L TO J SCIENCE STUDY GUIDE
WEATHER
1. Atmosphere – The blanket of gases that surrounds earth.
2. Troposphere – The layer of the atmosphere closest to earth’s surface;
weather occurs here and all living things are found in this layer.
3. Barometer- A device for measuring air pressure.
4. Air pressure – The force put on a given area by the weight of the air above it.
5. Low pressure – A pattern in which winds blow in toward the center. In the
northern hemisphere, these winds blow to the right in a counterclockwise
pattern; usually brings clouds and rain
6. High pressure – A pattern from which winds blow outward. In northern
hemisphere these winds curve to the right in a clockwise pattern; usually
brings clear skies
7. Weather – What the lower atmosphere is like at any given place and time.
8. Climate –The average weather pattern of a region.
9. Thermometer – An instrument used to measure temperature.
10. Anemometer –A device that measures wind speed.
11. Rain gauge – A gauge used to measure the amount of water after it rains.
12. Water vapor –Water in the form of a gas.
13. Humidity – The amount of water vapor in the air.
14. Evaporation – The slow changing of a liquid into a gas.
15. Condensation – The changing of a gas into a liquid.
16. Precipitation – Any form of water particles that falls from the atmosphere
and reaches the ground.
17. Groundwater – Precipitation that seeps into the ground and is stored in tiny
holes, pores in soil and rocks.
18. Runoff – Precipitation that flows across the land’s surface or falls into
rivers and streams.
19. Transpiration – the loss of water through a plants leaves.
20. Water cycle – the continuous movement of water between earth’s surface
and the air, changing from liquid to gas to liquid.
21. Wind- air that moves horizontally
22. Convection cell- a circle or pattern of air rising, air sinking and wind
23. Sea breeze- wind that blows from sea to land during the day
24. Land breeze- wind that blows from land to sea at night
25. Isobar- a line on a weather map connecting places with equal air pressure
26. Jet stream- a fast moving, narrow current of wind in the upper troposphere
27. Trade wind- a belt of winds around earth moving from high pressure zones
towards the low pressure at the equator
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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 (
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Polar Easterlies – these are the winds that blow from east to west around
the north and south poles
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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
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
Stationary front – a front that happens when a warm air mass and a cold air
mass meet, and doesn’t move
Occluded front – a front that happens when a warm air mass is caught
between two cold air masses and is pushed upwards.
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.
Air mass – a large region of the atmosphere where the air has similar
properties throughout with same temperature and humidity
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FORCES
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Force – a push or pull that acts on an object
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)
Friction – a force that acts on a moving object, usually to slow it; works in
the opposing direction
Speed – how fast am object changes with position in regards to time at any
given moment
Velocity – the speed of a moving object taken together its direction
Acceleration – a change in velocity with respect to time
Balanced forces – when all the forces acting on an object cancel each other
out; forces are all equal and objects are still – no movement
Unbalanced forces – forces that do not cancel each other out when acting
together on a single object, causing it to move; one force is greater than
another force, causing movement
Action- when one object applies force to a second (cause)
Reaction – a force a second object returns to the first (effect)
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Gravity – a force of attraction between any two objects due to their mass
(weight)
Weight – how heavy something is, the measure of gravity pressing down
Work – using force to make an object move
Momentum- the result of an objects mass and velocity (momentum = mass
x velocity)
Air resistance- drag, or the force of air pushing against the motion of an
object
Simple machine – a device that makes work easier
Lever – a rigid bar that sits on a fulcrum
Fulcrum – a pivot point
Effort arm – the part of a lever that applies force to the resistant arms;
where you apply the force
Resistant arm – the part of a lever that applies forces to the load the
machine acts against; where the load is
Wedge – an inclined plane that is used for splitting objects (ie. an ax)
Pulley – wheel with a groove in the rim (ie. Crane)
Inclined plane – a flat-sided slanted surface that makes it easier to move
heavy objects to higher levels (ie. A truck ramp)
Wheel and axle – a large diameter wheel that rotates around a small
diameter wheel (ie. Wheels of a car)
Screw – an inclined plane wrapped in a spiral around a cylinder cone (ie. A
screw)
Newton’s 1st Law - An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by
an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the
same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced
force. This law is often called "the law of inertia".
Newton’s 2nd Law - Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass.
The greater the mass (of the object being accelerated) the greater the
amount of force needed (to accelerate the object).
Newton’s 3rd Law - For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
ECOSYTEMS
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Population- all the members of a species in an area
Habitat- the place where animals or plants naturally live and grow
Community- The interaction of all the living things in a area.
Organism- Any living thing that can carry out its life on its own
Abiotic Factors - the non-living parts of an ecosystem
Biotic Factors- the living things or once-living organisms in an ecosystem
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Ecology- The study of how the living and non living things in an ecosystem
interact studying this process.
Ecosystem- All the living and non living things in an environment,
including their interactions with each other
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.
Desert- A sandy or rocky biome with little precipitation and little plant life
Tundra- A large, treeless plain in the Arctic regions where the ground is
frozen all year
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.”
