All Super Scientists Know That

All Super Scientists Know That……….

1. A variable is something that is different in an experiment. You only want to test one variable in an experiment. DRY

2. Always demonstrate safe practices during field and laboratory investigations. Follow teacher’s instructions! 3. Contour maps show elevation. Contour lines that are close together show a STEEP slope. Contour Lines far apart represent a gentle sleep. 4. The amount of space that an object takes up is its volume. Volume is length x width x height for boxes. You could find your volume by measuring how much water changes in a graduated cylinder when you add an object. (water displacement). 5. Graduated cylinders and beakers can be used to measure volume. For a graduated cylinder, read the bottom of the meniscus. 6. A problem is a question. A hypothesis is an educated guess. A conclusion is an answer. 7. Graphs are used to organize data. Bar graphs compare, line graphs show changes over time, and pie graphs show parts of a whole. 8. Density equals mass divided by volume. Objects more dense than water sink in water! The object with the smaller density will always be on top. Largest density on bottom. 9. In order for a scientific explanation to be credible, it must be repeated over and over and only one variable can be tested at a time.. 10. The purpose of using a model is to show something that is either too big or too small to actually be seen. All models have good things and bad things (limitations)about them. Common model limitations might be size, scale, properties. 11. DNA contains all genetic information and is found in the nucleus of cells. DNA is inherited through sex cells such as sperm and egg. 12. Asexual reproduction results in offspring that are identical to the parent. Humans do NOT reproduce this way. Sexual Reproduction results in offspring that are different from their parents. 13. All living things are made of cells. Cells  Tissues  Organs  Organ systems  Organisms  Populations. 14. Plants use radiant energy from the sun to make food (glucose) during photosynthesis. We need plants to give us oxygen. 15. Homeostasis is keeping an internal balance. Our bodies can control our temperature, water level, breathing rate, etc. all by themselves. 16. Ecological succession is a series of changes in an ecosystem. Drastic events like forest fires or climate changes can trigger secondary succession. When new land forms, perhaps from a volcanic eruption, primary succession may occur. 17. Traits that you get from your parents are called inherited traits. Both animals and plants inherit traits. Humans inherit eye color but not hair length. Plants inherit flower color. 18. Punnett Squares help determine the outcomes of genes for inherited characteristics. Each box in a Punnett Square represents 25% chance. A a

