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213 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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When white light wave passes through a substance the energy of certain colors may be taken in by the substance and converted to a different form of energy
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Absorption
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Rain or snow produced when gases, released by burning fossil fuels, mix with water in the air
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Acid precipitation
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Any structure or behavior that helps an organism survive in its environment; develops in a population over a long period of time
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Adaptation
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The distance between a wave's midpoint and its crest or trough
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Amplitude
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A device used to measure wind speed
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Anemometer
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A flowering plant with seeds enclosed in a fruit such as an apple
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Angiosperm
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A type of reproduction in which a new organism is produced from one parent
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Asexual reproduction
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The mixture of gases, solids, and liquids that surrounds a celestial body
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Atmosphere
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Smallest unit of matter that cannot be broken down by chemical means
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Atom
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The imaginary line through Earth's center from the North Pole to the South Pole
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Axis
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An instrument for measuring air pressure
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Barometer
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Organic material from plants or animals that is used to produce energy
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Biomass
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All parts of Earth where life exists
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Biosphere
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The flow of carbon through Earth's ecosystems
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Carbon cycle
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The flow of carbon dioxide and oxygen through Earth's ecosystems
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Carbon dioxide-oxygen cycle
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An animal that feeds on other animals
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Carnivore
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The largest number of individuals that an environment can support over time
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Carrying capacity
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The smallest unit of an organism that can perform life functions
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Cell
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Cellular respiration
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The major theory that the cell is the basic unit of life; organisms are made up of one or more cells; and all cells come from other living cells
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Cell theory
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Any change where one or more of the original materials changes into other materials
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Chemical change
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Characteristic of a substance that allows it to change to a new substance
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Chemical property
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A cloud that is thin, feathery, and high in the sky, usually associated with sunny weather
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Cirrus
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A sedimentary material with grains smaller than 0.002 mm in diameter
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Clay
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Average of weather conditions in a given area over a period of years
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Climate
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Circuit having a complete path for current flow
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Closed Circuit
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A ball of ice, rock, and frozen gases that orbits the sun
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Comet
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A symbiotic relationship that benefits one partner but not the other
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Commensalism
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An exchange of information from one organism to another
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Communication
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All of the populations of different species that live in the same place at the same time and interact with each other
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Community
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Combination of two or more simple machines
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Compound machines
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Pure substance produced when two or more elements combine and whose properties are different from the elements from which it is formed
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Compound
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Process of being pressed together
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Compression
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A cloud that looks like puffy white cotton, usually associated with fair weather
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Cumulus
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Materials that transfer energy from one particle to another
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Conductors
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A tree that produces seeds in cones and has needle-like leaves
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Conifer
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Law that states that matter is neither created nor destroyed, only changed in form
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Conservation of matter (mass)
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Organism that cannot make its own food
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Consumer
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In an experiment, the standard for comparison
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Control
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Transfer of thermal energy through liquid and gases
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Convection
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Complete reorganization of the tissues of an animal during its life cycle from egg to larva to pupa to adult, usually involving the addition of legs and wings
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Complete metamorphosis
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Force that changes the direction of solids, liquids, and gases to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere as a result of earth’s rotation
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Coriolis effect
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Alteration of Earth's crust by forces applied by the movement of the tectonic plates
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Crustal deformation
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Organisms that break down and absorb nutrients from dead organisms
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Decomposer
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The amount of mass in a given volume (D=m/v)
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Density
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Factor being measured in an experiment, found on the vertical or Y-axis on a graph
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Dependent variable
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The dropping of sediment from wind or water
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Deposition
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System used for identifying plants, animals, rocks, or minerals that is made up of a series of paired descriptions to choose between
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Dichotomous key
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Form of a trait that masks another form of the same trait
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Dominant trait
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A sudden movement of Earth’s crust caused by the release of stress accumulated along geologic fault lines or by volcanic activity
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Earthquake
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Populations interacting with the living and non-living parts of the environment
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Ecosystem
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The female sex cell
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Egg
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The interaction of electric charges
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Electricity
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A temporary magnet made by passing electric current through a wire coiled around an iron bar
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Electromagnet
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A pure substance that is made of only one kind of atom
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Elements
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Fertilized egg that has begun to divide
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Embryo
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The growth of a fertilized egg from a single cell to multi-cells
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Embryonic development
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Data that can be detected, observed, or measured
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Empirical evidence
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A chemical reaction in which more energy is taken in than given off
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Endothermic
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The capacity to cause change and do work
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Energy
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The surroundings and conditions in which an organism lives
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Environment
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Transportation of soil and rock by wind, water, gravity, and ice
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Erosion
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An adaptation for survival in hot, dry weather during which an animal becomes inactive and all body processes slow down
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Estivation
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Cell with a nucleus
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Eukaryote
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To change from a liquid into a gas
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Evaporation
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A chemical reaction in which more energy is given off than is taken in
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Exothermic
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The design of a suitable experiment to test a hypothesis
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Experimental design
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The dying out of an entire species
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Extinction
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A crack in Earth's crust along which rock moves
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Fault
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A force applied without physical contact
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Field force
