Evolution Review
Topographic maps
Spectral analysis
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Trilobites
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Natural Selection
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Relative Age
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Absolute Dating
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Geologic Time Scale
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Weathering and
Erosion
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Theory of
Continental Drift
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Show changes in elevation (how far above or below sea level the land is).
A line will have a number on it.
Positive numbers show far ABOVE sea level that line is; negative numbers show how far BELOW sea level
that line is.
If numbers keep going up, that map shows a hill or mountain.
Lines that are close together show steepness—the elevation changes quickly.
Uses machines that can identify substances by the colors they emit.
The machines “see” stuff as a different color than we do; scientists can tell what something is by the colors it
gives off.
This can be used to determine what type of crops are growing (and is used to find people growing illegal drugs
on hillsides).
Used as index fossils for a form of absolute dating.
Something found in the same rock layer as a trilobite is the same age as that trilobite.
Trilobites only lived during the Paleozoic Era, so an exact age (+/- 1,000 year) can be told.
Archaeologists study fossils.
Considered to result in evolution.
Charles Darwin first published books on the theory of evolution by natural selection.
Darwin studied finches and tortoises in the Galapagos Islands.
Variation means things are different (people have different eye colors).
Adaptation is something an organism has naturally that helps it survive in current conditions.
Organisms usually have lots of offspring (children) to make sure the species will survive. (If there was only
one offspring and it died, the species would go extinct very quickly.)
Natural selection means that organisms only survive if they have the right “tools.” They can pass these “tools”
on to their offspring to help them survive.
When surviving organisms pass on inherited adaptations, over time, evolution is said to occur.
Rock layers show relative age.
The Law of Superposition says that older rocks are in lower layers.
An intrusion is something (like magma) that comes up through layers of rocks. It intrudes. Intrusions are
made of igneous rock (hardened magma)
If there appears to be something missing from the rock record, such as a layer of rock only found on one side
of a riverbank, it is called an unconformity. This means something cannot be accounted for.
Carbon dating uses radioactive isotopes (atoms with different #s of neutrons) as a form of absolute dating.
Neutrons are “kicked out” of the nucleus as the atom decays. The atom becomes the stable version of that
element.
An element’s half-life is a number that tells how long it takes half of the material to decay to the stable form.
Scientists use the ratio of unstable to stable atoms to figure out the age of the substance.
CARBON DATING CAN ONLY BE USED ON SOMETHING THAT USED TO BE ALIVE!!!
organizes the history of Earth.
Eons –are broken into Eras –are broken into Periods –are broken into Epochs
None of these divisions are based on years. They are based on when different species of organisms appear and
when they went extinct.
The dinosaurs died at the end of the Cretaceous Period.
the processes that break down rock and natural material.
Chemical weathering involves things like dissolving materials, acid rain wear, and rust.
Mechanical weathering involves things like weed growth causing cracks in sidewalks, rain or flooding
washing away top soil, and ice expanding inside cracks in rocks and wedging them further apart.
Pangea was a supercontinent.
Scientists believe all of the continents were merged together as one.
Fossils found on different continents suggest that the land was once connected.
The theory of continental drift says that the earth’s surface is divided into plates that float on the mantle
(molten layer of the earth). As the plates drift (move) the continents move with them.
Divergent boundaries are where plates move AWAY from each other (under the ocean this is called sea floor
spreading).
Convergent boundaries are where plates move TOWARD each other.
Subduction zones happen with 2 plates move toward each other and one gets pushed underneath the other
one.
Transform boundaries are where plates SLIDE PAST each other.
Microlife Review
Microlife
Princliples
Cells
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Cell Theory
Mitosis & Meiosis
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Organelles
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Protists
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Bacteria
Viruses
Infectious Disease
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Biotechnology
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To be considered alive something must:
Contain at least one cell
Perform certain chemical processes such as growth and digestion
Reproduce
Make their own nutrients or take in nutrients
Respond to stimuli (such as light or touch)
are the smallest functioning units of life.
Prokaryotes are cells without true nuclei and membrane bound organelles; eukaryotes have nuclei and
are more organized with specialized organelles.
Multi-cellular organisms are made up of more than one cell. They have different types of cells for different
purposes.
Plant cells have a rigid cell wall; animal cells only have a cell membrane as a boundary.
Most cells are very small to let them take in nutrients from the environment more efficiently. A lot of small cells
have a greater total surface area than several large cells.
cells are the basic units of life,
cells come from other cells,
and that all life is composed of one or more cells.
