Question | Answer |
abiotic | nonliving factors, e.g. light, temperature, wind patterns, rocks, soil, pH, pressure, etc. in an environment |
biotic | living or once living factors, e.g. trees, butterflies, cats, bacteria |
adaptation | a characteristic that helps an organism survive in its environment or reproduce |
asexual reproduction | reproduction in which an organism produces one or more copies of itself, such as by fission or budding |
asteroids | small rocky bodies, about 1,000 km or less in diameter, in space often found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter |
atmosphere | the mixture of gases surrounding Earth and other planets |
atom | the smallest particle of an element that can exist either alone or in combination |
balanced forces | equal forces acting on an object in opposite directions, the object does not move |
biological diversity | the range of natural variety of species in an ecosystem (biodiversity) |
biosphere | the part of the world in which life can exist |
cell | the basic structural, functional, and biological unit of all organisms |
cell theory | theory that all known living things are made up of cells, the cell is the structural and functional unit of all living things, and all living cells come from pre-existing cells |
chemical change | process in which substances are changed into one or more different products |
chemical energy | a form of potential energy in which energy is stored in chemical bonds; e.g. energy stored in a battery or food |
comet | a small body composed of ice and rock that travels in an elliptical orbit around the sun |
compound | a substance made of a combination of two or more elements held together by chemical bonds that cannot be separated by physical means |
condensation | process of a gas changing to a liquid, such as water vapor into water droplets |
conduction | the transfer of energy by direct contact, from one substance to another |
constructive processes | processes that build up landforms on Earth’s surface such as crust formation, volcanoes, and sediment deposition |
continental drift | the gradual movement of continents by tectonic plates under Earth’s surface which causes land masses to move toward or away from one another |
convection | heat transfer by moving particles in fluids, and the thermal energy that they carry |
decomposer | an organism that eats dead or decaying matter |
dependent variable | the factor measured or observed to obtain results (sometimes referred to as the responding variable), usually graphed on the y-axis |
deposition | when sediments are carried by wind or water and are deposited in a new location |
destructive processes | process that breaks down landforms on Earth’s surface such as weathering and erosion |
electrical energy | energy that results from the change in motion or position of electrical charges |
element | one of the known chemical substances that cannot be broken down further without changing its chemical properties |
evaporation | the process of a liquid changing into a vapor or gas |
evolution | change over time |
force | push or pull that changes the motion or shape of an object |
fossil fuels | fuel derived from ancient organic remains; e.g. peat, coal, crude oil, natural gas |
genotype | the genes that an organism possesses for a particular trait- genotype is not just the expressed gene; instead, it includes any recessive genes masked by the dominant gene of a coded pair |
geosphere | the solid portion of Earth including landforms, rocks, minerals and soil, as well as the interior |
global warming | the gradual increase of the temperature of Earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases |
greenhouse effect | warming of Earth's atmosphere attributing to a build up of carbon dioxide or other gases |
heredity | the passing of traits from parents to offspring by genes |
hydrosphere | all water on Earth |
hypothesis | a testable explanation for an observation or scientific problem |
igneous rock | forms as molten rock cools and becomes solid |
independent variable | the one factor in an experiment that is determined and changed by the experimenter (sometimes referred to as the manipulated variable), usually graphed on the x-axis |
inertia | the resistance of an object to a change in the speed or direction of its motion |
innate response | an organism's natural reaction to a stimulus |
kinetic energy | energy of motion |
levels of organization | cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms |
lithosphere | the solid, outer layer of the Earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle |
matter | anything that has mass and takes up space |
mass | a measure of the amount of matter in an object |
meiosis | the process that occurs in sex cells (sperm and egg) in which the number of chromosomes is reduced by half |
metamorphic rock | preexisting rock that is restructured by high temperature and pressure |
mitosis | stage of the cell's life cycle during which the cell's nucleus divides into two new nuclei and one copy of the DNA is distributed into each daughter cell |
nonrenewable resource | a resource that forms at a rate that is much slower than the rate at which it is consumed; e.g. oil |
ozone layer | layer of atmosphere composed mainly of ozone (O3) 19-48 km above Earth that shields Earth from most of the sun's ultraviolet rays |
phenotype | physical or visible characteristics of an organism that are determined by its alleles |
photosynthesis | chemical process in which a plant cell or protist uses energy from sunlight along with carbon dioxide and water to produce food (glucose) and oxygen |
potential energy | stored energy, energy of position |
precipitation | any form of water that falls from the clouds; e.g. rain, snow, hail, sleet |
producer | any organism such as a plant or protist that is able to make food through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis |
proton | subatomic particle with a positive charge found in the nucleus of an atom |
neutron | subatomic particle with no charge found in the nucleus of an atom |
radiation | energy transfer without direct contact, as in the transport of heat from the sun to Earth |
reflect | to bounce back (e.g. light) from a surface |
refract | the bending of waves (light) as they enter a different medium |
renewable resource | a natural resource that is capable of replenishing; e.g. solar, wind |
response | an action following a stimulus |
revolution | the movement of an object around another, central object; e.g. Earth revolves around the sun |
rift valley | a valley that develops when two tectonic plates move apart and the land in the middle drops down |
Ring of Fire | an area associated with plate boundaries around the Pacific Ocean that has a large amount of volcanic and earthquake activity |
rotation | the turning of an object on its central axis |
sedimentary | rock formed from fragments and mineral grains of varying sizes from pre-existing rocks, remains or products of organisms, the products of chemical action, or a mixture of these |
sexual reproduction | producing a new generation by the combining male and female sex cells |
simple machine | a machine with few or no moving parts that provides a mechanical advantage and can be combined to make other machines |
species | a group of organisms that are capable of breeding to produce fertile offspring |
stimulus | something that causes a response |
transpiration | the passing of water through a plant from the roots through the vascular system to the atmosphere |
weathering | process by which materials change when exposed to conditions at or near Earth's |
work | force exerted on an object causing it to move a distance |