4Th Grade Science Vocabulary Words

Front 1

Predator

Back 1

an animal that hunts other animals for food

Front 2

Prey

Back 2

an animal hunted as food by another animal

Front 3

Omnivore

Back 3

an animal that eats both plants and animals

Front 4

Carnivore

Back 4

an animal that eats only animals

Front 5

Herbivore

Back 5

an animal that eats only plants

Front 6

Camouflage

Back 6

the ability to blend in with surroundings

Front 7

Photosynthesis

Back 7

the process that plants use to make energy (produce food) from sunlight

Front 8

Producer

Back 8

a living thing (green plant) that makes its own food through photosynthesis

Front 9

Consumer

Back 9

a living thing that obtains (gets) energy by eating other living things

Front 10

decomposer

Back 10

a living thing that breaks down the remains of dead organisms

Front 11

Ecosystem

Back 11

an area in which living and non-living things interact

Front 12

Habitat

Back 12

a natural or controlled environment in which plants and animals live

Front 13

Migration

Back 13

to move to another region as the seasons change

Front 14

Hibernation

Back 14

a deep sleep that helps some animals to survive the winter

Front 15

Offspring

Back 15

new living things produced by parents, or the young of plants and animals

Front 16

Reproduction

Back 16

to produce offspring

Front 17

Extinction

Back 17

the permanent disappearance of all living things of a certain kind

Front 18

Endangered

Back 18

an animal or plant in danger of becoming extinct or dying off

Front 19

Adaptation

Back 19

behavior or part of a living thing that helps it to survive in a certain environment

Front 20

Nutrients

Back 20

chemicals that plants and animals need to survive

Front 21

Food chain

Back 21

the path of energy transfer from one living organism to another

Front 22

Food web

Back 22

the overlapping food chains that link producers, consumers and decomposers in an ecosystem

Front 23

Organism

Back 23

living thing

Front 24

Life Cycle

Back 24

the stages that an organism goes through during its life

Front 25

Carbon Dioxide

Back 25

a gas in the air that is needed by green plants to make food

Front 26

Oxygen

Back 26

a gas in the air that is given off by green plants and needed for animals to survive

Front 27

Larva

Back 27

the second stage of growth for some kinds of insects, such as a caterpillar or mealworm

Front 28

Pupa

Back 28

the third stage in the life cycle of an insect undergoing a complete metamorphosis

Front 29

Metamorphosis

Back 29

a change in form that some animals go through in developing

Front 30

Life Span

Back 30

the length of time that an organism is expected to live

Front 31

Life Process

Back 31

the steps involved in an operation or cycle (egg, larva, pupa, adult)

Front 32

Non-living

Back 32

something that is not alive

Front 33

Population

Back 33

a number of the same kind of organisms that live in the same place

Front 34

Germination

Back 34

to begin to grow from a seed to a new plant

Front 35

Environment

Back 35

all the surrounding living and non-living things that affect a living thing

Front 36

Community

Back 36

a group of plants and animals that live in a certain area

Front 37

Inherited Trait

Back 37

a trait or characteristic that an organism receives from its parents

Front 38

Learned Trait

Back 38

a trait or characteristic that an organism learns from its parents or other animals

Front 39

Acquired Trait

Back 39

a trait or characteristic that an organism develops from interactions with its environment

Front 40

Species

Back 40

a group of living things that can produce young by mating with one another

Front 41

Variation

Back 41

a different form of a feature of the same kind of living thing

Front 42

Petal

Back 42

the brightly colored part of a flower that helps attract birds, bees and other insects to the flower

Front 43

Pistil

Back 43

the central part of a flower that produces a seed

Front 44

Pollen

Back 44

the powdery grains in a flower; they must be carried from a stamen to a pistil in order for seeds to form

Front 45

Stamen

Back 45

the part of a flower that produces pollen

Front 46

Electricity

Back 46

a form of energy that is used to produce light and power

Front 47

Magnetism

Back 47

the properties of attraction possessed by magnets

Front 48

Attract

Back 48

one of the forces of magnetism that brings two objects together

Front 49

Repel

Back 49

one of the forces of magnetism that drives two objects apart

Front 50

Magnetic Field

Back 50

the space around a magnet where the force of attraction can be felt

Front 51

Reflection

Back 51

the bouncing of light or other energy off of an object

Front 52

Current

Back 52

the flow of electricity in a wire or other conductor

Front 53

Conductor

Back 53

a type of material that transfers heat or electricity (allows electric current to pass through easily)

Front 54

Insulator

Back 54

a poor conductor of heat or electricity such as rubber, paper or plastic

Front 55

Non-conductor

Back 55

a material that does not allow electric current to pass through easily

Front 56

Battery

Back 56

a device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy

Front 57

Terminal

Back 57

the contact point on a battery or light bulb that must be touched in order to complete a circuit

Front 58

Circuit

Back 58

complete or partial path through which electrical current may flow

Front 59

Series Circuit

Back 59

a circuit that has only one path through which electricity may flow

Front 60

Parallel Circuit

Back 60

a circuit that provides multiple paths through which electricity may flow

Front 61

Switch

Back 61

a device that opens or closes a circuit

Front 62

Water

Back 62

a chemical formed from hydrogen and oxygen that is essential to life

Front 63

Solid

Back 63

the state of matter that has a definite shape and volume

Front 64

Liquid

Back 64

the state of matter that has no definite shape but takes up a definite amount of space (volume) and takes the shape of its container

Front 65

Gas

Back 65

the state of matter that has no definite shape and does not take up a definite amount of space