Cells divide through the process of mitosis. In this process, DNA must be replicated first.
The phases of mitosis are interphase (DNA replication), prophase (breakdown of nuclear envelope),
metaphase (alignment of chromatids, appearance of spindle fibers) anaphase (pulling apart of chromatids) and
telephase (starting to separate cells). Cytokinesis is the actual process of the cytoplasm splitting.
Meiosis is the process that results in gametes, or sex cells (eggs and sperm in humans). The major difference
between meiosis and mitosis is that the resulting daughter cells only have half a set of DNA after meiosis, and 4
daughter cells are produced instead of 2.
parts of a cell that each have a different job.
The nucleus holds the genetic material and is said to ”control” the cell. Mitochondria release energy and allow
for respiration. The cell membrane controls what enters and leaves the cell.
If the cell has to work (use energy) to move stuff into and out of the cell, it is called active transport. When stuff
goes through the cell membrane naturally (without work), it is called passive transport.
Osmosis is a form of passive transport where WATER goes in and out of barrier to maintain equilibrium
(balance) in a cell.
single-celled organisms that come in a variety of shapes. Most live in the water.
Amoebas are “blobs” that move using pseudopods. They engulf their food (surround it with their “body”).
Paramecium have little “hairs” called cilia that they use to move around. They shove food into a gullet.
Volvox live in “glob” colonies. They are plant-like and have chloroplasts that can photosynthesize to make
their own food.
Euglena have a long tail called a flagellum that is used like a whip to move and an eyespot that helps it detect
light. They can photosynthesize (using chloroplasts) or prey on other organisms for food.
living cells. They DO NOT contain a nucleus, but they do have genetic material.
Different types of bacteria can help or hurt different organisms.
Antibiotics kill bacteria. More resistant bacteria is that hardest to kill, so it dies last.
Taking the full course of an antibiotic means taking all that a doctor has prescribed.
Overuse of antibiotics is leading to the evolution or more resistant strains of bacteria.
Bacteria growth is exponential (an upward curve on a graph).
Bacteria shapes types include coccus (round), bacillus (rod-like), and spirillum (spiral).
microbes, but they are not alive, even though they can transmit diseases to living things.
Viruses look like “alien robots” with sharp or barbed ends used to inject their genetic material (DNA or RNA)
into host cells. The infected cells pass on the virus.
Viruses CANNOT be killed using an antibiotic.
Vaccines can be used to prevent viruses by helping the body’s immune system learn to recognize the virus.
Many viruses mutate regularly, so they are difficult to control and treat.
Carriers are organisms that have an infectious disease but do not show any symptoms. They may never show
symptoms, or may not show symptoms for many years (ex. HIV) but can still infect other people.
Parasites are organisms that feed off host organisms. This sometimes results in damage or sickness to the host
organism (ex. Fleas feed on blood from a dog).
Vectors are organisms that help spread disease
A pathogen is any microbe that causes disease. Contagions are diseases that can be spread person to person.
Epidemics are widespread instances involving contagious diseases; pandemics are global spread of disease.
the use of living organisms or parts of organisms to make products used by people. This includes using bacteria
to help create medicinal antibodies for diseases, as well as ethically challenging studies such as cloning.
Water Review
Hydrosphere
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Food Webs
Oceanography
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Properties of
Water
Water Quality
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Remote sensing
Pollution
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anywhere on Earth that contains water.
97% of Earth’s water is salt water—found in the seas and oceans.
Salinity is the measurement of how many salts are dissolved in the ocean.
The ocean is about 96.5% pure water and 3.5% chlorine, sodium, sulfates, magnesium, calcium, and potassium
3% is freshwater; most of the fresh water is found in icebergs, glaciers, snow, and permafrost.
Groundwater makes up only 30% of the freshwater on the planet.
Aquifers are underground lakes that contain freshwater. The water table is how deep below the surface water
saturates the soil. A well would need to be drilled to a point that is lower than the water table to ensure that it
always has water in it, because the water table level goes up and down depending on rain fall.
A watershed is the area of land that captures all of the rain that falls in a certain area. Watersheds are “cup
shaped” areas where all of the water drains into one location. It may also be called a drainage basin.
An estuary is a wetland environment where a river drains into an ocean
An estuary is a place where a river drains into the ocean. Estuaries contain diverse plant and animal life and
have a wide crossover of terrestrial and aquatic food webs.
