycle, they
can be used repeatedly by new generations of organisms. Each
biogeochemical cycle has different pathways with various reservoirs (sources
and sinks) where elements may reside for days or millions of years.
a. The atmosphere is one important carbon reservoir.
i.
DESCRIBE a biological process by which carbon is removed from the
atmosphere and converted to organic molecules.
ii.
DESCRIBE a biological process by which carbon is converted from organic
molecules to a gas and returned to the atmosphere.
b. Oceans and terrestrial systems are also important carbon reservoirs.
i.
EXPLAIN how atmospheric carbon is incorporated into two oceanic sinks.
ii.
IDENTIFY one terrestrial sink, other than fossil fuels, that stores carbon for
thousands to millions of years.
c. The burning of fossil fuels has been shown to increase the concentration of
carbon in the atmosphere.
i.
DISCUSS TWO other human activities that increase the concentration of
carbon in the atmosphere.
d. IDENTIFY an environmental problem that results from elevated atmospheric
carbon concentrations. DISCUSS one consequence of the problem you identified.
e. Phosphorus is another element important to all organisms.
i.
DESCRIBE one major way in which the phosphorus cycle differs from the
carbon cycle
ii.
IDENTIFY one reason that phosphorus is necessary for organisms.

UNIT 3-POPULATIONS
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
1800s, 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. What was the annual growth rate of Industria in 1950?
b. 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.
d. 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.
e. 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.