SCIENCE STUDY GUIDE
MATTER: PROPERTIES AND CHANGE
1. Water Cycle – The continuous movement of water between earth’s surface and the air,
changing from liquid to gas to liquid.
2. Evaporation – The slow changing of a liquid into a gas.
3. Condensation – The changing of a gas into a liquid.
4. Precipitation – Any form of water particles that falls from the atmosphere and reaches
the ground.
5. Groundwater – Precipitation that seeps into the ground and is stored in tiny holes,
pores in soil and rocks.
6. Runoff – Precipitation that flows across the land’s surface or falls into rivers and
streams.
7. Transpiration – The loss of water through a plants leaves.
8. Abiotic Factors - The non-living parts of an ecosystem.
9. Biotic Factors - the living things or once-living organisms in an ecosystem
10. Qualitative Data – An object’s color, texture, smell, taste, size, and appearance.
11. Quantitative Data – An object’s temperature, weight and volume.
12. Matter – Any material substance that takes up space and has mass.
13. Solid – A type of matter that has a specific shape, is 3 dimensional and is usually firm.
14. Liquid – A type of matter that is wet, can be poured and takes the shape of its
container.
15. Gas – A type of matter that will spread to fill any space that contains it and can be
invisible (like air).
Energy: Conservation & Transfer
16. Thermal Energy – The heating of any form of matter caused by motion or movement.
17. Conduction – Transfer of thermal energy between things that are touching, but it also
can happen within one object (think of a pot on a stove…the handle gets hot as the
pot is warmed on the stove).
18. Convection – Movement of thermal energy in gases or liquids (convection in the
atmosphere and oceans affect weather and climate).
19. Radiation – Transfer of thermal energy through electromagnetic waves; the sun is the
main source of radiation on Earth.
20. Electromagnetic Waves – A way to carry energy from one place to another. They can
be carried to places with or without any matter. When you listen to the radio, watch
TV, or cook dinner in a microwave oven, you are using electromagnetic waves.
21. Insulator - A material that does not allow energy to flow through it easily.
22. Conductor - A material that allows energy to flow through it easily.
23. Wavelength - The distance between one wave crest to the next.
24. Convection Cell - A circle or pattern of air rising, air sinking and wind (updrafts and
downdrafts); this is the process by which the atmosphere is heated and cooled.
EARTH SYSTEMS PROCESSES & STRUCTURES (WEATHER)
25. Atmosphere – The blanket of gases that surrounds earth.
26. Troposphere – The layer of the atmosphere closest to earth’s surface; weather occurs
here and all living things are found in this layer.
27. Barometer - A device for measuring air pressure.
28. Air pressure – The force put on a given area by the weight of the air above it.
29. Low pressure – A measurement usually below 30 Hg. on a barometer; usually brings
clouds and rain.
30. High Pressure – A measurement about 30 Hg on a barometer; usually brings clear
skies.
31. Wind - Air that moves horizontally.
32. Wind Speed – How fast or slow the air is moving.
33. Wind Direction – The direction from which the wind is coming, not where it is going
to.
34. Wind Vane – A weather tool that gives the direction the wind is coming from.
35. Anemometer – A device that measures wind speed.
36. Temperature – A measurement of hotness or coldness.
37. Thermometer – An instrument used to measure temperature.
38. Rain gauge – A gauge used to measure the amount of water after it rains.
39. Jet Stream - A fast moving, narrow current of wind in the upper troposphere that has
a powerful influence on weather patterns in North America. It carries weather systems
across our continent from west to east.
40. Hemisphere – One half of a sphere, especially the earth. Earth is divided by the
equator into the Northern and Southern hemispheres and by the prime meridian into
Eastern and Western hemispheres. North America is located in the Northern and Western
hemispheres.
41. Latitude – An imaginary line that runs horizontally above or below the equator.
Latitude lines are measured in degrees north or south of the equator. The equator itself is
0 degrees.
42. Water Currents – Major movements of water in the oceans.
43. Gulf Stream Current – Warm water surface current in the Atlantic Ocean that moves
from the south of Florida up the eastern seaboard and then across the Atlantic towards
Africa.
44. El Nino/La Nina –Oscillation of water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean on the west
coast of South America. El Nino refers to the warmer waters in the Pacific near the
equator. La Nina refers to colder waters in the same area. El Nino occurs toward the end
of the year (Christmas time) and La Nina occurs after an El Nino. Remember in South
America the seasons are opposite ours. It is summer in our winter and winter in our
summer. But around the equator there is no summer or winter because the temperatures
are consistently the same.
