* NOTE: These pages of vocabulary are intended to inform teachers of vocabulary related to
the study of these indicators. These pages should NOT be reprinted and distributed to students.
THE LIVING ENVIRONMENT VOCABULARY
VOCABULARY WORD
Asymmetry
Autotroph
Bilateral Symmetry
Cardiovascular System
Carnivore
Cartilage
Cell
Cell membrane
Cell Theory
Cell Wall
Central Nervous System
Chlorophyll
Chloroplast
Circulatory System
Classification
Compound microscope
Connective tissue
Cytoplasm
Diffusion
Digestion
Epithelial tissue
Endoskeleton
Eukaryote
Exoskeleton
DEFINITION
Having no definite symmetry
An organism that makes its own food.
Line symmetry; the quality of being divisible into two halves
that are mirror images.
The body system that consists of the heart, blood vessels, and
blood, and that carries needed substances to cells and carries
waste products away from the cells.
An animal that eats only other animals.
A connective tissue that is more flexible than bone and that
gives support to some parts of the body.
The basic unit of structure and function in an organism.
A cell structure that controls which substances can enter or
leave the cell.
A widely accepted explanation of the relationship between
cells and living things.
A rigid layer of non-living material that surrounds the cells of
plants and some other organisms.
The brain and the spinal cord; the control center of the body.
A green pigment found in the chloroplasts of plants, algae, and
some bacteria.
A structure in the cells of plants and some other organisms that
captures energy from light and uses it to produce food.
The body system that consists of the heart, blood vessels, and
blood, and that carries needed substances to cells and carries
waste products away from the cells.
The process of grouping things based on their similarities.
A light microscope that has more than one lens.
A body tissue that provides support for the body and connects
all of its parts.
The region of the cell inside the cell membrane (in
prokaryotes),between the cell membrane and nucleus (in
eukaryotes); contains a gel-like material and cell organelles.
The process by which molecules move from an area of higher
concentration to an area of lower concentration.
The process by which the body breaks down food into small
nutrient molecules.
A body tissue that covers the surfaces of the body, inside and
out.
An internal skeleton.
An organism with cells that contain nuclei and other cell
structures.
A waxy, waterproof outer shell.
VOCABULARY WORD
Heart
Heterotroph
Homeostasis
Invertebrate
Ligament
Lysosome
Magnification
Mitochondria
Mitosis
Multicellular
Muscle tissue
Nerve tissue
Nonvascular plant
Nucleus
Omnivore
Organ
Organ system
Organelle
Organism
Osmosis
Phloem
Photosynthesis
Prokaryote
Radial Symmetry
Respiration
DEFINITION
A hollow muscular organ that pumps blood throughout the
body.
An organism that cannot make its own food.
The maintenance of stable internal conditions despite the
changes in an organism’s surroundings.
An animal that does not have a backbone.
Strong connective tissue that holds together the bones in a
movable joint.
A small round cell structure that contains chemicals that break
down large food particles into smaller ones.
The ability to make things look larger than they are.
Rod-shaped cell structures that produce most of the energy
needed to carry out the cell’s function.
The stage of the cell cycle during which the cell’s nucleus
divides into two new nuclei and one copy of DNA is
distributed into each daughter cell.
A type of organism that is made up of many cells.
A body tissue that contracts or shortens, making body parts
move.
A body tissue that carries messages back and forth between the
brain and every other part of the body.
A low-growing plant that lacks vascular tissue.
A cell structure that contains the chemical instructions that
direct the cell’s activities.
An animal that eats both plants and animals.
A structure in the body that is composed of different types of
tissue.
A group of organs that work together to perform a major
function in the body.
A tiny cell structure that carries out a specific function within
the cell.
A living thing.
The diffusion of water molecules through a selectively
permeable membrane.
The vascular tissue through which food moves in some plants.
The process by which plants and some other organisms capture
light energy and use the light energy to make food from carbon
dioxide and water.
