Busy. Please wait.
Log in with Clever
or

show password
Forgot Password?

Don't have an account?  Sign up 
Sign up using Clever
or

Username is available taken
show password


Make sure to remember your password. If you forget it there is no way for StudyStack to send you a reset link. You would need to create a new account.
Your email address is only used to allow you to reset your password. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.


Already a StudyStack user? Log In

Reset Password
Enter the associated with your account, and we'll email you a link to reset your password.

Cells, Genetics, Evolution, Geology, Topography, Weathering, + Erosion

Quiz yourself by thinking what should be in each of the black spaces below before clicking on it to display the answer.
        Help!  

Question
Answer
cell   The basic unit of structure and function in living things.  
🗑
microscope   An instrument that makes small objects look larger.  
🗑
simple microscope   A microscope that contains only one lens such as a hand lens.  
🗑
compound microscope   A light microscope that has more than one lens.  
🗑
Transmission Electron Microscope   A microscope that makes images by sending electrons through a very thinly sliced specimen.  
🗑
Scanning Electron Microscope   A microscope that sends a beam of electrons over the surface of a specimen.  
🗑
Scanning Tunneling Microscope   A microscope that measures electrons that leak from the surface of a specimen,  
🗑
Cell Theory   -All living things are composed of cells. -Cells are the basic units of structure in living things. -Cells are the basic units of function in living things. -All cells are produced from other cells.  
🗑
Robert Hooke   An English scientist who was one of the first people to observe cells through a microscope.  
🗑
Anton Van Leeuwenhoek   A Dutch businessman who was one of the first people to observe bacterial cells through a microscope.  
🗑
Theodor Schwann   A German scientist who concluded that all living things are composed of cells.  
🗑
Matthias Schleiden   A German scientist who concluded that all animals are composed of cells.  
🗑
Rudolf Virchow   A German doctor who proposed that new cells are formed only from existing cells.  
🗑
magnification   The ability to make things look larger than they really are.  
🗑
convex lens   A lens with a shape in which the center of the curved lens is thicker than the edges.  
🗑
resolution   The ability to clearly distinguish the individual parts of an object.  
🗑
organelles   Tiny cell structures that carry out specific functions within the cell.  
🗑
cell wall   A rigid layer of nonliving material that surrounds the cells of plants and some other organisms.  
🗑
cell membrane   An organelle located just inside the cell wall or, in some cases, the outside boundary that controls what substances come into and out of the cell.  
🗑
nucleus   A large, oval structure that directs all of the cell's activities.  
🗑
nuclear membrane   A structure that protects the nucleus and acts like the cell membrane.  
🗑
chromatin   The strands that contain genetic material and are located in the nucleus.  
🗑
nucleolus   The structure that is located in the nucleus and makes ribosomes.  
🗑
cytoplasm   The thick, gel-like fluid found between the cell membrane and the nucleus.  
🗑
mitochondrion   The organelle that produces most of the energy the cell needs to carry out its functions.  
🗑
endoplasmic reticulum   A maze of passageways that carry proteins and other materials from one side of the cell to the other.  
🗑
ribosome   A small, grain-like body that produces proteins.  
🗑
golgi body   A flattened collection of tubes and sacs that receives proteins and other newly formed materials from the endoplasmic reticulum and distributes them to other parts of the cell.  
🗑
chloroplast   An organelle that captures energy from sunlight and uses it to produce food for the cell.  
🗑
vacuole   A sac that stores food, water, and waste products.  
🗑
lysosome   A small, round structure that contains chemicals that break down large food particles into smaller ones.  
🗑
bacterial cell   A cell that is smaller than animal and plant cells, only contains a cell wall, a cell membrane, and ribosomes, and has a thick, tangled string of chromatin located in the cytoplasm.  
🗑
element   Any substance that cannot be broken down into simpler substances.  
🗑
atom   The smallest unit of an element.  