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Planned small or large group activities that provide opportunities for students to practice skills in a variety of settings other than an actual classroom; conducting scientific investigations in a natural setting
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Field study
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Any push or pull that tends to produce a change in the speed or direction of motion of an object
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Force
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The preserved remains or traces of an organism that lived in the past
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Fossil
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Fuel such as coal, natural gas, or oil that formed underground millions of years ago from decaying organic matter
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Fossil fuels
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The number of complete waves that pass a given point in a given amount of time
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Frequency
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A force that opposes motion whenever two surfaces rub against each other
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Friction
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A large system of stars moving together through space
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Galaxy
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A section of DNA that controls specific cell activities and characteristics of every organism
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Gene
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Heat energy below Earth's surface
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Geothermal energy
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Any change in the landscape caused by glacial movement
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Glaciation
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An increase in Earth's temperature caused by gases in the atmosphere that trap heat
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Global warming
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The force of attraction that exists between any two objects
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Gravity
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The natural heating process caused when gases trap heat in the atmosphere
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Greenhouse effect
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The place in an ecosystem where an organism lives
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Habitat
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The transfer of thermal energy
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Heat
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An animal that eats only plants
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Herbivore
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An adaptation for winter survival during which an animal becomes inactive and all body processes slow down
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Hibernation
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The process by which an organism's internal environment is kept stable in spite of changes in the external environment
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Homeostasis
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Water vapor in the air
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Humidity
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Material in the soil that formed from decayed plant and animal matter
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Humus
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Production of electricity by flowing water
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Hydroelectric
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Explanation for a question or a problem that can be formally tested
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Hypothesis
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Rock formed by the solidification of magma or lava
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Igneous
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A body of solidified magma intruded into rock layers
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Igneous intrusion
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A process in which newly hatched birds or newborn mammals learn to follow the first object they see
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Imprinting
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The life cycle of an animal, such as the grasshopper, whose form does not change substantially through its life stages from egg to nymph to adult
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Incomplete metamorphosis
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The one factor changed in an experiment; represented on the horizontal or X-axis of a graph
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Independent variable
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Behavior that an organism is born with and does not have to learn
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Innate behavior
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Not alive and none of its components have ever been alive
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Inorganic
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Materials that prevent the transfer of energy
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Insulators
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An animal without a backbone
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Invertebrate
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Narrow belt of strong winds near the top of the troposphere
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Jet stream
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Energy of motion
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Kinetic energy
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Inquiry-based scientific investigations
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Lab activities
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A descriptive generalization about how some aspect of the natural world behaves under stated circumstances, often stated in the form of a mathematical equation
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Law
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The rule that, in the absence of outside forces, the total momentum of objects in an interaction does not change
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Law of conservation of momentum
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Behavior that an organism is not born with and must acquire
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Learned behavior
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The distance that light travels in one minute
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Light minute
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The distance that light travels in one year
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Light year
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Any living or non-living factor that restricts the number of individuals in a population
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Limiting factor
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The crust and the rigid upper mantle that is broken into plates
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Lithosphere
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Anything that is or has ever been alive
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Living
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A wave in which the particles vibrate parallel to the direction of wave motion
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Longitudinal wave
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A darkening of the moon when passed through Earth's shadow
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Lunar eclipse
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Earth's magnetic field reverses and the poles switch places
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Magnetic reversal
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The force associated with some motion of electrical charges or by the field of force produced by a magnet
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Magnetism
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A measure of the amount of matter in an object (K-4 uses weight interchangeably)
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Mass
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Anything that has mass and occupies space
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Matter
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An element that conducts heat and electricity
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Metal
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Rock formed by the effect of heat, pressure, and chemical action on other rocks
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Metamorphic
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A rock from space that is burning up in the atmosphere (commonly referred to as a falling star)
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Meteor
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A wavelength of energy in the electromagnetic spectrum
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Microwave energy
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The instinctive seasonal movement of animals
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Migration
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The structural adaptation involved in some species where one species resembles another
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Mimicry
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The combination of two or more substances that have not chemically combined
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Mixture
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The combination of atoms chemically bonded together
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Molecule
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A change in appearance of the moon as it revolves around Earth
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Moon phase
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A symbiotic relationship that benefits both partners
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Mutualism
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Minerals, fossil fuels, trees, and other valuable materials that occur naturally
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Natural resources
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The idea that those organisms best adapted to their environment will be the ones most likely to survive and reproduce
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Natural selection
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During the first and last quarter moon phases, the tides are not as high or not as low as a normal tide
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Neap tide
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The metric unit for forces (Newton)
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Newton
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Anything that is not now or never has been alive
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Non-living
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The potential energy stored in the nucleus of an atom
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Nuclear energy
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The control center of the cell
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Nucleus
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The substance in food that produces energy and materials for life activities
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Nutrients
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An animal that eats both plants and animals
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Omnivore
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Does not allow light to pass through
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Opaque
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A break in the conductive path so that no current flows
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Open circuit
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The path an object follows as it revolves around another object
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Orbit
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Structures made up of different types of tissues that work together to do a certain job
