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AP Environmental Science 5.6: Pest Control Methods

Practice AP Environmental Science questions on pest-control methods, artificial selection for resistance, crop yields, and GMO tradeoffs.

Syllabus
Effective Fall 2025
Course
AP Environmental Science

Covered syllabus points

EIN-2.G—Describe the benefits and drawbacks of different methods of pest control

5.6 Pest Control Methods question 1

[Maximum number: 6]

Pesticides have been utilized for many years to increase food production and control pest populations. Pesticide use can be both beneficial and harmful to humans and other organisms.

Cotton farmers in the southern United States used a chemical pesticide to control an insect cotton-crop pest over a 40-year period. To study the effectiveness of the pesticide as an insect pest-control strategy, traps were placed in treated cotton fields and the number of pests captured were compared to application rates for the pesticide. The results of the study are shown in the table below.

Table for Question 5.6 Pest Control Methods question 1 — AP Environmental Science

Question (a)

(a)

Pesticide use has advantages, disadvantages, and unintended consequences on human health. Describe one benefit to human health that can result from the use of pesticides.

[ 1 ]

Question (b)

(b)

Use the data in the table to answer the following questions.

[ 3 ]

Question (i)

(i)

Identify the year when the pesticide was most effective at reducing the size of the pest population.

[ 1 ]

Question (ii)

(ii)

Describe the change in the number of crop insect pests in the cotton fields over time.

[ 1 ]

Question (iii)

(iii)

Explain how the change in the cotton-crop pesticide effectiveness between the initial application in 1975 and the latest application in 2015 illustrates genetic resistance in pests, based on the data in the table.

[ 1 ]

Question (c)

(c)

Describe TWO effects of pesticide use, other than death, on nontarget wildlife.

[ 2 ]
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