🗑
compound   A material formed when two or more elements combine chemically.  
🗑
molecule   The smallest unit of most compounds.  
🗑
organic compound   The name of most compounds containing carbon.  
🗑
inorganic compound   A compound that does not contain the element carbon.  
🗑
carbohydrate   An energy-rich organic compound made of the elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Some examples of this are sugars and starches.  
🗑
protein   A large organic molecule made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and, in some cases, sulfur.  
🗑
amino acid   A molecule that can be combined with other amino acids to make a protein.  
🗑
enzyme   A type of protein that speeds up a chemical reaction in a living thing,  
🗑
lipid   An energy-rich organic compound made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Some examples of this are fats, oils, and waxes.  
🗑
nucleic acid   A very large organic molecule made of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and phosphorus.  
🗑
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)   The genetic material that carries information about an organism that is passed from parent to offspring.  
🗑
ribonucleic acid (RNA)   A type of nucleic acid that plays an important role in the production of proteins.  
🗑
selectively permeable   Some substances can pass through the cell membrane while others cannot.  
🗑
diffusion   The process by which molecules tend to move from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration.  
🗑
osmosis   The diffusion of water molecules through a selectively permeable membrane.  
🗑
passive transport   The movement of materials through a cell membrane without using energy.  
🗑
active transport   The movement of materials through a cell membrane using energy.  
🗑
transport protein method   A method of active transport when transport proteins pick up molecules outside the cell and carry them in, using energy in the process.  
🗑
engulfing   A method of active transport when the cell membrane surrounds a particle, pinches off, and forms a vacuole from the particle.  
🗑
photosynthesis   The prcess by which a cell captures the energy in sunlight and uses it to make food.  
🗑
pigment   A colored chemical compound that absorbs light.  
🗑
chlorophyll   The main pigment found in the chloroplasts of plants.  
🗑
stoma   A small opening on the inderside of a leaf where carbon dioxide and other gases enter the plant.  
🗑
autotroph   An organism that makes its own food.  
🗑
heterotroph   An organism that cannot make its own food.  
🗑
respiration   The process by which cells withdraw energy from glucose.  
🗑
glucose   A type of sugar involved in both photosynthesis and respiration.  
🗑
fermentation   An energy-releasing process that does not require oxygen.  
🗑
alcoholic fermentation   A type of fermentation in which alcohol is one of the products.  
🗑
lactic-acid fermentation   A type of fermentation in which lactic-acid is one of the products.  
🗑
cell cycle   The regular sequence of growth and division that cells undergo.  
🗑
interphase   The first stage of the cell cycle during which the cell grows to its mature size, copies its DNA, and prepares to divide into two cells.  
🗑
replication   A process during which the cell makes a copy of the DNA in its nucleus.  
🗑
mitosis   The second stage of the cell cycle during which the cell's nucleus divides into two new nuclei.  
🗑
prophase   The first part of mitosis during which he chromatin condenses and spindle fibers form.  
🗑
spindle fiber   A structure that is formed during prophase and attatches to chromosomes during metaphase.  
🗑
chromosome   A doubled rod of condensed chromatin.  
🗑
chromatid   An identical rod of a chromosome.  
🗑
centromere   A structure that holds a chromosome together.  
🗑
metaphase   The second part of mitosis during which spindle fibers attatch to the centromere on each chromosome.  
🗑
anaphase   The third part of mitosis during which the chromosomes split into chromatids and are dragged to bothe ends of the cell by spindle fibers.  
🗑
telophase   The fourth part of mitosis during which the cell stretches out, the chromosomes lose their shape, and nuclear membranes form at both ends of the cell.  
🗑
cytokinesis   The third stage of the cell cycle during which the cytoplasm divides, distributing the organelles into each of the two new cells, and the cell splits apart to form two new cells.  