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19. Learned characteristics are features that result from the influence of the environment. Example: Raccoons who live in cities have learned to open garbage cans to get food out. 20. Adaptive characteristics are things that help something survive. (Darwin’s idea of Natural Selection) Examples: Jackrabbits have long legs for escaping predators. Cactus can hold a great deal of water, since it rains very little where they grow. Roses have thorns to keep things from eating it. 21. Environmental changes such as a lack or oxygen, water or food supplies can cause living things to become ill or die. When food, water or oxygen is plentiful, it can cause living things to thrive. Animals adapt in order to survive in an ecosystem. 22. A food web shows energy being transferred in a habitat. The plants are the producers, the animals that eat the plants or other animals are the consumers, the animals that hunt consumers are predators and the things that eat dead or decaying object are decomposers. Arrows show flow of energy. 23. The source of all life on Earth is the sun. Without it, there could be no plants and therefore no animals. Almost ALL energy originates with the sun. 24. Physical properties tell you all about an object. It lets you know if they are magnetic, a solid, a liquid or a gas, and whether or not they are a conductor of electricity, heat and sound. 25. The Law of Conservation of Mass says matter is neither gained nor destroyed. The mass of the reactants= mass of products. Number of atoms of reactants = number of atoms of products. (Reactants = Products). 27. Exothermic reactions release heat (feel hot) and endothermic reactions absorb heat (feel cold). 28. Substances with a high specific heat need more energy to raise their temperature 1 C. 29. Chemical reactions create new substances with new properties (example: iron rusting). 30. Compounds are made up of multiple elements. (examples are water, sugar, salt). Elements are pure (contain one kind of substance) 31. The smallest part of a compound is a molecule. The smallest part of an element is an atom. 32. Atoms are made up of 3 particles. Protons have a positive charge and are found in the nucleus. Neutrons do not have a charge and are found in the nucleus. Electrons have a negative charge and are outside the nucleus in the electron cloud. 33. Protons and Electrons are equal to atomic number (the little number on table) Neutrons equal Atomic Mass (Big # - Little #) 34. A mixture occurs when two or more pure substances are mixed together. To separate a mixture you must look at the substances physical features in order to decide how to separate it. If one of the objects is magnetic, you can separate it with a magnet. If one of the objects is dissolved in a liquid, you can use evaporation to separate it. 35. When you dissolve something in water, like sugar, the sugar breaks down into very tiny pieces. While it is dissolved, it no longer behaves like a solid, but instead like a liquid. When you separate the mixture through evaporation, the sugar is once again a solid. Dissolving is a MIXTURE. 36. Friction occurs when objects rub against each other. Low friction is when things slide easily, like a water slide. High friction occurs when things don’t slide easily, like sandpaper. 37. Gravity is the force that pulls all objects down toward the center of Earth. An example would be your force throwing a ball up, and the force of gravity pulling it down. 38. Deposition is the deposit (laying down) of sediment over a period of time. Deltas are formed because of deposition. Also, sedimentary rock layers, like those seen in the Grand Canyon are the result of deposition. 39. Weathering is the breaking up of large rocks into smaller rocks. Weathering occurs over millions of years. There are two types weathering is a chemical change. Mechanical (physical) weathering is a physical change. 40. Erosion is the movement of weathered material. Wind and water are two ways particles are eroded. 41. Renewable resources can be replaced. An example is planting a tree. 42. Nonrenewable resources cannot be replaced. Once they are gone, they are gone forever. Examples are fossil fuels, minerals, and soil. We need to work to replace some of the nonrenewable resources we use with renewable resources. 43. Inexhaustible resources get used over and over. An example is the wind, sun, or the waves. 44. When the Earth turns around once on its axis (rotates), a day occurs. (rotation… roDAYtion) 45. When the moon revolves once around the Earth, a month occurs. 46. When the Earth revolves once around the sun, a year occurs (revolution…4 syllables…4 seasons) 47. Seasons are caused by Earth’s tilt and revolution around the Sun. 48. The water cycle includes evaporation (liquid to gas), condensation (gas to liquid), and precipitation. (liquid to Earth) If one step is removed, it will not work. 49. Cycles have no beginning and no end. They go round and round. 50. The nitrogen cycle puts nitrates into the soil for plants (producers) to use. 51. The carbon-dioxide/oxygen cycle produces oxygen for us to breathe. We take in oxygen and give out carbon dioxide. Plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. 52. Our sun supports all life on Earth, creates wind and aids in the evaporation process in the water cycle. 53. Organ systems in the body interact and work together. For example, oxygen is inhaled using the respiratory system and transported by the circulatory system. When you move your arm, the muscular and skeletal systems are working together. 54. Structure is related to function. What something looks like or is made of affects what it is capable of doing. For example, hollow bones in a bird allow the bird to fly. 55. Turgor pressure is the pressure of water molecules against the cell walls of plants. Turgor pressure is what allows plants to stand upright. 