45. Cirrus Clouds – The highest type of cloud in the troposphere made up of ice crystals;
they look thin and wispy like a feather; do not ever bring precipitation.
46. Cumulus Clouds – Low to mid level clouds that are white and puffy with a flat bottom;
usually do not bring precipitation.
47. Cumulonimbus Clouds – Cumulus clouds that stack on top of one another form these
clouds also known as thunderheads. These are the only clouds that develop vertically.
They grow to be very tall and can bring thunder, lightening and heavy rain.
48. Stratus Clouds – Low level clouds that are gray and blanket-like that usually cover the
sky and bring rain showers.
49. Trade Winds - A belt of winds around earth moving from high pressure zones towards
the low pressure at the equator (0 to 30 N and 30 S).
50. Prevailing Westerlies - Winds that blow from the west to the east that are constantly
changing and bring stormy weather; these are this winds that bring weather systems
across the United States (30 N to 60 N and 30 S to 60 S).
51. Polar Easterlies – These are the winds that blow from east to west around the north
and south poles (60 N and 60 s to the poles).
52. Air Mass – A large region of the atmosphere where the air has similar properties
throughout with same temperature and humidity.
53. Humidity – The amount of water vapor in the air.
54. Water Vapor – Water in the form of a gas.
55. Cold Front - A front where cold air moves in under a warm air mass; they pass
through quickly and bring thunderstorms, wind and hard rain; the weather turns clear &
cooler after it passes.
56. Warm Front – A front where warm air moves in over a cold air mass; usually
associated with stratus clouds that linger and can bring light rain/snow; weather is warm
and clear after is passes.
57. Stationary Front – A front that happens when a warm air mass and a cold air mass
meet, and doesn’t move.
58. Occluded Front – A front that happens when a warm air mass is caught between two
cold air masses and is pushed upwards.
59. Rain-Shadow Effect – A dry area on a mountain-side facing away from the direction of
the wind. The mountains block the passage of rain, casting a “shadow” of dryness behind
them.
60. Isobar - A line on a weather map connecting places with equal air pressure.
61. Sea Breeze - Wind that blows from sea to land during the day.
62. Land Breeze - Wind that blows from land to sea at night.
63. Weather – What the lower atmosphere is like at any given place and time.
64. Climate –The average weather pattern of a region.
Structures & Functions of Organisms
65. Single Cell – One cell organisms in which all life processes are performed in this one
celled.
66. Multi-cellular – Organisms that are made up of more than one cell and have different
cells that perform specialized functions in the organism.
67. Organism – An individual form of life that may be one celled or multicellular; plants,
animals, bacteria, fungi and protests are all organisms. They are capable of growing,
reproducing and breaking down nutrients needed to live.
68. Circulatory System – The bodily system that consists of the heart, blood vessels, and
blood. This system circulates blood throughout the body, delivers nutrients and other
essential materials to cells, and removes waste products.
69. Respiratory System – The bodily system that consists of the nose, trachea and lungs.
This system is responsible for breathing…taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.
70. Skeletal System – The bodily system that consists of bones. This system provides the
framework that holds up our body, it provides support for our body, it helps us move with
the aid of muscles, it protects our internal organs and makes blood cells inside its marrow.
There are 206 bones in a human body with the smallest bones found in our inner ear. The
largest bone is our femur or thigh bone.
71. Muscular System – The bodily system that consists of organs that are able to create
skeletal movement. Muscles connect to two or more bones via tendons.
72. Digestive System – The bodily system that consists of the mouth, esophagus, stomach
and intestines. This system is responsible for the breaking down and digesting of our food
into an absorbable substance. Nutrients needed for growth and energy are absorbed into
our bloodstream after digestion is complete and wastes are removed from our bodies
through the work of the digestive system.
73. Nervous System – The bodily system that consists of the brain, spinal cord and nerves.
This system is the control center for physical and mental activities performed by the body.
ECOSYTEMS
74. Ecosystem- All the living and non living things in an environment, including their
interactions with each other.
75. Population - All the members of a species in an area.
76. Community - The interaction of all the living things in an area.
77. Terrestrial – A land-based type of ecosystem.
78. Aquatic – A water based type of ecosystem that includes freshwater or saltwater
environments.
79. Estuary - A place where fresh and saltwater meet in a coastal area; the fresh water
automatically becomes salty; the saltwater does not become fresh when the two types of
water mix.
80. Salt Marsh – An area of coastal wetlands located where an estuary or rives meet the
sea/ocean. They are rich in marine life and are also known as tidal marshes. One of the
distinctive features of the salt marshes is their color. They are various shades of brown,
gray and green. Salt marshes also occur in areas called estuaries.