🗑
cell plate   A structure that forms across the middle of a plant cell during cytokinesis.  
🗑
James Watson   A famous scientist who figured out the structure of DNA along with Francis Crick in 1953.  
🗑
Francis Crick   A famous scientist who figured out the structure of DNA along with James Watson in 1953.  
🗑
double helix   Another name for a DNA molecule.  
🗑
deoxyribose   A type of sugar that makes up part of each helix on a DNA molecule.  
🗑
phosphate   A molecule that makes up part of each helix on a DNA molecule.  
🗑
nitrogen bases   Molecules that are the rungs of a DNA ladder and are made of mostly nitrogen.  
🗑
adenine   A nitrogen base that, most of the time, pairs with thymine.  
🗑
thymine   A nitrogen base that always pairs with adenine.  
🗑
guanine   A nitrogen base that always pairs with cytosine.  
🗑
cytosine   A nitrogen base that always pairs with guanine.  
🗑
Gregor Mendel   The famous scientist who studied genetics in circa 1850s.  
🗑
trait   A physical characteristic.  
🗑
heredity   The passing of traits from parent to offspring.  
🗑
genetics   The scientific study of heredity.  
🗑
pistil   A structure on a flower that produces female sex cells.  
🗑
stamen   A structure on a flower that produces pollen, which contains male sex cells.  
🗑
self-pollination   When plants such as garden pea plants produce pollen from the stamen and land it on the pistil of the same flower to reproduce.  
🗑
cross-pollination   The process Gregor Mendel used by taking one pollen from one flower and brushing it on the pistil of another flower.  
🗑
purebred   An organism that always produces offspring with the same form of a trait as the parent.  
🗑
P generation   The generation of Mendel's pea plants that consisted of the original parents.  
🗑
F1 generation   The generation of Mendel's pea plants that were the offspring of the P generation.  
🗑
F2 generation   The generation of Mendel's pea plants that were the offspring of the F1 generation  
🗑
gene   A factor that controls a certain trait.  
🗑
allele   A different form of a gene.  
🗑
dominant allele   An allele whose trait always shows up in the organism when the allele is present.  
🗑
recessive allele   An allele that is masked, or covered up, whenever the dominant allele is present.  
🗑
hybrid   An organism that has two different alleles for their trait.  
🗑
Asa Lovejoy   A man whose hometown was Boston, Massachusetts, and lost a coin toss with Francis Pettygrove.  
🗑
Francis Pettygrove   A man whose hometown was Portland, Maine, and won a coin toss with Asa Lovejoy.  
🗑
probability   The likelihood that a particular event will occur.  
🗑
Punnett square   A chart that shows all the possible combinations of alleles that can result from a genetic cross.  
🗑
geneticists   People who study genetics.  
🗑
phenotype   An organism's physical appearance.  
🗑
genotype   An organism's genetic makeup.  
🗑
homozygous   When an organism has two identical alleles for their trait.  
🗑
heterozygous   When an organism has two different alleles for their trait.  
🗑
codominance   When both dominant and recessive alleles are expressed in an organism's phenotype and genotype.  
🗑
roan   The color of a cow's hairs from a distance that is codominant.  
🗑
Walter Sutton   An American scientist who hypothesized that chromosomes were the key to understanding how offspring come to have traits similar to those of their parents.  
🗑
sperm cell   A male sex cell.  
🗑
egg cell   A female sex cell.  
🗑
hereditory fatcor   Another name for a gene.  
🗑
chromosome theory of inheritance   Genes are carried from parents to their offspring on chromosomes.  
🗑
meiosis   The process by which the number of chromosomes is reduced by half to form sex cells.  
🗑
fertilization   When a sperm cell fertilizes an egg cell in the reproduction system.  
🗑
genetic code   A code formed by the order of nitrogen bases along a gene.  
🗑
protein synthesis   A process during which the cell uses information from a gene on a chromosome to produce a specific protein.  
🗑
uracil   A molecule on RNA that replaces thymine.  
🗑
messenger RNA   A type of RNA that copies the coded message from the DNA in the nucleus and carries the message into the cytoplasm.  
🗑
transfer RNA   A type of RNA that carries amino acids and adds them to the growing protein.  
🗑
mutation   Any change in a gene or chromosome.  
🗑
antibiotic   A chemical that kills bacteria.  
