Sixth Grade Science Vocabulary by Standard
Standards 1 and 2 – Earth’s Moon, Seasons
Axis of Rotation: An imaginary line going from the North Pole to the South Pole. The earth spins
on this line.
Earth’s Tilt: The earth’s axis is not straight up and down, instead it leans at a 23.5-degree angle.
Orbit: The path that a planet travels as it goes around the sun.
Phases of the Moon: The changes in the appearance of the moon’s shape during a month,
Reflection: The bouncing of light off of an object. The moon appears to shine because it reflects
the sun’s light.
Revolution: The circling of one object around another object in space. A planet revolves around
the sun. A moon revolves around a planet.
Rotation: When a planet or moon turns all the way around or spins on its axis one time.
Seasons: Due to the tilt of earth as it travels around the sun, we have spring, summer, fall, and
winter.
Standards 3 and 4 – Solar System and Scale of the Universe
Asteroids: Irregular pieces of rock moving through space in an area between the planets Mars
and Jupiter.
Celestial Object: Any natural object found in space.
Comets: Objects are made of ice, dust, and gases that orbit the sun and form a tail as it passes
close to the sun.
Constellation: A group of stars forming a fixed pattern in the sky.
Distance: The measurement of the amount of space between objects.
Force: A push or a pull.
Galaxy: Many millions of stars grouped together in space.
Gravitational Force: The pull that gravity has on an object.
Gravity: The power that attracts one object to another.
Light Year: The distance light travels in one year; it is used to measure distances in space.
Mass: The amount of matter in an object.
Milky Way Galaxy: A group of billions of stars that is home to our solar system.
Planets: Celestial objects that revolve around the sun and do not produce their own light.
Satellites: A natural or human-built object which revolves around another object in space; such
as the moon.
Scale: A unit used to help understand size relationship.
Solar System: The system made of 8 unique planets and other objects that all orbit the sun; the
sun is also part of the solar system.
Speed of Light: How fast light travels which is 186,000 miles per second or 300,000 kilometers
per second.
Star: A large celestial object made up of gases that gives off light and heat.
Sun: The star that is the center of our solar system.
Telescope: An instrument that makes distant objects appear larger by making them look closer.
Universe: EVERYTHING that is in space.
Standard 5: Microorganisms
Algae (AL jee): Plant-like protists that live in water and contain chlorophyll. They produce
oxygen and their own food.
Bacteria (bac TEER ee a): Microscopic single-celled organisms that exist everywhere.
Conclusion: The summary of an experiment, based on data.
Control: A part of the experiment that is unchanged.
Culture: To grow microorganisms in a specially prepared nutrient medium i.e. growing mold on
bread, your bread is your nutrient medium.
Decomposer: An organism, often a bacterium or fungus, that feeds on and breaks down dead
plant or animal matter.
Experiment: A series of steps to find the answer to a question.
Fungi (FUN ji): Organisms that are neither plant nor animals, but have characteristics of both
and absorb food from whatever they are growing on.
Hypothesis (hy PAW thuh suhs): An idea or question that can be tested.
Investigation: A process designed to answer a question.
Microorganism: A living thing that can only be seen with the aid of magnification.
Organism: Any living thing.
Protozoan (PRO to zo uhn): A single- celled-animal-like organism that often lives in ponds.
Producer: A living thing, like a green plant, that makes its food from simple substances and
sunlight.
Single-celled organism: Any organism that has only one cell, the smallest unit of life.
Variable: A part of an experiment that is changed.
Standard 6: Heat, Light, Sound
Absorption: Taking in or swallowing up energy.
Angle of incidence: The angle at which light strikes a surface.
Angle of reflection: The angle at which light bounces off a surface.
Conduction: Heat moving between two objects because they are touching.
Conductor: A substance that is able to transfer heat energy easily.
Convection: Heat transfer in liquids and gases as molecules circulate in currents.
Medium: Any substance through which a wave is transmitted.
Pitch: How high or low a musical note sounds.
Prism: A clear glass or plastic triangular shape that breaks light into the color spectrum.
Radiation: The transfer of energy by electromagnetic waves.
Reflection: When rays of light or heat are reflected, or bounce off other objects.
Refraction: When light bends as it travels from one medium to another.
Spectrum: The colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, arranged in order of
their wavelengths and seen when white light passes through a prism. (Roy G. Biv)
Vibration: A rapid back and forth movement.