An organism whose cells lack a nucleus and some other cell
structures.
The quality of having many lines of symmetry that all pass
through a central point.
The process of breaking down food to release its energy.
VOCABULARY WORD
Selectively Permeable
Spontaneous generation
Taxonomy
Tissue
Unicellular
Vacuole
Vascular plant
Vascular Tissue
Vertebrate
Xylem
DEFINITION
A property of cell membranes that allows some substances to
pass through, while others cannot.
The mistaken idea that living things arise from non-living
sources.
The scientific study of how living things are classified.
A group of similar cells that perform a specific function in an
organism.
A type of organism made of only one cell
A water-filled sac inside a cell that acts as a storage area.
A plant that has vascular tissue.
The internal transporting tissue in some plants that is made up
of tube-like structures.
An animal that has a backbone.
The vascular tissue through which water and nutrients move in
some plants.
CHANGES OVER TIME VOCABULARY
Adaptation
Asexual reproduction
Chromosome
Extinction
Fossil
Fossil record
Gene
Genetics
Heredity
Homologous structures
Natural selection
Paleontologist
Scientific theory
Selective Breeding
A characteristic, arising from natural selection, that that
improves a population's chance of survival and reproduction.
Mode of reproduction in which offspring arise from a single
parent and inherit the genes of that parent only.
A doubled rod of condensed chromatin; contains DNA that
carries genetic information.
The elimination of a species (also applicable to levels other than
species) due to natural processes or human activity.
The remains or imprint of a prehistoric plant or animal.
The millions of fossils that scientists have collected.
A segment of DNA on a chromosome that codes for a specific
trait.
The scientific study of heredity.
The passing of traits from parent to offspring.
Body parts that are structurally similar in related species;
provide evidence that the structures were inherited from a
common ancestor.
The process by which individuals that are better adapted to the
environment are more likely to survive and reproduce than other
members of the same species.
A scientist that studies the fossilized remains of organisms.
A well-tested concept that explains a wide range of observations.
Selection for specific traits imposed by humans, either
deliberately or otherwise, upon wild or domesticated plants and
animals.
Sexual reproduction
Species
Trait
Variation
Mode of reproduction involving two parents, usually involving
meiosis, gamete formation, and fertilization.
Organisms whose members are alike and successfully reproduce
among themselves.
A characteristic which is passed on to offspring through
heredity.
Any difference between individuals of the same species.
Note: Vocabulary terms in regular font indicate terms from the Maryland State Voluntary
Curriculum Glossary. Those terms in italics indicate vocabulary within the Baltimore
County Curriculum. All appropriate vocabulary must be included in daily instruction.
WAVE INTERACTIONS VOCABULARY
Amplitude
The distance from the midpoint to the maximum point
(crest) or to the minimum point (trough) of a wave. The
distance that a wave rises and falls from its normal rest
position.
Angle of Incidence
The angle between the normal (perpendicular drawn to
surface) and the incident ray.
Angle of Reflection
The angle between the normal (perpendicular drawn to
the surface) and the reflected ray.
Earthquake
The moving and shaking of part of Earth's crust.
Electromagnetic wave
Energy
Energy transformation
A wave that is both electric and magnetic in nature; light
wave.
The ability to cause matter to move or change.
When energy changes from one type to another.
Frequency
The number of repetitions in a given interval of time.
Incident Ray
The wave of light moving towards a surface at an angle.
A form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength
visible by the eye.
A wave in which the vibration is moving in the same
direction as that in which the wave is traveling.
Light
Longitudinal wave
Loudness
Mechanical Wave
Medium
Normal
Pitch
Refracted Ray
Refraction
Sound
Perception of the intensity of sound.
A wave that requires a medium through which to travel.
The material through which a wave travels.
A line drawn perpendicular to the surface at the point
where the incoming wave strikes the surface.
How high or low sound frequencies appear to be.