🗑
H.M.S. Beagle   Ship that Charles Darwin was on during his exploration of new species around the world in circa 1830s. (His Majesty's Ship)  
🗑
Charles Darwin   English naturalist who sailed on the H.M.S. Beagle in circa 1830s and created the theory of natural selection in circa 1850s. (He also created a book called the Origin of Species.)  
🗑
naturalist   A person who studies the natural world.  
🗑
Lieutenant Robert Fitzroy   Captain of the H.M.S. Beagle during Darwin's five year voyage collecting samples of new species.  
🗑
species   A group of similar organisms that can mate with each other and produce fertile offspring.  
🗑
Galapagos Islands   A group of small islands in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of South America.  
🗑
adaptation   A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce.  
🗑
evolution   The gradual change in a species over time.  
🗑
scientific theory   A well-tested concept that explains a wide range of observations.  
🗑
theory of evolution   The theory that natural selection, over millions of years, leads to evolution.  
🗑
artificial selection   The process by which humans domesticate organisms for a certain benefit.  
🗑
selective breeding   Another name for artificial selection.  
🗑
Alfred Russel Wallace   A British biologist who, along with Darwin, proposed the explanation for how evolution occurs.  
🗑
The Origin of Species   A book written by Darwin explaining the relationship between evolution and natural selection.  
🗑
natural selection   The process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce than other members of the same species.  
🗑
overproduction   When a species produces far more offspring than can possibly survive.  
🗑
variation   Any difference between individuals of the same species.  
🗑
competition   When offspring compete with each other for food, water, living space, etc.  
🗑
selection   When an organism is "selected" to survive by using their helpful trait.  
🗑
the role of genes in evolution   Only traits that are inherited, or controlled by genes, can be acted upon by natural selection.  
🗑
Daphne Major   One of the Galapagos Islands where a 1977 study of finches took place.  
🗑
geologic isolation   When some members of a species become cut off from the rest of the species by a geographic hazard or feature.  
🗑
Abert's squirrel   A species of squirrels that was very large about 10,000 years ago.  
🗑
Kaibab squirrel   A species of squirrels that got cut off from the Abert's squirrel population by the Grand Canyon using geologic isolation.  
🗑
marsupial   type of mammal that gives birth to very small young that continue to develop in a pouch on the mother's body.  
🗑
fossil   A preserved remain or trace of an organism that lived in the past. (At least 10,000 years old.)  
🗑
paleontology   The study of fossils.  
🗑
paleontologist   Someone who studies fossils.  
🗑
sedimentary rock   A type of rock that is formed by hardened layers over millions of years. (Only type of rock fossils can be found in.)  
🗑
petrified fossils   Fossils that are formed when minerals gradually change the remains by replacing them.  
🗑
mold   A hollow space in sediment in the shape of an organism or part of an organism.  
🗑
cast   A copy of the shape of the organism that made the mold and formed when the mold becomes filled in with hardened minerals.  
🗑
preserved remains   Remains that are preserved in substances such as tar, ice, and sap. (Also desiccation= dried out.)  
🗑
desiccation   A type of preserved remain that is in hot or cold places, or sometimes in caves. (Also known as dried.)  
🗑
carbon film   When the carbon atoms in an organism form a "shadow" in rock.  
🗑
trace   Evidence of an organism's presence, such as a footprint or a nest.  
🗑
relative dating   A technique in which scientists determine which of two fossils is older.  
🗑
absolute dating   A technique in which scientists can determine the actual age of fossils.  
🗑
radioactive elements   Unstable elements that decay, or break down, into different elements.  
🗑
half-life   The time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample to decay.  
🗑
fossil record   The millions of fossils that scientists have discovered.  
🗑
extinct   A way to describe a species with no alive members.  
🗑
invertebrates   Animals without backbones.  
🗑
vertebrates   Animals with backbones.  
🗑
