AP®︎ Environmental Science: Unit 5 Practice Test
Prepare for your quiz, test, or the AP exam with focused practice questions on Unit 5 of AP Environmental Science – Land and Water Use.
Questions List
Unit 5 (All Topics)
Question 1 Topic 5.1Easy
This question tests the following: EIN-2.A
What does the tragedy of the commons describe?
What You’re Being Tested On:
Explore the learning objectives taken directly from the College Board’s AP® Environmental Science Curriculum. Ensure you’re prepared for the exact topics covered on the AP® exam, in-class tests, and quizzes, and gain confidence in your mastery of the material.
Unit 5: Land and Water Use
This unit looks at how humans use land and water resources, including agriculture, mining, forestry, and strategies for sustainable management.
Topic 5.1: The Tragedy of the Commons
Learning Objective: EIN-2.A
Explain the concept of the tragedy of the commons.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.A.1
The tragedy of the commons suggests that individuals will use shared resources in their own self-interest rather than in keeping with the common good, thereby depleting the resources.
Topic 5.2: Clearcutting
Learning Objective: EIN-2.B
Describe the effect of clearcutting on forests.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.B.1
Clearcutting can be economically advantageous but leads to soil erosion, increased soil and stream temperatures, and flooding.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.B.2
Forests contain trees that absorb pollutants and store carbon dioxide. The cutting and burning of trees releases carbon dioxide and contributes to climate change.
Topic 5.3: The Green Revolution
Learning Objective: EIN-2.C
Describe changes in agricultural practices.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.C.1
The Green Revolution started a shift to new agricultural strategies and practices in order to increase food production, with both positive and negative results. Some of these strategies and methods are mechanization, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), fertilization, irrigation, and the use of pesticides.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.C.2
Mechanization of farming can increase profits and efficiency for farms. It can also increase reliance on fossil fuels.
Topic 5.4: Impact of Agricultural Practices
Learning Objective: EIN-2.D
Describe agricultural practices that cause environmental damage.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.D.1
Agricultural practices that can cause environmental damage include tilling, slash- and-burn farming, and the use of fertilizers.
Topic 5.5: Irrigation Methods
Learning Objective: EIN-2.E
Describe different methods of irrigation.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.E.1
The largest human use of freshwater is for irrigation (70%).
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.E.2
Types of irrigation include drip irrigation, flood irrigation, furrow irrigation, drip irrigation, and spray irrigation.
Learning Objective: EIN-2.F
Describe the benefits and drawbacks of different methods of irrigation.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.F.1
Waterlogging occurs when too much water is left to sit in the soil, which raises the water table of groundwater and inhibits plants’ ability to absorb oxygen through their roots.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.F.2
Furrow irrigation involves cutting furrows between crop rows and filling them with water. This system is inexpensive, but about 1/3 of the water is lost to evaporation and runoff.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.F.3
Flood irrigation involves flooding an agricultural field with water. This system sees about 20% of the water lost to evaporation and runoff. This can also lead to waterlogging of the soil.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.F.4
Spray irrigation involves pumping groundwater into spray nozzles across an agricultural field. This system is more efficient than flood and furrow irrigation, with only 1/4 or less of the water lost to evaporation or runoff. However, spray systems are more expensive than flood and furrow irrigation, and also requires energy to run.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.F.5
Drip irrigation uses perforated hoses to release small amounts of water to plant roots. This system is the most efficient, with only about 5% of water lost to evaporation and runoff. However, this system is expensive and so is not often used.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.F.6
Salinization occurs when the salts in groundwater remain in the soil after the water evaporates. Over time, salinization can make soil toxic to plants.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.F.7
Aquifers can be severely depleted if overused for agricultural irrigation, as has happened to the Ogallala Aquifer in the central United States.
Topic 5.6: Pest Control Methods
Learning Objective: EIN-2.G
Describe the benefits and drawbacks of different methods of pest control.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.G.1
One consequence of using common pest-control methods such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, and insecticides is that organisms can become resistant to them through artificial selection. Pest control decreases crop damage by pests and increases crop yields.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.G.2
Crops can be genetically engineered to increase their resistance to pests and diseases. However, using genetically engineered crops in planting or other ways can lead to loss of genetic diversity of that particular crop.
Topic 5.7: Meat Production Methods
Learning Objective: EIN-2.H
Identify different methods of meat production.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.H.1
Methods of meat production include concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), also called feedlots, and free-range grazing.
Learning Objective: EIN-2.I
Describe the benefits and drawbacks of different methods of meat production.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.I.1
Meat production is less efficient than agriculture; it takes approximately 20 times more land to produce the same amount of calories from meat as from plants.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.I.2
Concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFOs) are used as a way to quickly get livestock ready for slaughter. They tend to be crowded, and animals are fed grains or feed that are not as suitable as grass. Additionally, feedlots generate a large amount of organic waste, which can contaminate ground and surface water. The use of feedlots are less expensive than other methods, which can keep costs to consumers down.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.I.3
Free range grazing allows animals to graze on grass during their entire lifecycle. Meat from free range animals tends to be free from antibiotics and other chemicals used in feedlots. Organic waste from these animals acts as fertilizer. Free range grazing requires large areas of land and the meat produced is more expensive for consumers.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.I.4
Overgrazing occurs when too many animals feed on a particular area of land. Overgrazing causes loss of vegetation, which leads to soil erosion.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.I.5
Overgrazing can cause desertification. Desertification is the degradation of low precipitation regions toward being increasingly arid until they become deserts.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.I.6
Less consumption of meat could reduce CO₂, methane, and N₂O emissions; conserve water; reduce the use of antibiotics and growth hormones; and improve topsoil.
