Test
Vocabulary
The Key To Raising Scores
Note to All Users:
I have tried to make a user-friendly
vocabulary unit that incorporates
selective test vocabulary words. In
no way is the unit inclusive. All
work has been checked and doublechecked but errors may be present.
Each of the
icons below
represents the
testing area
under which
the vocabulary
word may fall.
Feel free to adapt the material here
for your own use but please do not
represent the work as your own.
Sincerely,
Teresa Betts
Note: All clip are is subject to copyright laws and may not be duplicated.
Science
Social Studies
Math
Writing
Reading
ANTONYM
- a word opposite in meaning to another
The antonym of hot is cold.
SEQUENCE
– a related or continuous series; a following
of one thing after another
The numbers were arranged in sequence from
smallest to largest.
1, 4, 8,
13, 19,
26 34
,
EVENTS
– things that happen or occur
There were many important events leading up
to the Civil War.
CHARACTERISTIC
– a feature that helps to identify, tell apart,
or describe recognizably
One characteristic of a rabbit is its twitchy
nose.
COMPARISON
– noting similarities and differences after
examining something
After making a comparison of the two poems,
Shannon could see that one poem described
rain better than the other one.
METAPHOR
– an indirect comparison used to suggest
similarities (does NOT use “like” or “as”)
The author used the metaphor, “The ship plowed
the seas,” to suggest how the ship went through
the water like a farmer’s plow goes through dirt.
PROBABILITY
– the chance that something will occur (usually
expressed as a ratio (1:4), a percentage (24%),
or a fraction (1/4)
The probability of pulling 1 red marble out of a
bag of 1 red and 3 blue marbles is 1 out of 4 (1:4
or ¼ or 25%).
SYNONYM
– a word having the same meaning as another
In England, a “mobile” is a synonym for a “cell
phone.”
SIMPLE MACHINE
– an elementary (simple) tool having only 1 or 2
parts such as a lever, wheel and axle, pulley,
inclined plane, wedge, and/or screw
The child’s pulley toy was
actually a simple machine.
PERSUASIVE
having the power to prove something is
credible (worthy of belief)
Her well-written book report was a persuasive
way of getting me interested in reading the
book.
IDENTIFY
– to find a characteristic or similarity in a
reading selection
A hero in a book is easy to identify because he
usually does good deeds.
NUMBER LINE
– a straight line, usually with arrow points on
either end, divided into equally spaced
numbered parts
She learned to add with a number line by
counting up for each number she added.
TIME ZONE
– one of 24 longitudinal zones into which the
world has been divided for the purpose of
setting up time changes
I live in the Eastern Time Zone of the United
States and my friend lives 3 hours away in
California in the Pacific Time Zone.
FOOD CHAIN
– a sequence of organisms in an ecological
community each of which (usually) uses the
next lower member of the sequence as a food
source
Plants are at the bottom of the food chain
because cows eat grass and people get milk and
meat from cows. .
FICTIONAL
– not real; made-up; make-believe
The babysitter told the child a fictional story
about a baby dragon and a wizard.
CONTRAST
– highlighting the differences rather than the
similarities
She was asked to contrast the different heroes
in the story.
HEMISPHERE
– a half of the globe—either north/south or
east/west
We sailed down over the equator and entered
the Southern Hemisphere.
PERIMETER
– the boundary (edges) of a figure; the
measure of the distance around a figure or
space
The perimeter of the small garden was 12 feet
around.
INFERENCE
– a conclusion that can be drawn from
available evidence
He made an inference that the dog would bite
after he heard it growl, bark, and show its
teeth.
NARRATOR
– someone who tells or recites the happenings
of a story
The play was in French so the theater hired an
English-speaking narrator to tell the audience
what was happening.
AVERAGE/MEAN
– having an intermediate value between two
extremes
The average of the four grades, 95, 88, 83, and
74, was 85 because I added the four scores and
divided the total by four.