Geologic Time Scale   A "calendar" of Earth's history that spans more than 4.6 billion years and consists of periods and eras.  
🗑
Precambrian   The oldest ERA in the Geologic Time Scale that is also known as the Age of Bacteria.  
🗑
Paleozoic   The second-oldest ERA in the Geologic Time Scale that means " old life" and is also known as the Age of Fish.  
🗑
Mesozoic   The third-oldest ERA in the Geologic Time Scale that means "middle life" and is also known as the Age of the Dinosaurs.  
🗑
Cenozoic   The most recent ERA in the Geologic Time Scale that means "new life" and is also known as the Age of Mammals.  
🗑
Cambrian   The oldest period in the Geologic Time Scale that occured during the Paleozoic ERA.  
🗑
Ordovician   The second-oldest period in the Geologic Time Scale that occured during the Paleozoic ERA and is when the oldest fish fossils were found.  
🗑
Silurian   The third-oldest period in the Geologic Time Scale that occured in the Paleozoic ERA.  
🗑
Devonian   The fourth-oldest period in the Geologic Time Scale that occured during the Paleozoic ERA and is when the oldest amphibian fossils were found.  
🗑
Carboniferous   The fifth-oldest period in the Geologic Time Scale that occured during the Paleozoic ERA and is when the oldest reptile fossils were found.  
🗑
Permian   The sixth-oldest period that occured during the Paleozoic ERA.  
🗑
Triassic   The seventh-oldest period in the Geologic Time Scale that occured during the Mesozoic ERA and is when the oldest mammal fossils were found.  
🗑
Jurassic   The eighth-oldest period in the Geologic Time Scale that occured during the Mesozoic ERA and is when the oldest bird fossils were found.  
🗑
Cretaceous   The ninth-oldest period in the Geologic Time Scale that occured during the Mesozoic ERA.  
🗑
Tertiary   The most recent period (besides modern) in the Geologic Time Scale that occured during the Cenozoic ERA.  
🗑
MYA   Millions of Years Ago.  
🗑
gradualism   A theory proposing that evolution occurs slowly but steadily. (Thought by Darwin, continental drift.)  
🗑
Stephen Jay Gould   A scientist who, along with Niles Eldridge, proposed a new theory that agrees with the fossil record.  
🗑
Niles Eldridge   A scientist who, along with Stephen Jay Gould, proposed a new theory that agrees with the fossil record.  
🗑
punctuated equilibria   A theory that states species evolve during short periods of rapid change.  
🗑
appendix   A tiny organ attached to the large intestine.  
🗑
homologous structures   Similar structures that related species have inherited from a common ancestor. (Bones, DNA, embryos.)  
🗑
humerus   The top and largest bone right above the radius and the ulna.  
🗑
radius   The bone on the left of the ulna.  
🗑
ulna   The bone on the right of the radius.  
🗑
carpals   The group of bones below the radius and the ulna.  
🗑
metacarpals   The bones located below the carpals. (On a human hand, all of first bones of the five fingers except for the thumb are these.)  
🗑
phalanges   The bones located below the metacarpals. (On the hand of a human, the only finger that is 100% this is the thumb.)  
🗑
embryo   An organism before it hatches, is born, or germinates.  
🗑
branching tree   A diagram that shows how scientists think different groups of organisms are related. (Common ancestor, how closely related organisms are, when organisms evolved.)  
🗑
phylogenetic tree   Another name for a branching tree.  
🗑
Surtsey   An island located south of Iceland.  
🗑
geologists   Scientists who study the forces that make and shape planet Earth.  
🗑
rock   The material that forms Earth's hard surface.  
🗑
geology   The study of planet Earth that began in the late 1700s.  
🗑
constructive forces   Forces that shape the Earth's surface by building up mountains and landmasses.  
🗑
destructive forces   Forces that slowly wear away mountains and, eventually, every other feature on the surface.  
🗑
continents   Great landmasses that are surrounded by ocean.  
🗑
seismic waves   Waves produced by earthquakes that scientists study to interpret the layers of Earth.  
🗑
pressure   The force pushing on a surface or area.  
🗑
crust   A layer of rock that forms Earth's outer skin.  
🗑
oceanic crust   The crust beneath the ocean.  
🗑
basalt   A dark, dense rock with a fine texture that makes up oceanic crust.  
🗑
continental crust   The crust that forms the continents.  
🗑
