Grade 4
PSSA SCIENCE VOCABULARY
Word List #4
Name________________
Section_______________
Date ________________
Study these terms and definitions for a review for the Science grade 4 PSSA’s.
61. recycling – collecting and reprocessing a resource or product to make into new products.
62. regulation –a rule or order issued by an executive authority or regulatory agency of a
government and having the force of law.
63. renewable – a naturally occurring raw material or form of energy that will be replenished
through natural ecological cycles or sound management practices (e.g., sun ,wind,water,trees).
64. Risk management – a strategy developed to reduce or control the chance of harm or loss to
one’s health or life; the process of identifying, evaluating, selecting, and implementing actions
to reduce the risk to human health and to ecosystems.
65. scale – relates concepts and ideas to one another by some measurement(e.g., quantitative,
numeral, abstract, ideological); provides a measure of size and/or incremental change.
66. science– search for understanding the natural world using inquiry and experimentation.
67. shredder – through chewing and/or grinding, microorganisms feed on non-woody coarse
particulate matter, primarily leaves.
68. Stream order – energy and nutrient flow that increases as water moves toward the oceans (e.g.,
the smallest stream (primary) that ends when rivers flow into oceans).
69. succession – the series of changes that occur in an ecosystem with the passing of time.
70. sustainability – the ability to keep in existence or maintain. (A sustainable ecosystem is one
that can be maintained).
71. system – a group of related objects that work together to achieve a desired result.
72. Closed loop system – a group of related objects that have feedback and can modify themselves.
73. Open loop system– a group of related subjects that do not have feedback and cannot modify
themselves.
74. subsystem – a group of related objects that make up a larger system(e.g., automobiles have
electrical systems).
75. Technical design process – recognizing the problem, proposing a solution, implementing the
solution, evaluating the solution, and communicating the problem, design, and a solution.
76. Technology education – the application of tools, materials, processes, and systems to solve
problems and extend human capabilities.
77. Theory of evolution – a theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in
other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modification in
successive generations.
78. theory – systematically organized knowledge applicable in a relatively wide variety of
circumstances; especially, a system of assumptions, accepted principles and rules of procedure
devised to analyze, predict or otherwise explain the nature or behavior of a specified set of
phenomena.
79. tool – any device used to extend human capability including computer-based tools.
80. Topographic map – a representation of a region on a sufficient scale to show detail, selected
man-made and a natural features of a portion of the land surface including its relief and certain
physical and cultural features; the portrayal of the position, relation, size, shape, and elevation
of the area.