The bent light ray after the wave enters a medium.
The change in velocity and apparent bending of the beam
of light or other wave-form as it passes from one medium
into another.
Longitudinal wave produced by the vibration of a
material.
A wave in which the vibration is
moving in a direction perpendicular as
that in which the wave is traveling.
A disturbance that transfers energy
Wave
from one place to another.
The distance between two identical
Wavelength
points on neighboring waves.
All the colors of the spectrum visible
White light
to the human eye as a single color.
****Vocabulary terms in regular font indicate terms from the Maryland State Voluntary
Curriculum Glossary. Those terms in italics indicate vocabulary within the Baltimore
County Curriculum. All appropriate vocabulary must be included in daily instruction.
Transverse wave
DIGGING INTO EARTH’S PAST
Unit Vocabulary
Absolute Age
The age of a rock given as the number of years since the rock formed.
Cast:
A fossil formed in a rock showing the organism's outward shape. It
formed after the organism dissolved and the space in the rock was filled.
Process by which sedimentary rock is formed from sediments being glued
together by mineral deposits.
The average temperature and rainfall for a particular place over hundreds
of years.
Process by which sedimentary rock is formed when layers of sediment
are compressed by the weight of layers above them.
The chemical make up of a given substance.
Cementation:
Climate:
Compaction:
Composition:
Extrusive Rock:
The carrying away of weathered soil, rock, and other materials on the
Earth's surface by gravity, water, and wind.
Changes in species as a consequence of processes such as mutation and
natural selection.
The elimination of a species (also applicable to levels other than species)
due to natural processes or human activity.
An igneous rock layer formed when lave allows onto Earth’s surface and
hardens.
Igneous rock that forms from lave on Earth’s surface.
Faulting:
The process of movement along a break or crack in Earth's crust.
Folding:
The process of bending rock layers in Earth's crust.
Fossil:
The remains or imprint of a prehistoric plant or animal.
Geologic:
Of or relating to Earth or Earth processes.
Erosion:
Evolution:
Extinction:
Extrusion:
Geologic Time
A record of the geologic events and life forms in Earth’s history.
Scale:
Intrusive Rock
Rock formed through the process of magma or lava cooling and
hardening.
A fossil that is an organism's impression which was formed in mud that
later hardened into rock.
A fossil of an organism that lived a relatively short time on Earth, used to
determine the relative age of rock layers.
An igneous rock layer formed when magma hardens beneath Earth’s
surface.
Igneous rock that forms when magma hardens beneath Earth’s surface.
Lava:
Liquid magma that reaches the surface.
Law of
Law that states in undisturbed sedimentary rock layers, the younger layer
is closer to Earth's surface and the older layer is below this.
Igneous rock:
Imprint:
Index fossil:
Intrusion:
Superposition:
Magma:
The molten mixture of rock-forming substances from the mantle.
Metamorphic
Rock formed when igneous or sedimentary rock is changed by pressure,
heat, or chemical reactions.
(rock):
Mold:
Petrified:
Relative age:
Rock:
Rock Cycle:
Sediment:
Sedimentary rock:
Sedimentation:
Species:
Trace Fossil:
Weathering:
A fossil that is an empty space in a rock that shows the outward shape of
a dissolved organism.
Fossilized remains that have been turned into stone.
The age of a rock (older or younger) in comparison with the age of other
rocks.
The material that forms Earth’s hard surface.
A series of processes on the surface and inside Earth that slowly change
rocks form one kind to another.
Small pieces of rock, shell, and plant and animal matter that is moved and
deposited by water, wind, or ice.
Rock formed from sedimentation.
The settling out of fragments of weathered rock or remains of living
things that are carried and deposited by wind, water, or ice.
Organisms whose members are alike and successfully reproduce among
themselves.
A type of fossil that provides evidence of the activities of ancient
organisms.
A chemical or physical process in which rocks exposed to the weather are
worn down by water, wind, or ice.