95 + 88 + 83 + 74 = 340
340  4 = 85
PROFIT
– the excess (left over) money earned after
deducting (subtracting) the cost of providing
or manufacturing goods
After spending $40 on supplies, Tammy sold all
of her hand-made bracelets for $140 and made
a profit of $100.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
– the process by which plants convert
(change) carbon dioxide, water, and light
energy into oxygen and food (carbohydrates)
Ed did experiments on plants, in the light and in
the dark, to see if photosynthesis could take
place without light.
RELATIONSHIP
– a connection between two things
The two friends cared a lot for each other and
had a great relationship.
PERCENT
– one part of a hundred
Half of the class, or fifty percent, usually
remembers to bring a pencil to class.
50%
RIGHT
– privilege given to a person or persons
according to the law; claim recognized by law
It was their right to register to vote at age
eighteen.
HYPOTHESIS
– a proposal that is assumed in order to prove
or disprove it through scientific investigation
Ed’s experiments proved his hypothesis that
plants cannot live without water.
EFFECTIVELY
– efficiently or successfully
Dr. Seuss effectively used rhyming words in his
books.
DIAMETER
– a straight line through the center of an object
To draw the diameter, Sue drew a straight line
through the center of the circle from one edge
of the circle to another.
PREFIX
– an affix (attachment) placed before a base
word
The words “unknown” and “unnamed” have the
same prefix.
Our new baby is still unnamed.
CONCLUSION
– a final summing up; a reasonable end or
conclusion
Her scientific conclusion was that plants need
water to live because the watered ones lived and
the water-starved plants died.
DESCRIPTIVE
– referring to things, events, parts, or
characteristics in an informative way
Charles used descriptive words to tell how the
characters looked and sounded.
Hint:
Descriptive
words most
often
involve
using the
five senses.
VIEWPOINT
– a place or attitude from which something is
seen
After reading about the awful accident from the
driver’s viewpoint, you could understand why he
was always so upset.
CIRCUMFERENCE
– the line or distance around a circle
To win the cake at the cakewalk, the students
had to walk around the circumference of the
circle drawn on the playground.
INDUSTRIALIZATION
– changing from a mostly unskilled, farm-type
economy to a skilled, labor-run manufacturing
economy
During a time of industrialization, many people
move from farms to cities to work.
ECOSYSTEM
– an ecological community together with all
the factors that affect it
When the factory dumped its waste into the
pond, the ecosystem was ruined and all the fish
died.
ROOT
– the smallest grammatical word (morpheme)
that cannot be divided further
People debate whether the root of the word
reappraisal is appraise or praise.
PRIME
– a prime number is a whole number that is
greater than 1, and has exactly 2 factors: itself
and 1
Cierra knows the numbers 3, 5, 7, and 11 are
examples of prime numbers.
3, 5, 7, 11
RANGE
– the difference between the greatest and the
least numbers in a set of data
The lowest test score was 72 and the highest
was 96 so the range was 24.
96 – 72 = 24
FEWER
– a smaller number of things; less
Tiffany ate 3 fewer cookies than John and was
still hungry.
DIFFERENCE
– the result from subtracting one number from
another
Jill knows the difference between 37 and 15 is
22.
37 – 15 = 22
IMAGINATIVE
– the result from subtracting one number from
another
Every day, Jerome was able to give a different
and imaginative story about his missing
homework.
Now, let me see. I
think it might be
in my other shoes!
EXPLAIN
– to make clear; to make known in detail
Mike was able to explain his answer by including
many descriptive details.
IMMIGRATION
– a going into a country for the purpose of
permanently living there
A large wave of immigration
into the United States will
greatly increase its
population.
ORGANISMS
– living beings
People, hamsters, and birds are 3 kinds of
organisms that have been in our classroom.
DETAILS
– additional facts, explanations, ideas,
and/or descriptions
Jonathan included details in his story to explain
things better.
RESOLVED
– decided or settled
The problem was resolved when Shana
apologized for being mean.
LINE GRAPH
– a drawing using lines to show information
in an organized way
The line graph of temperatures in November
had a line that kept going lower and lower.
November Average Daily
Temperatures
40
Degrees F
35
30
25
20
15
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Date
AMENDMENT
– a change, deletion, or addition to a
law—usually to make it better
The amendment giving
women the right to vote
was a good change.