Food chains are broken down into trophic levels, or feeding levels.
Producers are organisms that are at the bottom of the food chain that provide energy for every other link.
Consumers are organisms that cannot make their own nutrients, but must eat other organisms.
Decomposers are organisms such as fungi that get nutrients by breaking down dead organisms
the study of the oceans.
SONAR (sound navigation and ranging) is a technology that bounces sound waves off the ocean floor and
measures how long it takes the echo to return in order to determine how deep the ocean is. This is used to map
the ocean floor.
R.O.V.s (remotely operated vehicles) and piloted submarines are used to explore life in deep ocean regions.
Ocean life is divided into benthos (organisms on the bottom of the ocean such as sponges, clams, and snails);
plankton (organisms that move with the current such as krill and jelly fish); and nekton (swimming animals
such as fish, whales, and eels).
The intertidal zone is the region of the continental self that may be underwater or above water depending on the
tide; the neritic zone is the region of the shelf that is under constant water but is relatively shallow; the oceanic
zone is the deep region of the ocean.
Upwelling is the process of cool water moving UP from deep in the ocean; it brings nutrients and lots of fish
come to feed.
Hydrothermal vents are cracks in the ocean crust that release heat from below the Earth’s crust.
Polarity (having positively + and negatively – charged regions); water is a polar molecule.
Universal solvent (it can dissolve more things that any other substance)
Cohesion (it sticks to itself)
This allows for surface tension, which is a force that acts like an “invisible skin” at the surface. This is what lets
some insects walk on water.
Adhesion (it sticks to other stuff)
Capillary Action (it sticks to and travels along the edges of things)
Expands when is freezes.
Frozen water is less dense than liquid water, so it floats.
Physical Indicators are measurements taken that can tell how “healthy” water is.
pH measures acidity; healthy water should be around 7.0 which means it is neutral.
Turbidity is a measurement of how clear the water is. Highly turbid water would be very murky or cloudy.
Temperature changes can affect microorganisms and macro-organisms living in a river.
Dissolved oxygen is necessary for many aquatic organisms; water keeps high oxygen content when it is cooler.
A healthy water system should have: moderate to cool temperatures, high dissolved oxygen, low acidity and
clear water.
Nitrates are chemical indicators usually from run-off of fertilizers. If too many nitrates get into a pond or river
system, an algal bloom may occur—this means logs of algae grows at once, decreases the dissolved oxygen, and
results in lots of dead fish.
Bio-indicators are organism that are used to tell if an ecosystem is healthy; changes to the organism mean the
ecosystem has changed, too.
using technology to study the earth without having to be at an exact location to take measurements.
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) use satellites to pinpoint locations on Earth.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are mapmaking software that create layered maps.
Satellites can take photographs of the earth from space, allowing scientists to see large areas of the earth all at
once.
Buoys are “floating computers” that collect data from different locations in the ocean
Point-source pollution can identify one site as the main source of contaminants. Non-point sources of
pollution have multiple sources of contaminants.
Chemistry Review
Matter
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anything that has mass and takes up space.
Mass is the measurement of how much “stuff” is in something; mass is usually measured in grams (g).
Volume is the measurement of how much space something takes up; volume is usually measured in cubic
centimeters (cm3) or milliliters (ml)
Density measures of how much stuff is in a certain space. The formula to find density is D= m/V or density =
mass divided by volume; density units usually appear as grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm 3). 1cm3 = 1ml
the smallest building blocks of all matter.
Protons (+ --positive) and neutrons (o or N --neutral) are particles found in the central nucleus.
Electrons (- --negative) are particles found orbiting the nucleus in the electron shells.
Protons and neutrons make up the majority of the mass of each atom; the electrons are so small they are
considered to have no mass.
the building blocks of matter; they are the simplest units of any substance; most elements are natural, but there
several are the building blocks of matter; they are the simplest units of any substance; most elements are natural,
but there several synthetic elements. Generally, if it sounds like a common element, it is natural.
can be synthetic (man-made) or naturally occurring.
Mixtures are combinations of matter that aren’t chemically joined together.
Compounds are combinations of matter that are chemically joined together.
Molecules are the simplest forms of compounds; to break down a molecule to smaller pieces would result in
individual elements. Water (H2O) is an example of a molecule—lots of water molecules make up water droplets.
are formed through chemical bonds that use atoms’ valence electrons (electrons from the outer shells).