granite   A rock that has larger crystals than basalt, is not as dense as basalt, is usually a lighter color than basalt, and makes up continental crust.  
🗑
mantle   A layer of hot rock below the boundary below the surface of the earth.  
🗑
lithosphere   A rigid layer consisting of the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle.  
🗑
asthenosphere   The soft layer below the lithosphere that can bend like plastic.  
🗑
outer core   A layer of molten material that surrounds the inner core.  
🗑
inner core   A dense ball of solid metal located inside of the outer core.  
🗑
magnetic field   A force surrounding Earth that causes the planet to act like a giant bar magnet.  
🗑
heat transfer   The movement of energy from a warmer object to a cooler object.  
🗑
radiation   The transfer of energy through empty space.  
🗑
conduction   Heat transfer by direct contact of particles of matter.  
🗑
convection   Heat transfer involving the movement of liquids or gases.  
🗑
density   A measure of how much mass there is in a volume of a substance.  
🗑
convection current   The flow that transfers heat within a fluid.  
🗑
Alfred Wegener   A German meteorologist who had the idea of continental drift.  
🗑
Pangaea   A single landamass that, according to Wegener, existed 300 million years ago.  
🗑
continental drift   Wegener's idea that the continents slowly moved over Earth's surface.  
🗑
The Origin of Continents and Oceans   Wegener's book published in 1915 that contained his evidence for continental drift.  
🗑
Mesosaurus and Lystrosaurus   The fossils that, when they were alive, could not swim in salt water.  
🗑
Glossopteris   The fossil that, when it was alive, had very fragile seeds that could not travel in water.  
🗑
Spitsbergen   An island that lies in the Arctic Ocean north of Norway.  
🗑
mid-ocean ridge   The longest chain of mountains in the world.  
🗑
sonar   A device that bounces sound waves off underwater objects and then records the echoes of these sound waves.  
🗑
Harry Hess   An American geologist who studied the mid-ocean ridge.  
🗑
sea-floor spreading   The process that continually adds new material to the ocean floor.  
🗑
Alvin   A small submersible built to withstand the crushing pressures four kilometers down in the ocean.  
🗑
magnetic stripes   Stripes in the ocean rock that create a pattern for scientsts to use.  
🗑
Glomar Challenger   A drilling ship built in 1968.  
🗑
deep-ocean trenches   Deep underwater canyons formed when oceanic crust bends downward.  
🗑
subduction   The process by which the ocean floor sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle.  
🗑
J. Tuzo Wilson   A Canadian scientist who observed that there are cracks in the continents similar to those on the ocean floor.  
🗑
plates   Separate sections in the lithosphere.  
🗑
plate tectonics   The geological theory that states that pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant, slow motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle.  
🗑
faults   Breaks in Earth's crust where rocks have slipped past each other.  
🗑
transform boundary   A place where two plates slip past each other, moving in opposite directions.  
🗑
divergent boundary   The plates where two plates move apart, or diverge.  
🗑
rift valley   A deep valley that forms along a divergent boundary.  
🗑
Great Rift Valley   rift valley in east Africa that marks a deep crack in the African continent that runs for about 3,000 kilometers.  
🗑
convergent boundary   The place where two plates come together, or converge.  
🗑
topography   The shape of the land.  
🗑
elevation   The height above sea level of a point on Earth's surface.  
🗑
relief   The difference in elevation between the highest and lowest parts of an area.  
🗑
landform   A feature of topography formed by the processes that shape Earth's surface.  
🗑
landform region   A large area of land where the topography is similar.  
🗑
plain   A landform made up of flat or gently rolling land with low relief.  
🗑
coastal plain   A plain that lies along a seacoast.  
🗑
interior plain   A plain that lies away from the coast.  
🗑
Great Plains   The broad interior plain of North America.  
🗑
mountain   A landform with high elevation and high relief.  
🗑
mountain range   A group of mountains that are closely related in shape, structure, and age.  
🗑
Bitterfoot Mountains   A rugged mountain range in Idaho.  
🗑
mountain system   All the different mountain ranges in a region.  
🗑
