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8th Grade Science
Science Terms for ESS (Earth & Space Science) 8.1-8.3 (No 8.4)
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Hydrosphere | all the water on Earth—oceans, ice, groundwater, rivers, and atmospheric water vapor |
| Salinity | the measure of dissolved salt content in water |
| Estuaries | a partially enclosed coastal body of water where a freshwater river meets and mixes with the salty ocean, creating a brackish environment |
| Nutrients | essential chemical compounds in food (like proteins, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals, water) that organisms need to survive, grow, repair, and function, providing energy, building structures, and regulating bodily processes |
| Minerals | naturally occurring, inorganic solids with a specific chemical composition and crystalline structure that form the building blocks of rocks |
| Dissolved Gases | gases that have been mixed into a liquid, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide in water |
| Water distribution on earth | mostly salty ocean water (97%), with only 3% being freshwater, and most of that is locked in ice caps, glaciers, or deep underground, leaving a tiny fraction readily accessible in rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere for life, |
| saltwater | naturally occurring salty water, especially seawater, or water to which salt has been added. |
| Freshwater | Of all the water on Earth, just 2.5% is fresh water, and most of that is locked up in ice or deep underground. Rivers and lakes hold only a tiny fraction – but it’s this that so much life on Earth depends on. |
| Brackish Water | a mix of fresh and saltwater, saltier than freshwater but less salty than the ocean, typically found where rivers meet the sea in estuaries, marshes, and deltas, with salinity levels from 0.5 to 30 parts per thousand (ppt) |
| Ice Caps and Glaciers | large, flowing masses of ice formed from compacted snow, primarily found in polar regions and high-altitude mountains |
| Ground Water | fresh water stored underground in pores and cracks of soil and rock, forming aquifers that serve as a major source for drinking water, irrigation, and industry worldwide |
| Aquifer Confined | a groundwater source located between two impermeable or confining layers |
| Aquifer Unconfined | a shallow groundwater layer with a free upper surface, the water table, directly connected to the atmosphere. |
| Surface Water | any body of water that is open to the atmosphere, including rivers, lakes, streams, and reservoirs |
| Water Table | the underground boundary where the soil and rock become completely saturated with water |
| Permeable | allowing liquids or gases to pass through it. "a frog's skin is permeable to water" |
| Impermeable | not allowing liquids or gases to pass through it. |
| River Basin | a land area where all surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth or ocean, and is separated from adjacent basins by a drainage divide, often a ridge or hill |
| Creek | generally a small stream, smaller than a river, often a tributary, |
| Spring | a natural source of groundwater that flows to the surface, often rich in dissolved minerals and electrolytes from filtering through underground rock |
| Watershed | an area of land where all precipitation (rain, snow) drains into a common river, lake, or ocean, defined by topography where water flows downhill to the lowest point |
| Precipitation | any form of water (rain, snow, sleet, hail) falling from the atmosphere |
| Evaporation | the process where a liquid turns into a gas or vapor, typically below its boiling point |
| Transporation | the process where plants release water vapor into the atmosphere, primarily through tiny pores called stomata on their leaves |
| Runoff | water from precipitation (like rain or melting snow) that does not soak into the ground and instead flows over the land's surface |
| Coriolis Effect | the apparent curving of moving objects (like winds, planes, or ocean currents) on Earth, caused by the planet's rotation, making them seem to deflect right in the Northern Hemisphere and left in the Southern Hemisphere, as the Earth spins underneath them |
| Ocean zones | Ocean zones are categorized by depth and light, with the five main vertical zones being the epipelagic (sunlight), mesopelagic (twilight), bathypelagic (midnight), abyssopelagic (abyssal), and hadalpelagic (hadal/trench) |
| Global Ocean Conveyor Belt | a large-scale ocean current system that circulates water, heat, and nutrients around the world |
| Thermohaline Circulation | a large-scale ocean current system driven by differences in water density, which is determined by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline) |
| Upwelling | winds push surface water away from a coast, causing cold, nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean to rise and replace it, fertilizing surface waters and creating highly productive ecosystems that support abundant marine life and fisheries |
| Convection | circular movements in fluids (liquids or gases) driven by temperature and density differences |
| Hydrothermal vents | a fissure on the ocean floor where geothermally heated water, rich in dissolved minerals, emerges from the Earth's crust |