Topic 5.8: Impacts of Overfishing
Learning Objective: EIN-2.J
Describe causes of and problems related to overfishing.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.J.1
Overfishing has led to the extreme scarcity of some fish species, which can lessen biodiversity in aquatic systems and harm people who depend on fishing for food and commerce.
Topic 5.9: Impacts of Mining
Learning Objective: EIN-2.K
Describe natural resource extraction through mining.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.K.1
As the more accessible ores are mined to depletion, mining operations are forced to access lower grade ores. Accessing these ores requires increased use of resources that can cause increased waste and pollution.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.K.2
Surface mining is the removal of large portions of soil and rock, called overburden, in order to access the ore underneath. An example is strip mining, which removes the vegetation from an area, making the area more susceptible to erosion.
Learning Objective: EIN-2.L
Describe ecological and economic impacts of natural resource extraction through mining.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.L.1
Mining wastes include the soil and rocks that are moved to gain access to the ore and the waste, called slag and tailings that remain when the minerals have been removed from the ore. Mining helps to provide low cost energy and material necessary to make products. The mining of coal can destroy habitats, contaminate ground water, and release dust particles and methane.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.L.2
As coal reserves get smaller, due to a lack of easily accessible reserves, it becomes necessary to access coal through subsurface mining, which is very expensive.
Topic 5.10: Impacts of Urbanization
Learning Objective: EIN-2.M
Describe the effects of urbanization on the environment.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.M.1
Urbanization can lead to depletion of resources and saltwater intrusion in the hydrologic cycle.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.M.2
Urbanization, through the burning of fossil fuels and landfills, affects the carbon cycle by increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.M.3
Impervious surfaces are human-made structures—such as roads, buildings, sidewalks, and parking lots—that do not allow water to reach the soil, leading to flooding.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.M.4
Urban sprawl is the change in population distribution from high population density areas to low density suburbs that spread into rural lands, leading to potential environmental problems.
Topic 5.11: Ecological Footprints
Learning Objective: EIN-2.N
Explain the variables measured in an ecological footprint.
Essential Knowledge: EIN-2.N.1
Ecological footprints compare resource demands and waste production required for an individual or a society.
Topic 5.12: Introduction to Sustainability
Learning Objective: STB-1.A
Explain the concept of sustainability.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.A.1
Sustainability refers to humans living on Earth and their use of resources without depletion of the resources for future generations. Environmental indicators that can guide humans to sustainability include biological diversity, food production, average global surface temperatures and CO₂ concentrations, human population, and resource depletion.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.A.2
Sustainable yield is the amount of a renewable resource that can be taken without reducing the available supply.
Topic 5.13: Methods to Reduce Urban Runoff
Learning Objective: STB-1.B
Describe methods for mitigating problems related to urban runoff.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.B.1
Methods to increase water infiltration include replacing traditional pavement with permeable pavement, planting trees, increased use of public transportation, and building up, not out.
Topic 5.14: Integrated Pest Management
Learning Objective: STB-1.C
Describe integrated pest management.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.C.1
Integrated pest management (IPM) is a combination of methods used to effectively control pest species while minimizing the disruption to the environment. These methods include biological, physical, and limited chemical methods such as biocontrol, intercropping, crop rotation, and natural predators of the pests.
Learning Objective: STB-1.D
Describe the benefits and drawbacks of integrated pest management (IPM).
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.D.1
The use of integrated pest management (IPM) reduces the risk that pesticides pose to wildlife, water supplies, and human health.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.D.2
Integrated pest management (IPM) minimizes disruptions to the environment and threats to human health but can be complex and expensive.
Topic 5.15: Sustainable Agriculture
Learning Objective: STB-1.E
Describe sustainable agricultural and food production practices.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.E.1
The goal of soil conservation is to prevent soil erosion. Different methods of soil conservation include contour plowing, windbreaks, perennial crops, terracing, no-till agriculture, and strip cropping.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.E.2
Strategies to improve soil fertility include crop rotation and the addition of green manure and limestone.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.E.3
Rotational grazing is the regular rotation of livestock between different pastures in order to avoid overgrazing in a particular area.
Topic 5.16: Aquaculture
Learning Objective: STB-1.F
Describe the benefits and drawbacks of aquaculture.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.F.1
Aquaculture has expanded because it is highly efficient, requires only small areas of water, and requires little fuel.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.F.2
Aquaculture can contaminate wastewater, and fish that escape may compete or breed with wild fish. The density of fish in aquaculture can lead to increases in disease incidences, which can be transmitted to wild fish.
Topic 5.17: Sustainable Forestry
Learning Objective: STB-1.G
Describe methods for mitigating human impact on forests.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.G.1
Some of the methods for mitigating deforestation include reforestation, using and buying wood harvested by ecologically sustainable forestry techniques, and reusing wood.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.G.2
Methods to protect forests from pathogens and insects include integrated pest management (IPM) and the removal of affected trees.
Essential Knowledge: STB-1.G.3
Prescribed burn is a method by which forests are set on fire under controlled conditions in order to reduce the occurrence of natural fires.