56. Kinetic energy is energy of motion, and potential energy is stored energy. 57. Electromagnetic waves, like x-rays, ultraviolet waves, and microwaves can travel through space (vacuum). Mechanical waves, such as sound waves, have to travel through something (medium). 58. Unbalanced forces change an object’s motion – cause it to start, speed up, slow down, or change direction. Balanced forces (equal and opposite) do not cause an object’s motion to change. 59. On the periodic table, periods are rows and families/groups are columns. Elements in the same family have similar properties. 60. Metals are to the left of the zig zag line on the periodic table, metalloids are on the zig zag line, and nonmetals are to the right of the zig zag line. Don’t memorize it! Look for a metal you know (gold, copper, etc.) and a nonmetal you know (oxygen). 61. Galaxies are made of stars. They have different shapes. To study stars, use a telescope. Our Galaxy is the milky way. 62. The “Space order” is planet →solar system →galaxy →Universe 63. To find total magnification when using a microscope, multiply the eyepiece lens magnification and the objective lens magnification. 64. Nitrogen is found in fertilizers! 65. Land subsidence is when part of the Earth’s surface weakens and sinks (think sinkholes). 66. Pesticides (kill bugs) and fertilizers can poison water, soil, and the food we eat if we are not careful. 67. The prefix GEO- means earth. (Think: geothermal, geology) 68. The prefix SUB- means under or down. (Think: subduction, subsidence) 69. The prefix EX- means out (Think: extrusive, exothermic – letting our heat). 70. The most abundant gas in Earth’s atmosphere is nitrogen. Abundant means a lot! 71. Only plants have cell walls and chloroplasts. Chloroplasts make the plants green and allow the plants to make food. 72. A stimulus is a signal and a response is a reaction. Stimuli can be internal (inside the body) or external (outside the body). Example: I hear the doorbell ring, so I go answer the door. Stimulus: hearing doorbell. Response: answering the door. 73. Mitchondria provide energy to cells. 74. The amplitude of a wave measures the energy in the wave. 75. Light years are used to measure distances in space. 76. Solstices are the longest and shortest days of the year (most and least amount of sunlight). They occur on the 1st days of summer and winter. 77. Equinoxes are the 1st days of spring and fall. They are the days where there are 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. (equal day and night) 78. A fulcrum is the pivot point in a lever. The closer the fulcrum is to the object being lifted, the less force you need to apply to move the object. 79. On a distance/time graph, a horizontal line ------means the object is not moving. 80. Fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. They contain dead plants or animals. Burning them (combustion) causes carbon dioxide to enter and warm up the atmosphere (Greenhouse Effect). 81. There are 10 mm in 1 cm. Your TAKS ruler is labeled in cm, but you can count the super tiny lines to get mm. 82. Sea Floor Spreading is the creation of new crust at the mid-ocean ridge. The Atlantic Ocean is getting bigger. The Pacific Ocean is getting smaller. 83. Convergent Boundaries cause folded mountains and trenches. 84. Divergent Boundaries cause rift valleys and sea floor spreading 85. Transform Boundaries cause Earthquakes 86. Conduction is the type of heat transferred by direct contact.Convection is the type of heat transferred by currents. Radiation is the type of heat transferred by waves. 87. Hess: Sea Floor Spreading Wegener: Continental Drift Mendeleev: Periodic Table Newton: Laws of Motion Galileo: Telescope Bohr: Model of atom 88. The outermost layer of the Earth is the Crust. The thickest layer is the mantle. The mantle is also important to plate tectonics.The outer core is liquid. The inner core is the hottest layer but is solid due to the intense pressure. 89. Continental Drift is the theory that the continents are drifting apart. They were once joined in a single landmass known as Pangaea. 90. In Photosynthesis plants take Sunlight, Water and Carbon Dioxide and produce Oxygen and glucose (sugar for their own growth) 91. Isaac Newton developed three laws that govern motion of objects. 92. There are three types of symbiosis: mutualism both organisms benefit; parasitism one organism benefits, one organism is harmed; commensalism: one organism benefits, the other is unaffected. 93. The moon begins as a new moon and then increases through the four quarters. The right ½ of the moon shows what is coming next. When the right side is bright- you are moving towards a full moon (getting bigger). When the right side is dark- you are moving towards a new moon (getting darker). Changes always happen from the right to left. 94. The freezing point of water in Farenheight is 32 degrees. It is 0 degrees Celsius. The boiling point of water is 100 degrees Celsius or 212 degrees farenheight. 95. Biotic (living factors ie. Grass etc.) Abiotic (nonliving factors ie. Water, air and soil) 96. Hertsprung Russell is a chart that classifies stars by brightness and temperature. It’s X axis increases to the left. 97. Neap tides occur at the quarter moons and are weak . Spring tides occur at full moon and new moon and are extremely strong (high high tides and low low tides) 98. The number of protons can be used to identify/classify an element.. Valence electron’s (outer shell electrons) determine it’s reactivity. 99. Noble Gases (Group 18) are completely non-reactive gases. 100. Warm water currents move from the Equator to the poles. Cold water currents start at the poles and move towards the equator.

GOOD LUCK ON TAKS!