Question | Answer |
Abiotic | The nonliving parts of the environment |
Acceleration | A change in speed (or velocity) |
Acid | A chemical that reacts easily with other substances and turns litmus paper red; less than 7 on the pH scale |
Adaptation | A feature of an organism that helps it meet a particular need in its natural habitat |
Air massA | large body of air that has the same characteristics throughout |
Allele | One of the forms of a gene that is found in pairs on a chromosome; Some alleles are dominant over others |
Alloy | A mixture of metals (and sometimes non-metals) which forms one metallic substance; Brass is an alloy of zinc and copper |
Atom | The smallest unit of a substance that has all of the properties of that substance |
Atomic number | The number of protons in an atom |
Bacteria | The kingdom of life which has no cell membrane or nucleus and is always unicellular |
Base | A chemical that reacts easily with other substances and turns litmus paper blue; greater than 7 on the pH scale |
Biogeochemical cycle | A way that a chemical element or molecule moves through both the biotic ("bio-") and abiotic ("geo-") parts of an ecosystem |
Biome | A region of the world that has a particular climate and unique plants and animals that live there |
Biotic | Anything that is alive |
Bond | An electrical force that links atoms together |
Carbohydrate | An essential chemical in all cells that is broken down to form sugars; glucose, sucrose, lactose, galactose |
Carbon cycle | The flow of carbon dioxide and oxygen throughout the Earth Cell differentiation |
Cell division | A process where one cell becomes more than one cell |
Organelle | Parts of the cell that perform specific functions |
Cellular respiration | The process where organisms get energy from organic molecules Ceramic |
Chemical change | A change in a substance that results in a completely different substance or substances and cannot be undone |
Chemical property | Describes the ability of a substance to react and form new substances Chemical reaction what occurs when one or more reactants combine to form one or more products |
Chemosynthesis | The creation of carbohydrate from carbon dioxide and water that only happens in certain bacteria and fungi |
Chloroplast | Organelle in plants and some other organisms which is responsible for photosynthesis |
Chromosome | A thread-like strand of DNA or RNA in the cell |
Cilia | A hair-like organelle on the outside of a cell used in movement |
Climate | The weather in some location over a long period of time |
Cloning | The creation of genetically identical copies of some organism |
Comet | A small, frozen object outside the earth which travels around the sun in an ellipse Commensalism |
Conduction | The ability of a material to allow electricity or heat to pass through |
Conserve | To keep the same through a physical or chemical reaction; energy is conserved in this process |
Constant | Does not change |
Convection | The process where heat causes fluids (gas or liquid) to rise and bring heat up Covalent |
Bond | A type of chemical bond where electrons are shared between the atoms Cyclic Darwin |
Deciduous forest | A biome where the trees lose their leaves every year |
Deduction | A way of making scientific discoveries where general ideas are tested very specifically |
Density | The mass of a substance per unit volume |
Dissipate | To cause to separate and go in different directions |
Dissolve | To cause to go into a solution |
Diversity | The distribution and abundance of different plant and animal communities and species within a given area |
DNA | Abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid, which contains the genetic instructions for all forms of life |
Ecosystem | An ecosystem is an area consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms (biotic factors) working together with all of the non-living (abiotic) factors of the environment |
Electricity | Energy caused by the movement of electrons in a direction Electromagnetic radiation |
Electromagnetic spectrum | The range of all possible electromagnetic radiation Electromagnetic waves |
Electron | A negatively charged particle outside the nucleus of an atom |
Element | A substance composed of atoms with the identical atomic number; organized in the periodic table |
Endothermic | A chemical reaction that absorbs heat energy |
Energy production | Since energy cannot be created or destroyed, this refers to getting energy into a more usable form |
Energy transfer | Energy can be transferred from one place to another, but when this happens, energy is always lost |
Energy | The property of something's ability to do work |
Equilibrium | A system is at equilibrium when no change is occurring |
Eukaryote | A type of organism that has a true nucleus in its cell(s) EvidenceKnowledge on which to base an idea or belief |
Evolution | The events involved in the development over long periods of time of organisms |
Exothermic | A chemical reaction that gives off heat energy |
Extrusive | On the outside; when talking about rocks, extrusive rocks are formed on the surface of the Earth when lava cools |
Family | The classification group above genus |
Faulting | The creation of a crack in the surface of the Earth due to plate tectonics Fermentation |
Fission | The splitting of an atomic nucleus that releases energy |
Flagella | An organelle of some prokaryotes that allows for movement and resembles a tail |
Fossil fuel | An energy source (fuel) made from ancient plant or animal remains (fossils) |
Frequency | The amount of times something happens per second |
Fungi | The kingdom of living things that are eukaryotic and make their own energy; mushrooms, yeast, molds |
Fusion | The combination of two or more atomic nuclei that releases energy |
Gametes | The cells that are responsible for sexual reproduction; sperm, eggs |
Gamma ray | A form of electromagnetic radiation that has a very short wavelength and high frequency |
Gene | The basic unit of heredity, composed of DNA and found on chromosomes |
Genetic variation | Changes between organisms that is based on their DNA |
Genotype | The letters that represent the two alleles that make up a gene |
Genus | A classification of living things that is more specific than the species |
Geological | Referring to geology, the study of the Earth |
Germ theory | The theory that says that diseases come from small organisms (germs) |
Habitat | The environment that a species depends upon for its survival |
Hardness | A scale that tells how hard a particular rock is; harder rock scratches softer rock |
Helium | The second-lightest chemical element and found primarily in stars like the sun Heterozygous |
Homeostasis | Maintenance of a constant internal environment in an organism. Homozygous |
Hybrid | A combination of two different things; in genetics, this refers to the cross between a homozygous dominant and homozygous recessive individual to form heterozygous individuals; BB x bb = Bb |
Hydrogen | The lightest chemical element and the main fuel in stars like the sun Hypothesis |
Igneous | Rock that is formed from cooled magma (intrusive rock) or lava (extrusive rock) |
Infrared | A part of the electromagnetic spectrum that has less energy than visible light; it is the radiation that heat gives off |
Inquiry | The process where information is received by asking questions |
Ion | A charged particle that either has more or less electrons than protons |
Ionic Bond | A type of bond where ions are formed; electrons are not shared between the atoms as they are lost from one atom and attracted to the other |
Isotope | A version of an element having the same atomic number but a different atomic mass; this is due to an increase or decrease in the number of electrons |