Atoms “want” to have 8 electrons in their valence shells.
Covalent bonds are formed when atoms share valence electrons. Water molecules are held together this way
(the 1 electron from each hydrogen atom is shared by the oxygen atom)
Ionic bonds are formed when one atom gives up at least one of its valence electrons to another atom. Sodium
chlorine (salt) is formed in this way—the sodium (Na) gives its outer electron to a chlorine (Cl) atom. The
sodium becomes positively charged and the chlorine becomes negatively charged, so they are attracted and stick
together like magnets.
When an element gains or loses an electron it is called an ion. Ions are positively charged when they lose
electrons because they have more protons (positively charged), and are negatively charged when they gain
electrons (because they have more negatively charged particles than positive).
a chart used to organize elements based on different characteristic of their atoms.
Each element is abbreviated with a one or two letter atomic symbol.
Periods are horizontal rows; they are numbered from top to bottom.
Groups are the vertical columns; groups may also be called families because elements in each group share
similar properties. They act very similarly; groups are numbered from left to right.
The atomic number (whole number with no decimal) tells the number of protons in an atom of that element.
The atomic mass (a number with a decimal such as 0.00) tells how much the atom “weighs.” If you round this
number to the nearest whole number and subtract the mass number you find the number of neutrons. (Atomic
Mass – Atomic Number = number of neutrons)
Reactivity is a property of matter that means how likely something is to bond with something else.
The noble or inert gases are found in the last group; these are non-reactive; they don’t bond with anything.
Metals are found on the left of the zigzag line; transition metals include “normal” metals like copper and iron.
things that describe how a substance looks, feels, or measures. (color, shape, volume, etc.)
Malleability means it can be hammered into sheets; ductility means it can be turned into wire.
Melting and boiling points are specific to every substance.
Specific heat is the measurement of how much energy (work) it takes to change the temperature of something
Solubility is the ability to be dissolved. Solvents: liquids that dissolve things; solutes: things being dissolved.
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things that describe how a substance reacts to other things. (ability to rust, burn or react)
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Atoms
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Elements
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Chemicals
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Compounds
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Periodic Table
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Physical
properties
Chemical
properties
Law of
Conservation of
Matter
Exposure
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states that matter is not created or destroyed so the mass of the reactants should be the same as the mass of the
products in a chemical reaction.
A chemical reaction has occurred if: a gas forms, colors change, temperature changes (without an apparent
source such as a flame or ice), if a precipitate forms (solid forms when you mix 2 liquids) or if light appears.
Reactants are the chemicals you start with; Products are the chemicals you produce or end with.
Oxidation is a chemical reaction that involves substance reacting oxidation (ex. Iron turning to rust)
Carcinogens are chemical agents that cause cancer (abnormal cell growth).
Birth defects such as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) have been linked to chemical exposure.
High dose of a chemical over a short exposure time OR a low dose over a LONG exposure time are dangerous.
Individual susceptibility means how a chemical affects each person, even if the concentration is the same.
Risks and benefits of chemicals are considered when determining the use of antibiotics, fertilizers, and
preservatives.
Scientific Method
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Data Collection
Variables
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Technology
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Theories
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Lab Safety
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Measurement
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Science in General
ProblemHypothesisExperimentData
CollectionAnalysisConclusion
A hypothesis must be testable
Good experiments can be repeated to verify data
accuracy
More test samples results in better accuracy
Random sampling prevents bias
Observations is data gathered with the senses.
Inferences are conclusions drawn from data.
Control: group not experiment on; what would
happen normally; used for comparison
Test/Experimental group: group that is changed
for the purposes of the experiment
Independent Variable: the change that is put into
place; what is being tested
Dependent Variable: the attribute that is
affected; what is measured
Prototypes are working test models of new
technology.
Technology is adapted to fit the cultural needs
Technology is driven to change by society and
current science
Can be hardware, software, processes, methods of
communication
Theories are explanations based on current
evidence.
Theories can change if new evidence is provided.
Theories have been tested.
Wear protective gear such as goggles and aprons
when appropriate.
Never handle broken glass
Wash hands, eyes, and skins if they come into
contact with chemicals
Science uses the metric system of measurement
Length  meters (m), centimeters (cm),
kilometers (km), millimeters (mm)
Volume  liters (L), milliliters (mL)
Mass  grams (g), kilograms (kg)
Density  g/mL or g/cm3