Tropical Rainforest- A hot biome near the equator, with much rainfall and a
wide variety of life
Grasslands- A biome where grasses are the main plant life
Taiga- A coniferous forest biome with acidic minerals and poor soil with
many lakes that were formed by melting glaciers; all of this biome is
covered by non-deciduous trees such as evergreens, spruce trees and fir
trees;
Marine- a salt water biome; it is divided into 4 sections from the top to the
bottom.
Estuary- A place where fresh and saltwater meet in a coastal area
Freshwater- to do with or living in water that does not contain salt, as in
fresh water fish
Decomposers- Any of the fungi or bacteria that break down dead plants
and animals into useful things like minerals and rich soil.
Omnivore- When animals and humans eat both meat and plants
Eutrophication- The addition of artificial or natural substances into an
environment
Biodegradable- Capable of being broken down by natural process, such as
Bacteria
Scavengers-They are meat eaters that don’t hunt and look for dead
animals.
Urbanization- to make or become urban; to become busy or congested as
well as developed as or like a city.
Food Chain- The path of energy in food from one organism to another; how
energy goes from producers to consumers to decomposers.
Prey- a living thing that is hunted for food.
Consumer- Organisms that cannot produce their own food and consume
other organisms
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Landfill- A site for the disposal of waste of material by burial
Producer- Any of the plants and algae that produce oxygen and food that
animals need.
Niche- The role an organism plays in an ecosystem.
Food Web- The overlapping food chains in an ecosystem
Herbivore- An animal that eats plants, algae, and other producers.
Predator-A living thing that eats other living things.
Carnivores- An animal that eats another animal.
Pollutants- something that causes pollution.
LANDFORMS
99. Weathering – breaking down of rocks into smaller pieces
100. Mechanical weathering – objects that are physically broken into smaller
pieces by wind, water, ice and heat
101. Chemical weathering – is a process in which the rocks are broken down by
removing or altering elements that make up the minerals
102. Biological weathering – weathering that is mechanical or chemical, but
always caused by living organisms
103. Erosion – the movement of soil or rock by water, ice or wind; it is the
movement of weathered rock and not the weathering itself (her forms of the
word include: erode, eroded, eroding)
104. Slope – the incline or steepness of a surface
105. Saturated – to become full of, typically of water
106. Glacier – a large body of ice moving slowly down a slope due to the force
of gravity; it picks up and carries loose material in its path, moving tons of
sediment.
107. Valley – a low area between two mountains that was formed long ago (if it
is formed by a river, it is V-shaped; if is formed by a glacier, it is U Shaped)
108. Flood – the great overflow of water of land that is usually dry
109. Flash Flood – sudden and destructive rush of water down a narrow gully or
over a sloping surface caused by heavy rainfall
110. Delta - a piece of land in the shape of a triangle or fan, made by deposits of
mud and sand at the mouth of a river
111. Sediment – small pieces of rock and soil that is transported from one
location to another
112. Meander – an S-shaped curve or bend in a river ; formed by erosion and
deposition changing the shape of a river
113. Tributary – small streams or rivers that flow into a larger river; usually
begins at or in the mountains (when they join the larger river, the larger
river increases in volume and speeds up)
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114. Landforms – features of the surface of the earth (ex. Valleys, canyons,
mountains, hills, plateaus, and plains)
115. Silt – very finely-ground rock; easily transported in water or other liquids
and is fine enough to be carried long distances by air in the form of dust;
formed by mechanical weathering
116. Gravity – the force that pulls everything towards the center of the Earth
117. Landslide – the downward falling or sliding of a mass of soil or rock on the
side of a mountain
118. Deposition – the state of sediment being deposited or placed in an area;
typically water deposits sediment where the water slows (ie. at the inside
bend of a meander or at the mouth of a river)
119. Tsunami – a very large destructive wave caused by an underwater
earthquake or volcano
120. Drought – long periods of dry weather; a lack of rainfall in an area can
cause this, making the ground look cracked and dry
121. Mouth – the part or a stream or river where its waters are released into a
river or larger body of water
122. Oxbow lake – a lake formed when the meander gets cut off from the main
stream of water
123. Deposition bank – the outside of a meander where soil/sediment is
deposited
124. Erosion bank – the inside of a meander where soil is eroded by faster
moving water
125. Flood plain – low flat land along a stream that is flooded when the stream
overflows
126. Wind erosion – the wind picks up small pieces of rock fragment and carries
them along until they reach an obstacle, such as a hill or a plant
127. Scale – relates the distance on a map to the real distance on the earth’s
surface
128. Topographic maps – maps that show the height or elevation of the land
using contour lines
129. Contour Lines – lines hat connect areas on the surface with the same
elevation
130. Relief maps – a type of map that uses shading and coloring to show
differences in elevation
131. Deforestation – removal of trees in the forest
132. Windbreaks – tall trees surrounding farm areas to prevent winds from
carrying off too much topsoil
133. Soil Terracing – making hilly areas into step like formations that slow water
and help reduce runoff
134. Irrigation – watering of soil when it is dry
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