81. Fertile - Producing or capable of producing abundant vegetation or crops; an area
rich in nutrients that has the ability to support many plants.
82. Species - A group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of
exchanging genes or reproducing.
83. Biome - One of the Earths largest ecosystems with its own kind of climate, soil, and
animals. The main biomes are Tundra, Deciduous forest, Grasslands, Tropical Rainforest,
Desert, Taiga, Estuary, Marine, and Freshwater.
84. Deciduous Forest - A Forest Biome with many kinds of trees and lose their leaves each
autumn. It has 4 seasons and the word deciduous means “decay.”
85. Tropical Rainforest - A hot biome near the equator, with much rainfall and a wide
variety of life.
86. Grasslands - A biome where grasses are the main plant life.
87. Ocean – The largest bodies of water found on Earth that consist of saltwater and
contain a variety of aquatic life. They are divided by the continents.
88. Lakes/ponds – Bodies of water that contain freshwater; they are smaller than oceans.
89. Continental Shelf - The edge of a continent that lies under the ocean. A continental
shelf extends from the coastline of a continent to a drop-off point called the shelf break.
90. Plankton - The collection of small or microscopic organisms, including algae and
protozoans, that float or drift in great numbers in fresh or salt water, especially at or near
the surface, and serve as food for fish and other larger organisms.
91. Food Chain - The path of energy in food from one organism to another; how energy
goes from producers to consumers to decomposers.
92. Food Web - The overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.
93. Energy Pyramid – A pyramid shaped structure that shows the flow of energy in an
ecosystem. The energy pyramid begins with the sun because it is the source of energy for
the producers located at the bottom of the pyramid. Energy then flows to the primary
consumers and onto the secondary and/or tertiary consumers.
94. Producers - Any of the plants and algae that produce oxygen and food that animals
need.
95. Consumers - Organisms that cannot produce their own food and consume other
organisms.
96. Decomposers - Any of the fungi or bacteria that break down dead plants and animals
into useful things like minerals and rich soil.
97. Photosynthesis - The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which
carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy
source. Most forms of photosynthesis release oxygen as a byproduct.
98. Interconnected – Refers to organisms being connected to one another in an ecosystem.
There are relationships in which one population impacts another population in an
ecosystem.
99. Symbiosis – Any type of relationship between organisms in an ecosystem.
100. Mutualism – A relationship in which 2 organisms benefit each other without either
being harmed (flowers and bees, plover bird and crocodile).
101. Commensalism - A relationship between two living organisms where one benefits and
the other is not significantly harmed or helped. (One animal attaching to another animal
for transportation only or using a second organism for housing, like orchids which grow
on trees, or birds that live in holes in trees).
102. Parasitism – A relationship in which one organism is benefited, but the other
organism is harmed (fleas on dogs, ticks on animals, mistletoe in trees, mosquitos).
103. Salinity – The degree of saltiness found in a body of water.
104. Algae - Simple rootless plants that grow in sunlit waters in proportion to the amount
of available nutrients. They can be one-celled or multi-cellular.
105. Amphibian - An animal capable of living both on land and in water. They are coldblooded and have smooth skin such as a frog, toad or salamander. They are hatched from
an egg with the larva having gills that develop into lungs as the animal matures into an
adult.
Evolution/Genetics
106. Inherited Traits – Traits that are passed down to an offspring by either of its parents
through genes.
107. Offspring – The descendant born to a person or animal.
108. Genetics - The study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics.
109. Characteristics - A feature or quality belonging typically to a person, place, or thing
and serving to identify it.
110. Culture - The pattern of human behavior that includes thought, speech, action, and
artifacts and depends upon the human capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge
to succeeding generations; the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a
racial, religious, or social group.
FORCES
111. Force – A push or pull that acts on an object.
112. Inertia – The way an object resists change in motion (If an object is at rest, it will stay
at rest; if an object is in motion it stays in motion until a force acts against it).
113. Friction – A force that acts on a moving object, usually to slow it; works in the
opposing direction.
114. Gravity – A force of attraction between any two objects due to their mass (weight).
115. Mass– How heavy something is, the measure of gravity pressing down; it pertains to
the quantity of matter, the quantity of heaviness, or weight. It is how much force gravity
asserts on something.
116. Momentum - The result of an objects mass and velocity (momentum = mass x
velocity).
117. Motion – The action or process of moving or of changing place or position;
movement.
118. Speed - Distance traveled divided by the time of travel.
119. Distance - An amount of space between two things or people.
120. Time – A measurement of how long a particular activity takes from beginning to end
without interruption.
121. Graph - A diagram showing the relation between typically two variable quantities
resting on a x-axis and y-axis.