• 53 questions

APES Unit 4 Practice Test

Unofficial practice for Unit 4 of AP Environmental Science, Earth Systems and Resources, from plate tectonics to El Niño.

Which set of features can form at a convergent plate boundary?

Pick an answer, then press Check answer. Then you see Correct or Not quite, with the reason. Keys: 1 to 4 pick, Enter checks.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the College Board. Bank checked October 14, 2026.

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All 53 questions

Topic 4.1: Plate tectonics 8

  • Along the Peru-Chile trench the oceanic Nazca Plate is being subducted under the continental part of the South American Plate. Which mountains is the overriding plate lifting up? U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Understanding plate motions"; course topic 4.1
  • By the course outline, when does an earthquake occur? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.1, essential knowledge ERT-4.A.5
  • The Hawaiian Islands formed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, more than 3,200 km from the nearest plate boundary. What explains them? U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Hotspots: Mantle thermal plumes"; course topic 4.1
  • The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is perhaps the best known divergent boundary. About how fast does it spread, on average? U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Understanding plate motions"; course topic 4.1
  • Seafloor spreading and rift valleys form at which kind of plate boundary? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.1, essential knowledge ERT-4.A.2
  • What can a map of the global distribution of plate boundaries be used to determine? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.1, essential knowledge ERT-4.A.4
  • When two continents meet head-on at a convergent boundary, neither plate is subducted. What happens to the crust instead? U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Understanding plate motions"; course topic 4.1
  • Which set of features can form at a convergent plate boundary? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.1, essential knowledge ERT-4.A.1
Show all 53 questions (45 more)

Topic 4.2: Soil formation and erosion 6

  • By the course outline, soils are formed when parent material is College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.2, essential knowledge ERT-4.B.1; Wikipedia, "Weathering"
  • By which agents can soils be eroded, according to the course outline? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.2, essential knowledge ERT-4.B.3
  • In a soil profile, which horizon does the mineral soil usually start with? Wikipedia, "Soil horizon"; course topic 4.2
  • On what basis are soils generally categorized into horizons? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.2, essential knowledge ERT-4.B.2
  • Which letter names the leaching layer of a soil? Wikipedia, "Soil horizon"; course topic 4.2
  • Why can protecting soils protect water quality? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.2, essential knowledge ERT-4.B.3

Topic 4.3: Soil composition and properties 7

  • A soil sample is 20% clay and 40% silt. What percentage of it is sand? Worked from the numbers in the question; course topic 4.3; Wikipedia, "Loam"
  • By weight, the mineral composition of loam is about Wikipedia, "Loam"; course topic 4.3
  • Soil texture depends on sand, silt and clay. Which of the three has the smallest particles? Wikipedia, "Soil texture"; course topic 4.3
  • Tests of the chemical, physical and biological properties of soil can aid in which decisions, by the course outline? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.3, essential knowledge ERT-4.C.3
  • What does a soil texture triangle let you do? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.3, essential knowledge ERT-4.C.4
  • What is the water holding capacity of a soil? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.3, essential knowledge ERT-4.C.1
  • Which three properties of a soil can the particle size and composition of each horizon affect? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.3, essential knowledge ERT-4.C.2

Topic 4.4: Earth's atmosphere 8

  • About what share of dry air is oxygen? NOAA JetStream, "The Atmosphere"; course topic 4.4
  • After nitrogen and oxygen, which gas is the next most abundant in dry air? NOAA JetStream, "The Atmosphere"; course topic 4.4
  • NOAA gives a reason why the troposphere gets colder as you climb. What is it? NOAA JetStream, "Layers of the Atmosphere"; course topic 4.4
  • Water vapor is left out of the figures for dry air. Up to about what share of the total volume of air can it be? NOAA JetStream, "The Atmosphere"; course topic 4.4
  • What are the layers of the atmosphere based on? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.4, essential knowledge ERT-4.D.2
  • Which gas is by far the most common in dry air? NOAA JetStream, "The Atmosphere"; course topic 4.4
  • Which layer of the atmosphere contains the ozone layer? Wikipedia, "Atmosphere of Earth"; course topic 4.4
  • Which list gives the layers of the atmosphere in order from the surface upward? NOAA JetStream, "Layers of the Atmosphere"; course topic 4.4

Topic 4.5: Global wind patterns 6

  • By the course outline, what do global wind patterns primarily result from? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.5, essential knowledge ERT-4.E.1
  • Deserts in northern Africa, Australia and the American Southwest lie along about 30° N and S. What sits at that latitude? NOAA JetStream, "Global Atmospheric Circulations"; course topic 4.5
  • How many atmospheric circulation cells are there in each hemisphere? NOAA JetStream, "Global Atmospheric Circulations"; course topic 4.5
  • In a Hadley cell, what happens to air when it reaches the equator? NOAA JetStream, "Global Atmospheric Circulations"; course topic 4.5
  • Where are the surface bands of low pressure found? NOAA JetStream, "Global Atmospheric Circulations"; course topic 4.5
  • Which of the three circulation cells is the smallest and weakest? NOAA JetStream, "Global Atmospheric Circulations"; course topic 4.5