REFRACTION
– the bending of an image through something
In the glass of water, refraction makes the
spoon look crooked.
UNIDENTIFIED
– not known; not described; an unknown
Kim knew the previously unidentified bird was a
blue heron after looking it up in a bird book.
FACT
– something known to exist or to have
happened
It is a fact that Earth is not flat.
OPINION
– a belief or judgment that is not certain
“The school bus is a zoo,” is an opinion.
EXCERPT
– a passage selected from something
written
Before answering the questions, he carefully
read the short excerpt from the book.
SIMILE
– a figure of speech in which two dissimilar
things are compared using “like” or “as”
A good example of a simile is, “Raquel lit up the
room like sunshine.”
LITER
– a liquid metric measurement equal to
about 1.06 quarts
Celia and Jerry were so thirsty that they each
quickly drank a liter-sized bottle of water.
1 L
SOCIETY
– a community (or part of a community)
bound by common interests and standards
Jennifer read about the ancient Mayan society
and discovered they were bound together by
their religious beliefs.
DIVERSITY
– the condition of being different; variety
When she traveled to South America, Nancy
was amazed at the diversity of people she met
in all the different countries.
NARRATIVE
– having the form of a story
Nathan included many details in his personal
narrative so people would know a lot about him.
RESPONSE
– a reaction or answer to written material
Jarrod wrote a long response to the test
question because he had many things to say.
GRID
– a picture of evenly spaced horizontal and
perpendicular lines—usually used for
locating things (looks like graph paper).
Ronnie used the grid on the city map to locate
the downtown museum.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
A B
C
D
E
F G
H
I
J
ENVIRONMENT
– the nearby conditions or forces that
influence an ecological community
We knew the environment of the neighborhood
was affected by the new trash-burning power
plant because of the odd smell.
INVESTIGATION
– a detailed examination; study; research
Jessica’s investigation into her family’s history
uncovered a famous Underground Railroad
conductor.
EDITING
– looking over something written in order to
correct or improve
James made sure he did a good job of editing
his narrative because he wanted it to be
perfect.
EXTENDED
– longer; lengthened; stretched out
Ron checked his extended response to make
sure he had written enough.
!
EVEN
– describing a number that is divisible by 2
with no remainder
Rochelle knew that even numbers could be
divided by 2.
10  2 = 5
24  2 = 12
16  2 = 8
28  2 = 14
20  2 = 10
34  2 = 17
ELEVATION
– the height of something above or below
sea level
John knew that the tip of Mt. Everest was the
highest land elevation in the world.
ENERGY
– capacity for performing work; effort
It didn’t take much energy to start the toy car
rolling down the ramp.
EXERCISE
– a task or problem done to develop skill
Brittany completed the first writing exercise in
one hour and had another hour and a half to
finish the second writing exercise.
SELECT
– choose; pick out; take by preference
On the multiple-choice questions, Karen had to
carefully select the right answer.
COORDINATES
– a set of numbers used to locate a point on
a graph or plane
The coordinates of the hidden treasure were
(4, 5) on the map.
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
TIME LINE
– events of an age or era shown on a scale
(in order)
The time line showed what important events
came before the Declaration of Independence
and what events happened afterwards.
EQUIVALENT
– equal in value
The decimal 0.75 is equivalent to the fraction ¾.
0.75 = ¾
BAR GRAPH
– a drawing using rectangles of equal width
to show information (data) in an organized
way
By looking at the bar graph, Jill was able to tell
that it rained more in April than in March or
May.
Rainfall
8
6
4
Month
AUG
JUL
JUN
APR
MAR
0
FEB
2
JAN
Inches of Rain
10
ROUNDED
– stated a number in a briefer or less exact
form by dropping a number on the right and
raising or lowering the number on the left
(based on the dropped number)
Kanisha rounded 6.5 up to 7 and rounded 6.4
down to 6.
6.5  7 and 6.4  6
OMIT
– to leave out; to fail to include
Gayle checked over her narrative to make sure
she didn’t omit any details that were asked for
in the directions.
