APES – Foldables Study Guide Review

Directions for the first foldable: Obtain 4 pieces of paper (your choice of color…can have all different colors)
and layer so that about an inch of each color is showing  then fold in half (this will be modeled for you). An
example is pictured below:

APES Review

There will be 4 tabbed sections on the front, and if you open it up, another 4 sections will be inside. Label
them in the following order from top to bottom:

TOP 4 BOTTOM 4

(1) APES Review (1) Cycles

(2) Food Webs (2) Animal Interactions/Symbiosis
(3) Primary Productivity (3) Succession
(4) Soil (4) Biodiversity

Each tab will include information for that particular topic.

Each unit will have its own foldable (5 total). An example will be provided for each one.

Use the APES exam topics document and the objectives on the back of this sheet to fill in information on
each topic. What you include is up to your discretion based on your personal comfort level with each topic.
You will also be provided with a document for each unit that includes important vocabulary and practice
questions. This material can also be used to help you gage your knowledge of each topic. This material is not
necessarily all inclusive of what could be asked on the AP test. It is what I have seen in the past and what I
focus on in class.
Foldable 1
Living World I:
Ecosystems, Soils and Cycles

Food Webs
 Understand how to read a food web.
 Understand the organization of ecosystems (individual, population, etc)
 Understand the types of organisms (producer, consumer, herbivore, etc)
 Be able to identify an organisms trophic level
 Know the laws of thermodynamics and how they relate to food webs
 Know what ecosystems services are and an example

Primary Productivity
 Know the equations for photosynthesis and cellular respiration
 Be able to describe what primary productivity is
 What is the equation?
 Be able to identify 2 high producing and 2 low producing ecosystems

Soil
 Know all soil layers- names and composition
 Be able to read a soil triangle
 Understand the differences in water holding capacity of sand, silt and clay
 Understand the quality of rainforest soils

Cycles
 Be able to identify the components and steps of each cycle
o Water
o Carbon
o Phosphorous
o Sulfur
o Nitrogen
 Understand how humans have effected each cycle
 Know what guano is

Living World II:

Community Ecology/Biodiversity
Animal Interactions/Symbiosis
 Understand the different types of symbiosis (mutualism, parasitism, etc) and an example of each
 Understand how competition effects organisms (resource partitioning)
 Understand how predators and prey interact

Succession
 Know what succession is
 Know the difference between primary and secondary
 Know what species are pioneer species
 Know the make-up of a climax community
Biodiversity
 Understand the role of species (keystone, invasive, alien, etc)
 Understand how humans have effected biodiversity
 Understand the theory of island biogeography
 Understand how ecotones, edges and fragmenting effect an environment
 Know the differences between species richness and species evenness

Foldable 2
Living World III:
Evolution/Weather/Biomes
Evolution
 Understand how variation and adaptations drive natural selection
 Understand the concept of co-evolution
 Be able to distinguish between a habitat and a niche
 Be able to distinguish between a fundamental niche and a realized niche
 Know the difference between generalist and specialist species
o Understand the benefits and drawback of each

Climate
 Know the layers and gases of the atmosphere- what happens in each layer
 Know the importance of ozone
 Know the 2 factors that determine climate
 Understand how the Earth’s rotation and axis causes the seasons
 Know where the bands of Earth’s wet, dry and temperate regions occur
 Understand how ocean surface and deep sea currents affect climate
 Be able to describe the differences between El Nino and a normal year
 Be able to describe upwelling and its benefits

Biomes
 Know characteristics of each biome (temperature, precipitation, organisms)
 Know generally where each biome resides
 Know which biomes are the most/least productive

Foldable 3

Populations

Population Ecology
 Understand the difference between organism distribution (clumped, random and uniform)
 Know how to calculate population change
 Understand biotic potential and how it grows
 Understand the factors that limit population growth (environmental resistance)
 Understand the concept of carrying capacity and what happens when a population overshoots their
carrying capacity
 Be able to describe the difference between exponential and logistic growth
 o J vs S curves
 Be able to describe the differences between r and k selected species, the 3 survivorship curves (early
loss, late loss, and constant loss), and density independent and dependent controls