Topic 4.6: Watersheds 4

  • What are the ridges and hills that separate two watersheds called? U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School, "Watersheds and Drainage Basins"; course topic 4.6
  • Which is the largest watershed in the United States? NOAA National Ocean Service, "What is a watershed?"; course topic 4.6
  • Which list gives characteristics of a watershed named in the course outline? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.6, essential knowledge ERT-4.F.1
  • Which two terms mean the same thing as "watershed"? NOAA National Ocean Service, "What is a watershed?"; course topic 4.6

Topic 4.7: Solar radiation and Earth's seasons 5

  • Besides the seasons, what does the tilt of Earth's axis of rotation cause? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.7, essential knowledge ENG-2.A.5
  • On which day of the year does a location receive the least solar radiation? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.7, essential knowledge ENG-2.A.4
  • What determines the intensity of the solar radiation that reaches a place? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.7, essential knowledge ENG-2.A.2
  • What is insolation? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.7, essential knowledge ENG-2.A.1
  • Where on Earth is the solar radiation received per unit area highest? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.7, essential knowledge ENG-2.A.3

Topic 4.8: Earth's geography and climate 3

  • Besides the sun's energy, what does the course outline say affects weather and climate? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.8, essential knowledge ENG-2.B.1
  • Moist air driven up a tall, wide mountain range loses most of its humidity as precipitation before it passes the top. Over which side does that rain or snow fall? Wikipedia, "Rain shadow"; course topic 4.8
  • What is a rain shadow, in the words of the course outline? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.8, essential knowledge ENG-2.B.2

Topic 4.9: El Niño and La Niña 6

  • During El Niño the Pacific jet stream moves south of its neutral position. What does that tend to bring to the U.S. Gulf Coast and Southeast? NOAA National Ocean Service, "What are El Niño and La Niña?"; course topic 4.9
  • During El Niño there are fewer phytoplankton off the Pacific coast of the Americas. Why? NOAA National Ocean Service, "What are El Niño and La Niña?"; course topic 4.9
  • El Niño and La Niña are associated with changes in what? College Board, AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, topic 4.9, essential knowledge ENG-2.C.1
  • How often do El Niño and La Niña events occur, on average? NOAA National Ocean Service, "What are El Niño and La Niña?"; course topic 4.9
  • In normal conditions, which way do the trade winds blow along the equator in the Pacific, and what do they carry? NOAA National Ocean Service, "What are El Niño and La Niña?"; course topic 4.9
  • What are the Pacific trade winds like during a La Niña event? NOAA National Ocean Service, "What are El Niño and La Niña?"; course topic 4.9

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to Unit 4 (Earth Systems and Resources, topics 4.1 to 4.9) of the College Board's AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-environmental-science-course-and-exam-description.pdf, read 2026-10-14. Each fact was read on 2026-10-14 in the public page named under its question: an essential knowledge statement of the course description; This Dynamic Earth and the Water Science School of the U.S. Geological Survey; NOAA JetStream and the NOAA National Ocean Service; or a Wikipedia article. The one worked answer was recomputed. Licence: Own work.

How it works

This APES Unit 4 practice test has 53 questions of our own on Earth Systems and Resources, Unit 4 of AP Environmental Science. It is unofficial and not affiliated with the College Board, which owns AP.

Read the full guide

What Unit 4 covers

The College Board's course description, effective fall 2026 and read October 14, 2026, gives Unit 4 nine topics, and the bank follows them in order: plate tectonics (8 questions), soil formation and erosion (6), soil composition and properties (7), Earth's atmosphere (8), global wind patterns (6), watersheds (4), solar radiation and seasons (5), geography and climate (3), and El Niño and La Niña (6). Topics carry no weights in the description, so the spread is ours.

Sources you can open

Each answer cites an essential knowledge statement of the course description, a page of the U.S. Geological Survey or NOAA, or a Wikipedia article.

  • Match each boundary to its landforms: convergent builds mountains and island arcs, divergent spreads seafloor, transform makes earthquakes.
  • On a soil texture triangle the three percentages add to 100, so two of them give you the third.
  • High pressure near 30 degrees means dry weather; low pressure at the equator and at 50 to 60 degrees means rain.

Questions and answers

What is Unit 4 in APES?

Earth Systems and Resources. Its nine topics run from plate tectonics and soil to the atmosphere, wind, watersheds, seasons, climate and El Niño. It carries 10 to 15% of the multiple-choice section, by the course description.

What should an AP Environmental Science Unit 4 study guide cover?

For Earth Systems and Resources: the three kinds of plate boundary, how soil forms and erodes, the soil texture triangle, the gases and layers of the atmosphere, the three circulation cells, watershed features, why seasons happen, rain shadows, and El Niño and La Niña.

Is there math in APES Unit 4?

Hardly any. The description lists no math skill for the unit; its skills center on maps, diagrams and soil investigations. The one calculation here finds a missing percentage on a soil texture triangle.

How long is Unit 4 of AP Environmental Science?

About 11 to 12 class periods, by the course description. Its Progress Check, which teachers assign in AP Classroom, has about 25 multiple-choice questions and one free-response question on designing an investigation.

Are these the College Board's Unit 4 questions?

No. These 53 are ours, written from the published topic list of Unit 4 and the public pages named under them. The College Board's own questions stay in AP Classroom and on its exams.

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