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Organ
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System made up of different types of organs to do a certain job
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Organ system
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Anything that is or has ever been alive
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Organic
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A living thing
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Organism
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A circuit that provides more than one path for the electrical current to follow
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Parallel circuit
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A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed
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Parasitism
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Organizational chart of the elements
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Periodic table
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Tubes that move food in plants
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Phloem
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Characteristic that can be observed or measured
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Physical property
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How high or low a sound is
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Pitch
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The length of time it takes a planet to orbit the sun
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Planetary year
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Theory which states that pieces of Earth's crust are moving around on the mantle
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Plate tectonics
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All the members of one species in a particular area
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Population
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Stored energy
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Potential energy
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Any form of water that falls to the earth
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Precipitation
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Any animal that hunts and kills other animals for food
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Predator
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An animal that a predator feeds upon
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Prey
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An organism that makes its own food
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Producer
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Organism without a nucleus
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Prokaryote
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Positively charged particle in an atom's nucleus
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Proton
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A tool that can show how genes combine
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Punnett Square
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Transfer of thermal energy as waves
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Radiation
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The ability of a substance to go through a chemical change
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Reactivity
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Physical characteristic resulting when no dominant gene is present
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Recessive trait
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Change in the direction of a light ray as it bounces off an object
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Reflect/reflection
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A bending of a light ray when it passes at an angle from one transparent substance into another transparent substance in which its speed is different (such as when it passes through air into water)
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Refract/refraction
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The production of offspring by an organism
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Reproduction
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A scale that measures the amount of energy released by an earthquake
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Richter scale
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A sedimentary material finer than a granule and courser than silt, with grains between 0.06 mm and 2.0 mm in diameter
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Sand
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A graph with one point for each item being measured
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Scatter plot
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An animal that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms
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Scavenger
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Rock formed in layers from sediment
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Sedimentary rocks
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Instrument which detects and records earthquakes
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Seismograph
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The process of selecting a few organisms with desired traits to serve as parents of the next generation
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Selective breeding
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Having only one path for electrons to flow
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Series circuit
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The joining of a male sperm cell and a female egg cell
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Sexual reproduction
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International System of Units metric system
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SI units
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A sedimentary material consisting of very fine particles intermediate in size between sand and clay with grains between 0.002 mm and 0.05 mm in diameter
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Silt
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Machine that works with only one motion
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Simple machine
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Instrument used to measure relative humidity
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Sling psychrometer
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Layers of soil in an area
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Soil profile
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An alignment of the sun, moon, and Earth where the moon blocks the sun from Earth's view
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Solar eclipse
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Radiant energy that comes from the sun
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Solar energy
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A star that is orbited by a group of planets, comets, and other objects
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Solar system
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Speed at which a substance dissolves
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Solubility rate
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A substance that is dissolved
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Solute
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A mixture in which the particles of each substance are mixed evenly
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Solution
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A substance that dissolves other materials
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Solvent
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A group of similar organisms whose members successfully reproduce among themselves
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Species
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The distance that an object moves in a certain period of time
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Speed
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The male sex cell
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Sperm
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During the full moon and new moon phases, high tides are higher and lower than normal
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Spring tide
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The condition where a substance does not go through chemical changes easily
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Stability
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A long, layered cloud
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Stratus
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Adaptation that involves body parts or color
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Structural adaptation
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Measure of the average motion of the particles in a substance (heat)
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Temperature
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A stress created by pulling
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Tension
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Activities associated with the defense of an area
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Territorial behavior
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A unifying explanation that has the ability to explain what has been observed; predict what has not yet been observed; be tested further by experimentation; be modified as required by the acquisition of new data; be modified only with compelling empirical evidence, verification, and peer review; be supported by sufficient empirical evidence to make abandonment unlikely
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Theory
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Instrument used to measure temperature
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Thermometer
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Group of similar cells that work together
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Tissues
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Describes matter that allows, some, but not all, of the light that hits it to pass through, and that scatters some light
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Translucent
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The ability of light to pass through without refraction
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Transparent
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A wave in which the particles vibrate at right angles to the direction of the wave
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Transverse wave
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The response of a plant to something in its environment
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Tropism
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Measurable factor, characteristic, or attribute of an individual or a system
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Variable
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Animals with a backbone
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Vertebrate
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The movement of water through Earth's ecosystems
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Water cycle
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Distance between any point on one wave to a corresponding point on the next wave, such as crest to crest or trough to trough
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Wavelength
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The breakdown of a material into smaller and smaller pieces by mechanical or chemical means
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Weathering
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The downward pull of gravity on an object (K-4 uses mass interchangeably)
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Weight
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Contains all the colors of the visible spectrum (colors of the rainbow)
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White light
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Vessels in a plant that carry water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves
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Xylem
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