ESTIMATE
– (verb) to give the best guess based on
available data; (noun) the best guess based
on available data
(verb) Reginald estimated he could afford the
three shirts because he had $22 and each
shirt cost $6.29.
(noun) The estimate Reginald made for the cost
of the three shirts was $19.00.
FACTOR
– any number that divides evenly into
another (with no remainder)
Nate found out that 4 was a factor of 12 when
he evenly divided 4 into 12.
12 4 = 3
LINE SEGMENT
– a line that has a beginning and an end
Ms. Walton drew a line segment on the board
that started at point A and ended at point B.
A
B
CONDENSATION
– the change from vapor to liquid
After filling the glass with ice and soda, Ken
noticed condensation droplets quickly forming
on the outside of the glass.
EVAPORATION
– the change from liquid to vapor
Hours after the rain shower, Henry noticed
that evaporation had caused the rain puddles to
disappear from his driveway.
PRECIPITATION
– a deposit on the earth of rain, mist, hail,
sleet, and/or snow
As part of her science experiment, Ashley
measured and graphed the amount of
precipitation her town received during the
month of April.
PATTERN
– a math formula that repeats
Gregory found the number pattern was to
multiply by two and subtract one.
( ___  2 ) – 1 = ____
(3, 5, 9, 17, 33, 65)
YARD
– a measure of 3 feet or 36 inches
The size of Mrs. McQueen’s room is
approximately 8 yards by 14 yards.
OUNCES
– small units of weight and measure (16
ounces in a pound and 8 ounces in a cup)
If Mark sold 10 cups of lemonade at the
carnival, he sold a total of 80 ounces.
(10 cups x 8 ounces = 80 ounces)
IGNEOUS ROCKS
– rocks formed by solidification of molten
rock
At the base of the old volcano, Mrs. Russell
picked up several igneous rocks to show her
class.
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
– rocks formed by material that settles to the
bottom
When the construction crew blasted through
the mountain, it was easy to see the layers of
sedimentary rocks.
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
– a rock that is different (changed) from
what it was before—having been formed by
pressure, heat, and/or water
After centuries of heat and pressure, the
sedimentary rocks became metamorphic rocks.
VOLUME
– the space occupied or enclosed by cubic
units
The cake was a 2” by 6” by 10” rectangle and
Katrina figured out its volume was 120 cubic
inches.
10 "
6"
2"
AREA
– the space occupied or enclosed by
square units
The garden was a 6’ by 10’ rectangle and
Charley figured out its area was 60 square
feet.
ACUTE ANGLE
– an angle whose measurement is less than
90°
Sally drew an acute angle that looked like the
hands of the clock when it was 3:05.
OBTUSE ANGLE
– an angle whose measurement is more
than 90°
Tiffany drew an obtuse angle that looked like
the hands of the clock when it was 2:50.
PARALLEL LINES
– lying in the same direction but always the
same distance apart
Railroad tracks are a great example of parallel
lines.
PERPENDICULAR
– meeting another line at a right angle
The grounds crew set up the goals posts
perpendicular to the ground.
RIGHT ANGLE
– an angle whose measure is 90°
At 3:00, the hands of the clock form a right
angle.
ORDER
– to arrange or rank in a special way
She arranged the set of numbers in order from
lowest to highest.
{ 3, 7, 10, 11, 15 }
SUMMARIZE
– to state or express in a brief, concise form
After reading the entire, long passage, Jackie
was able to summarize it into just two sentences.
INFORMATION
– knowledge communicated; facts
Dave checked all the information provided
before attempting to answer the question.
PASSAGE
– a portion or section of a written work
Read the entire passage carefully and look for
clues.
SOURCE
– original or basic materials used in research
or to find answers
Two sources you might use to find the capital
of a state are an encyclopedia or an almanac.
CAREFUL
– cautious; thorough
Jennifer was being extremely careful when she
thoughtfully read each question before writing
her answers.
CHECK
– to inspect for accuracy
Devon knew he had to check every answer in
order to pass the test.