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Science Vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| astronomy | the study of the moon, stars, and other objects in space |
| axis | the imaginary line that passes through the center of Earth |
| rotation | the spinning of Earth on its axis |
| revolution | the movement of one object around another |
| orbit | the revolution of a planet around a bigger object |
| calendar | a system of organizing time that defines the beginning, length, and divisions of a year |
| solstice | when the sun is farthest north or south of the equator |
| equinox | "equal night" |
| force | a push or pull |
| gravity | attracts all objects towards each other |
| law of universal gravitation | every object in the universe attracts every other object |
| mass | the amount of matter in an object |
| weight | the force of gravity on an object |
| inertia | the tendency of an object to resist a change in motion |
| newton's first law of motion | an object in motion will stay in motion, and an object at rest will stay at rest |
| phases | the different shapes of the moon you see from Earth |
| eclipse | when an object comes in between the sun and another object and casts a shadow |
| solar eclipse | when a new moon blocks the view of the sun |
| umbra | the darkest part of the shadow |
| penumbra | larger, less dark part of the shadow |
| lunar eclipse | occurs during a full moon when Earth is directly between the moon and the sun |
| tide | the rise and fall of ocean water |
| spring tide | a tide with the greatest difference between high and low tide |
| neap tide | a tide with a difference of little to no difference between high and low tide |
| telescope | a device built to observe distant objects by making them appear closer |
| maria | hardened rock formed from huge lava flows |
| craters | caused by the impact of meteoroids |
| meteoroids | chunks of rock or dust from space |
| rocket | a device that expels gas in one direction to move the opposite direction |
| thrust | the reaction force that propels a rocket forward |
| velocity | speed in a given direction |
| orbital velocity | the velocity a rocket must achieve to establish an orbit around Earth |
| escape velocity | the velocity a rocket must reach to fly beyond the planet's gravitational pull |
| satellite | an object that revolves around another object in space |
| space shuttle | a spacecraft that can carry a crew into space, back to Earth, and be reused again |
| space station | a large artificial satellite on which people can live and work for long periods |
| space probe | a space craft that carries scientific instruments that can collect data, no human crew |
| rover | small robots that move around on the surface of a planet |
| vacuum | a place that is empty of all matter |
| microgravity | a feeling of weightlessness |
| space spinoff | items made for space that have uses on Earth |
| remote sensing | the collection of information about Earth and other objects in space without direct contact |
| geosynchronous orbit | a satellite orbiting Earth at the same speed Earth is rotating |
| wave | the movement of energy through a body of water |
| wavelength | the horizontal distance between crests |
| frequency | that number of waves that pass a point in a certain amount of time |
| wave height | the vertical distance from the crest to the trough |
| tsunami | a huge wave formed by an earthquake underwater |
| longshore drift | the movement of sand along a beach |
| rip current | a rush of water that goes out to sea through a small opening |
| groin | an outward extension from a beach that stops the effect of longshore drift |
| current | a large stream of moving water that flows through oceans |
| coriolis effect | the effect of Earth's rotation on the direction of winds |
| climate | the pattern of temperature and precipitation typical of an area over a long period of time |
| el nino | an abnormal climate event that occurs every 2-7 years in the Pacific Ocean |
| upwelling | the movement of cold water upward from the deep ocean |
| sonar | a system that sends sound waves to the ocean floor and times how long it takes for them to return |
| continental shelf | a gently sloping , shallow area of the ocean floor that extends out from a continent |
| continental slope | the steep edge of the continental shelf |
| abyssal plain | the smooth, nearly flat area of the ocean floor |
| mid-ocean ridge | a continuous mountain range that winds around Earth |
| trench | an underwater canyon |
| plate | pieces of Earth's crust along with parts of the upper mantle |
| seafloor spreading | magma hardens along the mid-ocean ridge and adds a new strip of rock to the ocean floor |
| intertidal zone | begins at the highest high tide point and ends at the lowest low tide point exposed by the continental shelf |
| neritic zone | extends from low tide line to the edge of the continental shelf |
| open-ocean zone | from the edge of the continental shelf and beyond |
| plankton | tiny algae and animals that float in the water and are carried by waves and currents |
| nekton | free-swimming animals that can move throughout the water column |
| benthos | organisms that inhabit the ocean floor |
| food web | all of the feeding relationships that exist in a habitat |
| estuary | coastal inlets or bays where fresh water rivers mix with salty ocean water that forms brackish water |
Created by:
mgallo7
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