Rocky Mountains   A mountain system that includes the Bitterfoot Mountains.  
🗑
mountain belt   A long, connected chain of mountain ranges and mountain systems.  
🗑
plateau   A landform that has high elevation and a more or less level surface.  
🗑
island   A small landmass on the lithosphere.  
🗑
atmosphere   The mixture of gases that surrounds the planet.  
🗑
hydrosphere   All of Earth's oceans, lakes, rivers, and ice.  
🗑
biosphere   All of Earth's living organisms in the air, in the oceans, on the ground, and under the surface.  
🗑
map   A model on a flat surface of all or part of Earth's surface.  
🗑
globe   A sphere that represents Earth's entire surface.  
🗑
scale   A ratio that relates distance on a map to a distance on Earth's surface.  
🗑
symbols   Pictures on a map that stand for features on Earth's surface.  
🗑
map key   A list of all the symbols used on a map with an explanation of their meaning.  
🗑
legend   Another name for a map key.  
🗑
compass rose   Something on a map that helps the map user to relate directions on the map to directions on Earth's surface.  
🗑
equator   An imaginary line halfway between the North and South poles that circles Earth.  
🗑
hemisphere   One half of the sphere that makes up Earth's surface.  
🗑
prime meridian   An imaginary line that makes a half circle from the North Pole to the South Pole.  
🗑
degree   1/360 of the way around a full circle.  
🗑
latitude   The distance in degrees north or south of the equator.  
🗑
longitude   The distance in degrees east or west of the prime meridian.  
🗑
map projection   A framework of lines that helps to show landmasses on a flat surface.  
🗑
Mercator projection   A map projection that has lines of latitude and longitude appearing straight and parallel, forming a rectangle.  
🗑
equal-area projection   A map projection that correctly shows the relative sizes of Earth's landmasses.  
🗑
topographic map   A map showing the surface features of an area.  
🗑
contour line   A line on a topographic map that connects points of equal elevation.  
🗑
contour interval   The change in elevation from contour line to contour line.  
🗑
Global Positioning System (GPS)   Technology that surveyors, pilots, and mapmakers rely on to determine locations precisely.  
🗑
weathering   The process that breaks down rock and other substances at Earth's surface.  
🗑
mechanical weathering   The type of weathering in which rock is physicaly broken into smaller pieces.  
🗑
abrasion   The grinding away of rock by rock particles carried by water, wind, ice, or gravity.  
🗑
ice wedging   The process in which water seeps into the crack in a rock, freezes, and expands to widen the crack.  
🗑
wedge   A simple machine that forcs things apart.  
🗑
chemical weathering   The process that breaks down rock through chemical changes.  
🗑
oxidation   The process in which iron combines with oxygen in the presence of water.  
🗑
rust   The product of oxidation.  
🗑
carbonic acid   A weak acid that results from carbon dioxide dissolving in rainwater.  
🗑
lichens   Plantlike organisms that grow on rocks.  
🗑
permeable   A term meaning that a material is full of tiny, connected air spaces that allow water to seep through the material.  
🗑
erosion   The process by which natural forces move weatherd rock and soil from one place to another.  
🗑
sediment   The material moved by erosion.  
🗑
deposition   A process by which agents of erosion lay down sediment.  
🗑
gravity   The force that moves rock and other materials downhill.  
🗑
mass movement   Any one of several processes that move sediment downhill.  
🗑
landslide   A type of mass movement that occurs when small amounts of rock and soil slide quickly down a steep slope.  
🗑
mudflow   A type of mass movement that occurs when a mixture of water, rock, and soil moves rapidly downhill.  
🗑
slump   A type of mass movement that occurs when a large mass of rock and soil suddenly slips down a slope.  
🗑
creep   A type of mass movement that occurs when rock and soil slowly moves downhill, bending or uprooting objets in their path.  
🗑
runoff   All the remaining water that moves over Earth's surface.  
🗑
sheet erosion   When runoff flows in a thin layer over the land, eroding the land at the same time.  
🗑
rills   Tiny grooves in the soil formed by runoff traveling downhill.  
🗑
gully   A large groove, or channel, in the soil that carries runoff after a rainstorm.  
🗑
