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Scienc midterm vocab
Science midterm vocab
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| biosphere | the parts of Earth and the surrounding atmosphere where there is life. |
| Atmosphere | a thin layer of gases surrounding Earth.a thin layer of gases surrounding Earth. |
| Hydrosphere | the system containing all Earth’s water. |
| Cryosphere | the frozen portion of water on Earth’s surface. |
| Groundwater | water that is stored in cracks and pores beneath Earth’s surface |
| Geosphere | the solid part of Earth. |
| Mineral | a naturally occurring, inorganic solid that has a crystal structure and a definite chemical composition |
| Rock | a naturally occurring solid composed of minerals, rock fragments, and sometimes other materials such as organic matter |
| Water cycle | the series of natural processes by which water continually moves throughout the hydrosphere. |
| Evaporation | the process of a liquid changing to a gas at the surface of the liquid. |
| Transpiration | the process by which plants release water vapor through their leaves |
| Condensation | the process by which a gas changes to a liquid |
| Precipitation | water, in liquid form, that falls from the atmosphere |
| Weather | the atmospheric conditions, along with short-term changes, of a certain place at a certain time |
| Climate | the long-term average weather conditions that occur in a particular region. |
| Rock cycle | the series of processes that change one type of rock into another type of rock. |
| Uplift | the process that moves large bodies of Earth materials to higher elevations |
| Weathering | the mechanical and chemical processes that change Earth’s surface over time. |
| Mechanical weathering | physical processes that naturally break rocks into smaller pieces. |
| Chemical weathering | the process that changes the composition of rocks and minerals due to exposure to the environment. |
| Oxidation | the process that combines the element oxygen with other elements or molecules. |
| Soil | a mixture of weathered rock, rock fragments, decayed organic matter, water, and air. |
| Organic matter | remains of something that was once alive |
| Pores | small holes and spaces in soil. |
| Decomposition | the breaking down of dead organisms and organic waste. |
| Parent material | the starting material of soil consisting of rock or sediment that is subject to weathering. |
| Climate | long-term average weather conditions that occur in a particular region. |
| Topography | the shape and steepness of the landscape |
| Biota | all of the organisms that live in a region. |
| Horizons | layers of soil formed from the movement of the products of weathering. |
| Erosion | the moving of weathered material, or sediment, from one location to another. |
| Deposition | the laying down or settling of eroded material |
| Meander | a broad, C-shaped curve in a stream. |
| Longshore current | a current that flows parallel to the shoreline |
| Delta | a large deposit of sediment that forms where a stream enters a large body of water. |
| Abrasion | the grinding away of rock or other surfaces as particles carried by wind, water, or ice scrape against them. |
| Dune | a pile of windblown sand |
| Loess | a crumbly, windblown deposit of silt and clay |
| Mass wasting | the downhill movement of a large mass of rocks or soil due to gravity. |
| Landslide | rapid, downhill movement of soil, loose rocks, and boulders. |
| Talus | a pile of angular rocks and sediment from a rockfall. |
| Glacier | a large mass of ice, formed by snow accumulation on land, that moves slowly across Earth’s surface |
| Till | a mixture of various sizes of sediment that has been deposited by a glacier. |
| Moraine | a mound or ridge of unsorted sediment deposited by a glacier |
| Outwash | layered sediment deposited by streams of water that flow from a melting glacier |
| Atmosphere | a thin layer of gases surrounding Earth. |
| Water vapor | water in its gaseous form. |
| Troposphere | the atmospheric layer closest to Earth’s surface |
| Startosphere | the atmospheric layer directly above the troposphere. |
| Ozone layer | the area of the stratosphere with a high concentration of ozone |
| Ionosphere | a region within the mesosphere and thermosphere containing ions |
| Radiation | the transfer of thermal energy by electromagnetic waves |
| Conduction | the transfer of thermal energy due to collisions between particles |
| Convection | the circulation of particles within a material caused by differences in thermal energy and density; the transfer of thermal energy by the movement of particles from one part of a material to another. |
| Stability | whether circulating air motions will be strong or weak. |
| Temperature inversion | a temperature increase as altitude increases in the troposphere |
| Wind | the movement of air from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. |
| Trade winds | steady winds that flow from east to west between 30°N latitude and 30°S latitude |
| Westerlies | steady winds that flow from west to east between latitudes 30°N and 60°N, and 30°S and 60°S |
| Polar easterlies | cold winds that blow from the east to the west near the North Pole and South Pole |
| Jet steam | a narrow band of high winds located near the top of the troposphere. |
| sea breeze | a wind that blows from the sea to the land due to local temperature and pressure differences |
| Land breeze | a wind that blows from the land to the sea due to local temperature and pressure differences. |
| Air pollution | the contamination of air by harmful substances including gases and smoke. |
| Acid precipitation | precipitation that has a lower pH than that of normal rainwater. |
| Photochemical smog | air pollution that forms from the interaction between chemicals in the air and sunlight |
| Particular matter | the mix of both solid and liquid particles in the air. |
| Prediction | a statement of what will happen next in a sequence of events. |
| Technology | the practical use of scientific knowledge, especially for industrial or commercial use |
| Science | the investigation and exploration of natural events and of the new information that results from those investigations |
| Observation | the act of using one or more of your senses to gather information and take note of what occurs. |
| Inference | : a logical explanation of an observation that is drawn from prior knowledge or experience. |
| Hypothesis | a possible explanation for an observation that can be tested by scientific investigations |
| Scientific theory | an explanation of observations or events that is based on knowledge gained from many observations and investigations |
| Critical thinking | comparing what you already know with information you are given in order to decide whether you agree with it. |
| Description | a spoken or written summary of observations |
| Explanation | an interpretation of observations |
| (SI) | : the internationally accepted system of measurement |
| Significant digits | the number of digits in a measurement that are known with a certain degree of reliability |
| Variable | any factor that can have more than one value. |
| Independant variable | the factor that is changed by the investigator to observe how it affects a dependent variable. |
| Dependant variable | the factor a scientist observes or measures during an experiment. |
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