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AP Environmental Science Overview

May 9, 2025

AP Environmental Science Study Guide

Unit 1 & 2: The Living World

Ecosystem Structure

  • Abiotic vs. Biotic Components
    • Abiotic: Nonliving components such as atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere
    • Biotic: Living components like animals, plants, fungi, protists, and bacteria (biosphere)
  • Interactions of Organisms with the Environment
    • Population: Group of organisms of the same species
    • Community: Populations of different species in a geographic area
    • Ecological Niche: Role and position a species has in its environment
  • Interactions Among Organisms
    • Competition: Competing for resources
    • Resource Partitioning: Coexisting and sharing resources
    • Predation: One species feeds on another
    • Symbiotic Relationships: Mutualism, commensalism, parasitism

Types of Ecosystems

  • Classifications: Biomes blend without distinct boundaries
  • Ecotones: Transitional areas with high species diversity
  • Ecozones/Ecoregions: Regions with similar physical features

Energy Flow

  • Photosynthesis: Conversion of solar energy into chemical energy by plants
  • Cell Respiration: Transfer of energy from macromolecules to smaller molecules like ATP
  • Photosynthetic Reactions: Light-dependent and light-independent reactions

Classifying Organisms

  • Autotrophs: Primary producers using sunlight or inorganic chemicals
  • Heterotrophs: Consumers depending on autotrophs for nutrients

Food Chains & Food Webs

  • Food Chain: Step-by-step energy flow from producers to consumers
  • Energy Pyramid: Shows available energy at each trophic level
  • Biodiversity: Variety of organisms and their evolution

Evolution & Natural Selection

  • Darwin’s Theory: Natural selection of advantageous traits
  • Genetic Drift: Chance events altering population
  • Phylogenetic Trees: Evolutionary relationships

Ecosystem Services

  • Provisioning: Physical items like food, water, energy
  • Cultural: Non-material benefits like recreation, education
  • Regulating & Support Services: Climate regulation, nutrient recycling

Unit 3: Populations

Population Ecology

  • Population Density & Dispersion: Clumped, uniform, random
  • Population Growth: Biotic potential, carrying capacity, J-curve, S-curve
  • Reproductive Strategies: R-selected vs. K-selected organisms

Human Population Dynamics

  • Growth Rate: Influenced by birth rate, death rate, immigration, and emigration
  • Total Fertility Rate (TFR): Number of children a woman will bear
  • Factors Affecting Growth Rate: Education, cultural beliefs, availability of birth control

Human Impact

  • Ecological Footprint: Environmental impact described by IPAT model
  • Environmental Problems: Overgrazing, desertification, soil salinization, deforestation

Unit 4: Earth Systems and Resources

Lithosphere & Tectonic Plates

  • Plate Boundaries: Convergent, divergent, and transform fault boundaries
  • Earthquakes & Volcanoes: Geological events from plate movement

Atmosphere

  • Layers: Exosphere, thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, troposphere
  • Greenhouse Gases & Climate: Water vapor, CO2, CH4

Hydrosphere

  • Freshwater Biomes: Deltas, estuaries, wetlands
  • Water Issues: Water risk, stress, scarcity, and conservation

Soil & Soil Dynamics

  • Soil Composition: Weathered rock, organic matter, air, water
  • Types of Rocks: Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic
  • Soil Problems & Conservation: Erosion, fertility, conservation practices

Unit 5: Land and Water Use

Resource Utilization

  • Tragedy of the Commons: Resource management
  • Renewable vs. Non-renewable Resources

Agriculture

  • Innovations: Neolithic and Green Revolutions
  • Problems & Solutions: Irrigation, soil degradation, pesticides

Livestock & Overgrazing

  • Grazing Practices: Sustainable vs. overgrazing
  • Animal Waste Management: Manure as a pollutant

Forestry

  • Deforestation & Forest Management: Old growth, second growth, plantations
  • Natural Events & Forest Fires: Human impact on forest quality

Unit 6: Energy Resources and Consumption

Energy Concepts

  • Forms of Energy: Potential, kinetic, radiant, thermal, chemical, electrical, nuclear
  • Laws of Thermodynamics: Energy conservation and entropy

Sources of Energy

  • Nonrenewable: Fossil fuels, nuclear
  • Renewable: Hydroelectric, solar, wind, biomass

Fossil Fuels

  • Types & Extraction: Oil, coal, natural gas, synfuels
  • Environmental Impact: Drilling, burning, coal mining

Renewable Energy

  • Pros & Cons: Hydroelectric, solar, biomass, wind, geothermal

Unit 7 & 8: Pollution

Types of Pollution

  • Sources: Burning fossil fuels, mining, industrial processes
  • Water Pollution: Agricultural, industrial, household uses

Wastewater Treatment

  • Systems: Septic, sewage treatment plants, manure lagoons
  • Pollutants: Heavy metals, synthetic organic compounds

Remediation Techniques for Oil & Water Pollution

  • Oil: Containment, chemical dispersal, bacterial consumption
  • Water & Solid Waste: Sediment and thermal pollution management

Air Pollution

  • Primary vs. Secondary Pollutants: SO2, NOx, CO, particulate matter
  • Photochemical Smog & Acid Rain: Formation and effects
  • Pollution Control Methods: Emission reductions, cleaner technologies

Global Change

  • Global Warming Effects: Physical and biological changes
  • Adaptations & Reducing Climate Change: Technological, behavioral, policy strategies