stream   A channel along which water is continually flowing down a slope.  
🗑
creek + brook   Two other names for a stream.  
🗑
river   A large stream.  
🗑
tributary   A stream that flows into a larger stream.  
🗑
drainage basin   The land area from which a river and its tributaries collect their water.  
🗑
divide   The high ground between two drainage basins.  
🗑
rapids   Areas of rough water.  
🗑
flood plain   The flat, wide area of land along a river.  
🗑
meander   A looplike bend in the course of a river.  
🗑
oxbow lake   A meander that has been cut off from the river.  
🗑
alluvial fan   A wide, sloping deposit of sediment formed where a stream leaves a mountain range.  
🗑
delta   A landform formed by sediment being deposited near the mouth of a river.  
🗑
groundwater   The term geologists use for underground water.  
🗑
caves   Large holes underground that can be formed by groundwater making holes in rock.  
🗑
cavern   Another name for a cave.  
🗑
stalactite   A deposit that hangs like an icicle from the roof of a cave.  
🗑
stalagmite   A cone-shaped deposit on the ground formed by the slow dripping of a stalactite.  
🗑
sinkhole   A depression in the ground caused by a cave roof collasping.  
🗑
karst topography   A type of landscape in which there is a sinkhole.  
🗑
glacier   Any large mass of ice that moves slowly over land.  
🗑
valley glacier   A long, narrow glacier that forms when snow and ice build up high in a mountain valley.  
🗑
continental glacier   A glacier that covers much of a continent or large island.  
🗑
ice ages   The times when glaciers covered large parts of Earth's surface.  
🗑
surge   When a valley glacier slides down more quickly than usual.  
🗑
plucking   A process by which glaciers pick up rocks as they flow over the land.  
🗑
till   The mixture of sediments that a glacier deposits directly on the surface.  
🗑
moraine   A ridge formed by till on the edges of a glacier.  
🗑
terminal moraine   The ridge of till at the farthest point reached by a glacier.  
🗑
prairie potholes   Shallow depressions in till that were formed by flowing water as a continental glacier melted.  
🗑
fiord   A landform that is formed when the level of the sea rises and fills a valley that was once cut by a glacier.  
🗑
arĂȘte   A sharp ridge separating two cirques.  
🗑
cirque   A bowl-shaped hollow eroded by a glacier.  
🗑
horn   A sharpened peak that is the result of glaciers carving away at the sides of a mountain.  
🗑
drumlin   A moraine that has been slid over by ice.  
🗑
waves   The major forces of erosion along coasts.  
🗑
headland   A part of the shore that sticks out into the ocean.  
🗑
sea cave   A hollow area in the rock of a steep coast.  
🗑
wave-cut cliff   The result of the rock above a steep coast collasping.  
🗑
sea arch   A feature of wave erosion that is formed when waves erode a layer of soft rock that underlies a layer of hard rock.  
🗑
sea stack   A pillar of rock rising above the water.  
🗑
beach   An area of wave-washed sediment along a coast.  
🗑
longshore drift   The process by which currents move beach sediment along the coast.  
🗑
spit   A beach that projects like a finger out into the water.  
🗑
sandbars   Long ridges of sand parallel to the shore.  
🗑
barrier beach   A formation similar to a sandbar that is formed when storm waves pile up sand above sea level.  
🗑
sand dune   A deposit of wind-blown sand.  
🗑
wind   The weakest agent of erosion.  
🗑
deflation   The process by which wind removes surface materials.  
🗑
blowout   A bowl-shaped hollow formed by deflation where there is already a slight depression in the ground.  
🗑
loess   The fine, wind-deposited sediment.  
🗑


   

Review the information in the table. When you are ready to quiz yourself you can hide individual columns or the entire table. Then you can click on the empty cells to reveal the answer. Try to recall what will be displayed before clicking the empty cell.
 
To hide a column, click on the column name.
 
To hide the entire table, click on the "Hide All" button.
 
You may also shuffle the rows of the table by clicking on the "Shuffle" button.
 
Or sort by any of the columns using the down arrow next to any column heading.
If you know all the data on any row, you can temporarily remove it by tapping the trash can to the right of the row.

 
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.

  Normal Size     Small Size show me how
Created by: math47ja
Popular Science sets