| Dissolved Oxygen | Dissolved oxygen (DO) is the amount of free oxygen gas (\(O_{2}\)) present in water, which is vital for aquatic life |
| pH | measures how acidic or basic (alkaline) a substance is, on a scale from 0 to 14, representing the concentration of hydrogen ions (\(H^{+}\)) in a solution; 7 is neutral (pure water), below 7 is acidic (more \(H^{+}\)), and above 7 is basic (more hydroxide |
| Nitrate | (\(NO_{3}^{-}\)) is a nitrogen and oxygen compound essential for plants as a nutrient, found naturally in soil and water, but also a common pollutant from fertilizers, manure, and septic systems |
| Turbidity | a measure of how cloudy or hazy a fluid is, caused by suspended particles like silt, clay, or plankton |
| Bioindicators | living organisms (plants, animals, microbes) or biological systems that reveal the health and condition of an environment |
| Potable Water | safe drinking water, meaning it's treated and purified to meet strict health standards, making it suitable for human consumption |
| Eutrophication | excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen |
| Macroinvertebrates | are used to indicate water quality because different species have varying sensitivities to pollution. A diverse community of macroinvertebrates, including sensitive species like mayfly and stonefly nymphs, suggests healthy water |
| Stewardship | the responsible, sustainable, and equitable management of water resources, |
| Point Source pollution | comes from a single, identifiable location, such as a factory discharge pipe, a sewage treatment plant, or a smokestack |
| Non Point Sourcew pollution | water contamination from diffuse sources like agricultural runoff, urban stormwater, and construction sites, carried into waterways by rain or snowmelt, rather than from a single pipe |
| EPA | Environmental Protection Agency set standards for water quality (pH, contaminants) and regulate discharges through permits like NPDES. |
| Coagulation (Water Treatment Process) | a process of adding chemicals, called coagulants, to raw water to destabilize and clump together small, suspended particles, such as dirt and sediment |
| Flocculation (Water Treatment Process) | process where small, suspended particles clump together to form larger, heavier clusters called "flocs" |
| Sedimentation (Water Treatment Process) | the process of separating suspended solids from water by gravity |
| Filtatration (Water Treatment Process) | a mechanical process that removes impurities from water by passing it through a filter medium, such as sand, gravel, or membranes, that traps suspended particles |
| Disinfection (Water Treatment Process) | a process that eliminates or inactivates harmful microorganisms, such as bacteria and viruses, to make water safe to drink |
| Index Fossil | Index fossil, any animal or plant preserved in the rock record of the Earth that is characteristic of a particular span of geologic time or environment. |
| Geologic Time Scale | a system for dating and correlating events in Earth's history, divided into hierarchical units like eons, eras, periods, and epochs |
| Stratigraphic Diagram | vertical diagram representing the sequence of rock layers (strata) in a specific area, showing their order from oldest at the bottom to youngest at the top |
| Law of Superposition | a geologic principle stating that in an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rock layers, the oldest layers are at the bottom and the youngest layers are at the top |
| Characteristics of Index Fossils | distinctive (easy to recognize), geographically widespread, abundant (found in large numbers), and have a short geologic range (lived for a limited period) |
| Uniformtarianism | the geological theory that the same natural processes and laws that operate today have been shaping the Earth throughout history |
| Pangea | a massive supercontinent that existed millions of years ago, bringing nearly all of Earth's landmasses together into one giant piece of land, from the late Paleozoic era into the Mesozoic era (around 300-200 million years ago) |
| Continental Drift | the theory that Earth's continents slowly move across the planet's surface over geological time, a concept initially proposed by Alfred Wegener |
| igneous rock | a rock formed from the cooling and solidification of molten rock, called magma or lava |
| sedimentary rock | a type of rock formed from the consolidation and cementation of loose particles, or sediments, such as sand, silt, and clay, that have been deposited by water, wind, or ice |
| metamorphic rock | (igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic rock) transformed by heat, pressure, and chemically reactive fluids deep within the Earth, changing its texture, mineral composition, and crystal structure resulting in new rocks like slate, marble, schist, or gneiss |
| fossil | the remains or impression of a prehistoric organism preserved in petrified form or as a mold or cast in rock. |
| faults | a fracture or zone of fractures in the Earth's crust where blocks of rock have moved past each other |
| relative dating | method used to determine the age of rocks, fossils, or artifacts by comparing them to one another, establishing a sequence of events rather than a specific numerical age. It relies on principles like superposition |
Created by:
Jcerkman
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