Human Populations
 Know the population for the world and the US
 Know which countries are growing and which are declining
 Understand the differences between developed and developing countries
 Understand the benefits and drawbacks to a country experiencing rapid growth and declining growth
 Know how to calculate doubling time with the rule of 70
 Know what influences fertility rates and death rates
 Know what influences infant mortality rates
 Understand the design of age structure pyramids, how to read them, and which group determines if a
country is growing, stable or declining.
 Know ways of controlling population growth
 Be able to describe the concept of demographic transition and its stages

Disease
 For the following diseases know how they are transmitted, symptoms, and prevention techniques:
o Malaria
o TB
o Cholera
o Influenza
o HIV
o SARs
o West Nile

Foldable 4
Land and Water Use

Water Use
 Know what an aquifer is, its importance and how irrigation affects them
 Know how humans use water (farming, industry, household)
 Be able to describe the issues of runoff and lack of recharge area
 Be able to describe sustainable water usages (drip irrigation, shorter showers, etc)
 Know why estuaries are important
 Understand the benefits and risks of living on a floodplain
 Understand the benefits and drawbacks to dams
 Know the background on water projects (Mono lake Aral sea, Colorado river, etc)
 Understand how salt water intrusion happens and why
 Know the pros and cons of desalinization
 Be able to describe ways government has encourages decreased water usage
 Know where gray water comes from

Fishing
 Understand the issues with current day fishing methods
  Be able to describe the following fishing methods:
o Long lining
o Purse seining
o Hook and line
o Trawling
o Drift netting
 Know the benefits and drawbacks of aquaculture

Land Use
 Understand where the world’s food comes from
 Know the 3 main consumed foods
 Know what happened during the green revolution and the techniques used
 Understand the problems and effects of food production
o Land degradation/Erosion
o Unequal distribution
o Salinization
o Waterlogging
o Desertification
 Know ways to be more sustainable in food production (no-till, cover crop, etc)
 Know the downsides to monocultures
 Know what types of environments are susceptible to desertification and generally where in the world it
is happening
 Understand the environmental effects of food production (pollution, loss of biodiversity, etc)
 Understand the drawbacks to meat production and ways to better manage rangelands
 Know what types of countries eat large amounts of meat and why
 Understand the meaning of LD50

Pesticides
 Know why we use pesticides and the type used
 Understand the differences between chemical and ecological pesticides
 Understand the theory of Integrated Pest Management
 Know the drawbacks of DDT
 Understand the issues with pesticide use (resurgence, resistance, pesticide treadmill)
 Understand what FIFRA oversees
 Be able to describe biomagnification and bioaccumulation
 Know the difference between persistent and non-persistent pesticides

Foldable 5

Energy

Geology
 Know the layers of the Earth and what each is made of
 Understand the concept of plate tectonics and how the Earth’s crust moves.
  Know the difference between converging, transform and diverging plate boundaries, where these
boundaries are on Earth and what formations occur because of these boundaries (trenches,
earthquakes, etc)
 Understand how the Ring of Fire is formed and where it is

Mining
 Know the difference between surface and subsurface mining
 Know the 5 types of surface mining
 Know what products are mined
 Understand the basic ideas of the Surface and Mining Control and Reclamation Act
 Be able to describe the environmental issues with both surface and subsurface mining
 Be able to read and describe depletion curves

Non-renewable Energy
 Know what products are made from oil
 Know the stages of coal development
 Be able to describe the advantages and disadvantages of oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear energy
 Know what fossil fuels are used for
 Know where the reserves are for each type of fossil fuels
 Understand the process of fracking
 Be able to calculate ½ life
 Know what happened at Chernobyl
 Be able to describe the issues with drilling for oil in ANWAR
 Understand how an electrical and nuclear power plant work

Renewable Energy
 Be able to describe passive solar energy
 Be able to describe advantages and disadvantages of the following:
o Photovoltics
o Wind
o Geothermal
o Fuel cells
o Biofuels
o Hydroelectric