Essential Vocabulary Words
1. Speed- how fast an object is moving; speed = distance/time
2. Acceleration- change in speed or direction; acceleration = force/mass
3. Friction- force between 2 surfaces rubbing one another, slows down object and creates
heat
4. Hypothesis- a prediction based upon prior knowledge
5. Energy Transfer- changing from one form of energy to another form
6. Potential energy- energy stored in objects
7. Kinetic energy- energy produced by motion
8. Proton- positively charged part of an atom
9. Neutron- neutral part of an atom
10. Electron- negatively charged part of an atom
11. Force- push or pull on an object
12. Balanced Force- forces acting on an object are equal, so the object does not move
13. Motion- movement or change in position over time
14. Newton’s 1st law of Motion- objects will not change motion unless a force act on the
object (Law of Inertia)
15. Inertia- objects at rest remain at rest and objects in motion remain in motion in a straight
line unless a force acts on them.
16. Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion - when a force acts on an object the object will move in the
direction of the force
17. Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion- every action has an equal and opposite reaction
18. Law of Conservation of Mass- total mass is the same before and after a physical or
chemical change
19. Element- substance made of one type of atom
20. Matter- anything that has mass and takes up space
21. Mass- amount of matter in an object
22. Compound- atoms of more than one type of element chemically combined
23. Atom- building block of matter
24. Nucleus- positively charged center of an atom that contains the protons and neutrons
25. Molecule- two or more atoms held together by an attractive force
26. Conduction- transfer of heat by molecules bumping into one another
27. Convection- transfer of energy through the flow of material; heating, rising and cooling,
sinking of material
28. Radiation- transfer of energy through waves
29. Mixture- two or more substance not chemically combined
30. Physical Property- characteristic you can see without changing the composition of a
substance
31. Chemical property- characteristic that can only be seen by altering the substance
32. Physical change- form or appearance changes, but not the composition
33. Chemical change- substance is changed into a different substance by a chemical reaction
34. Density- amount of mass in a given space; density = mass/volume
35. Solubility- amount of substance that will dissolve in an amount of another substance at a
given temperature
36. Climate- an area’s averaged weather conditions over time
37. Evaporation- when a liquid turns to a gas
38. Condensation- when a gas turns to a liquid
39. Precipitation- water falling from clouds
40. Abiotic factor- nonliving physical features of an environment including water, air, and
temperature
41. Biotic factor- features of an environment that are alive or once alive
42. Rotation- spinning of Earth on its axis; takes 24 hours
43. Revolution- the Earth moving around the sun; takes 1 year
44. Solar Eclipse- when the Earth moves into the moon’s shadow
45. Lunar Eclipse- when the moon moves into the Earth’s shadow
46. Atmosphere- layer of air surrounding Earth
47. Asteroid- rocky objects in space
48. Comet- large body of ice and rock that travels around the sun
49. Gravity- attraction between objects
50. Tides- rise and fall of sea level due to the gravitational pull of the sun and moon
51. Asthenosphere- plastic like lower mantle of Earth
52. Lithosphere- crust and upper part of the mantle that is broken into plates
53. Plate Tectonics- theory that Earth’s crust and upper mantle are broken into plates that
move on the asthenosphere
54. Constructive forces- forces such as crustal deformation, faulting, volcanic eruptions and
deposition of sediment that creates landforms
55. Destructive forces- forces such as weathering and erosion that changes landforms
56. Weathering- breaking down of rock by nature
57. Erosion- movement of rock and soil caused by water, wind, and ice
58. Fossil- hardened remains of organisms that give clues to Earth’s past
59. Crustal Deformation- bending and tilting of Earth’s crust
60. Faulting- breaking of rock formations
61. Deposition of Sediment- settling of sediments moved by erosion
62. Behavior- ways an organism interacts with other organisms and its environment
63. Stimulus- anything that causes a response
64. Adaptation- change in structure behavior or physiology that enhances the survival and
reproductive success in a particular environment
65. Chromosome- structure in the nucleus of a cell that contains hereditary material
66. DNA- code store in the hereditary material that contains information about growth and
function of the organism
67. Sexual Reproduction- when two sex cells come together to create a new organism.
68. Asexual reproduction- a new organism is produced by one parent; both the parent and
offspring will be identical
69. Cell- basic unit of life
70. Tissue- group of similar cells doing same sort of work
71. Organ- different types of tissue working together
72. Organ System- a group of organs working together to do a job
73. Organism- any living thing
74. Eukaryotic cell- cell with membrane bound organelles
75. Prokaryotic cell- cell without membrane bound organelles
76. Genes- section of DNA found on a chromosome
77. Population- all animals of a species that live together in a particular place
78. Food Chain- flow of energy from one organism to another in a community
79. Ecosystem- all populations living together and the abiotic factors that affect them
80. Extinction- disappearance of a species
81. Species- group of similar organisms that can mate and reproduce
82. Mitosis- process of cell division where the nucleus divides and new cells are formed
83. Learned Trait- trait received from someone else
84. Innate behavior- response present from birth
85. Heredity- passing of characteristics from parents to offspring.
86. Global Warming- increase in the average global temperature of Earth
87. Greenhouse Effect- heat trapping feature of the atmosphere that occurs when certain
gases in the atmosphere trap heat
88. Acid- substance that releases H+ ions and produces hydronium ions when dissolved in
water
89. Base- substance that accepts H+ ions and produces hydroxide ions when dissolved in
water
90. pH- measure of how acidic or basic a solution is
91. Concentration- describes how much solute is present in a solution compared to the
amount of solvent
92. Coriolis effect- causes moving air water to turn left in the southern hemisphere and turn
right in the northern hemisphere due to the Earth's rotation
93. Astronomical unit- unit used to measure distances in the solar system; distance from Sun
to Earth
94. Seafloor spreading- new seafloor is formed when magma is forced up toward the surface
at a mid ocean ridge
95. Limiting factor- anything that can restrict the size of a population
96. Carrying capacity- largest number of individuals of a particular species that an ecosystem
can support over time
97. Mutation- any permanent change in a gene or a chromosome of a cell
98. Symbiosis- any close relationship between species, includes mutualism, commensalism
and parasitism
99. Continental drift- hypothesis that all continents were once connected in a single large
landmass that broke apart about 200 million years ago and drifted to their current
locations
100.
Energy- the ability to cause change
101.
Weather- state of the atmosphere at a specific time and place
102.
Ozone layer- layer in the stratosphere that blocks most of the Sun's ultraviolet
radiation
103.
Isotope- variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing
numbers of neutrons
104.
Dominant trait- a trait that covers over, or dominate another form of the trait
105.
Recessive trait- trait that is covered over, or dominated by another form of that
trait and seems to disappear
106.
Variable – the part of the experiment that the scientists changes or the scientist
causes to change
107.
Independent Variable - the variable you change, on purpose, in the experiment
108.
Dependent Variable - the response to the independent variable. he thing that
changes as a result of the change of independent variable
109.
Control - the group, or experimental subject, which does not receive the
independent variable
110.
Constants - conditions that remain the same in the experiment.