Front 66

Water Vapor

Back 66

water that is a gas

Front 67

Volume

Back 67

the amount of space something takes up

Front 68

Mass

Back 68

the amount of matter in an object

Front 69

Weight

Back 69

the amount of force that gravity exerts on an object

Front 70

Density

Back 70

closeness or compactness of molecules (amount of mass in a given volume of matter)

Front 71

Evaporation

Back 71

the process by which a liquid is changed to a gas

Front 72

Condensation

Back 72

the process by which a gas is changed to a liquid

Front 73

Melting

Back 73

the process by which a solid is changed to a liquid

Front 74

Buoyancy

Back 74

the ability to float

Front 75

Absorb

Back 75

when water soaks into another material

Front 76

Capacity

Back 76

amount of space inside a container of shape

Front 77

Surface Tension

Back 77

the skin-like surface on water that pulls it together into the smallest possible area

Front 78

Displacement

Back 78

water that is pushed aside when something is placed in it

Front 79

Erosion

Back 79

the carrying away of rocks and soil by wind or water

Front 80

Deposition

Back 80

the dropping or settling of eroded earth materials

Front 81

Revolution

Back 81

the movement of an object around another object or point. It takes about 365 days (one year) for Earth to make one revolution around the Sun

Front 82

Rotation

Back 82

the spinning motion of an object on its axis. It is the reason for day and night because it takes 24 hours for the Earth to make one complete rotation

Front 83

Orbit

Back 83

the path a planet, moon or other object takes around another

Front 84

Runoff

Back 84

when water on the Earth’s surface is unable to sink in and instead moves across the Earth’s surface

Front 85

Ground Water

Back 85

water that moves downward into the ground

Front 86

Water Cycle

Back 86

the path that water follows from Earth to air and back again (water evaporates from lakes, oceans and mountain runoff into the air, and then condenses and falls back to Earth as precipitation, rain or snow)

Front 87

Precipitation

Back 87

the falling of water, ice or snow (formed by condensation)

Front 88

Physical Weathering

Back 88

the breaking down of rocks due to air, wind, water or temperature changes

Front 89

Chemical Weathering

Back 89

the breaking down of rocks due to chemical changes

Front 90

Polluted

Back 90

containing unwanted or harmful material

Front 91

Natural Resource

Back 91

a material found in or on the Earth that people use

Front 92

Balance

Back 92

a tool used to measure an object’s mass in grams (g)

Front 93

Spring Scale

Back 93

a tool used to measure forces such as the pull of gravity on objects; can measure mass in grams or weight in Newtons (N)

Front 94

Hand lens

Back 94

a science tool used to magnify objects or make them look larger; magnifying glass

Front 95

Thermometer

Back 95

a tool used to measure the temperature of air and most liquids; measures in degrees Celsius (metric, °C) or degrees Farenheit (°F)

Front 96

Graduated Cylinder

Back 96

a tool used to read the volume of liquids in milliliters (ml)

Front 97

Meter Stick

Back 97

a tool used to measure distances and to find lengths of objects in centimeters (cm)

Front 98

Flexibility

Back 98

property of an object that can bend or change shape easily

Front 99

Matter

Back 99

anything that takes up space and has mass

Front 100

Force

Back 100

a push or pull on an object

Front 101

Gravity

Back 101

the force of attraction through which objects tend to fall towards the center of the Earth

Front 102

Friction

Back 102

the force that resists motion between two surfaces when they rub against each other

Front 103

Energy

Back 103

what gives living things strength to live, grow and carry out life processes; the ability to cause a change in matter, the capacity for work

Front 104

Chemical Energy

Back 104

energy produced by chemical reactions

Front 105

Electrical Energy

Back 105

energy produced by electricity

Front 106

Sound Energy

Back 106

energy produced through sound

Front 107

Heat Energy

Back 107

energy produced by heat

Front 108

Magnetic Energy

Back 108

the capacity for work produced when magnets are used

Front 109

Light Energy

Back 109

visible energy from the sun or other sources

Front 110

Mechanical Energy

Back 110

energy produced because of the motion and forces acting on an object

Front 111

Solar Energy

Back 111

energy produced by the sun

Front 112

Transformation

Back 112

when an object or organism undergoes a noticeable change in appearance or form

Front 113

Cycle

Back 113

a complete set of events that keep coming back in the same order

Front 114

Work

Back 114

force used on an object to move the object a certain distance

Front 115

Efficiency

Back 115

how well a machine changes effort into useful work

Front 116

Inclined Plane

Back 116

a kind of simple machine, a slanted surface that makes it easier to move an object to a higher place

Front 117

Lever

Back 117

a kind of simple machine, a bar resting on a turning point or fulcrum

Front 118

Pulley

Back 118

a kind of simple machine, made up of a rope or chain and a wheel around which the rope fits, used to lift or move objects

Front 119

Wheel and Axle

Back 119

a kind of simple machine, made up of a large wheel attached to a smaller wheel or rod, helps to move objects by rolling them from place to place

Front 120

Screw

Back 120

a kind of simple machine, made by wrapping an inclined plane around a pole, helps to move objects or hold them in place

Front 121

Variable

Back 121

something that can be changed during an experiment, such as the materials, equipment or procedure, to see if it changes the results

Front 122

Property

Back 122

characteristic of a material; something you can observe such as color, smell or taste

Front 123

Temperature

Back 123

how hot or cold something is

Front 124

Experiment

Back 124

a test under controlled conditions that helps us learn more about something

Front 125

Predict

Back 125

guessing or foretelling (from previous information) what will happen before you do an experiment

Front 126

Result

Back 126

what happens during the experiment

Front 127

Evidence

Back 127

proof that is left when an interaction takes place

Front 128

Hypothesis

Back 128

an educated guess; tentatively accepting an explanation as the basis for further investigation