Vocabulary Review for Science Test

General Vocabulary

1. Increase: To become or make bigger the amount or size of something.

2. Decrease (Reduce): To become or make smaller the amount or size of something.

3. State of Matter: The form something can take. The most common states of matter are solid, liquid, or gas.

4. Property: a characteristic of something, such as texture, shape, color, odor, size etc.

5. Density is how much stuff there is in something (how thick it is). For example, a ping-pong ball and a golf ball may have the same volume/size, but the golf ball is denser.

6. Energy is the ability to do work (like moving an object, or lighting a bulb).

Measurement

1. Length: how long something is (measured in centimeters (cm) or inches with a ruler or meter tape).

2. Width: how wide something is (measured with a ruler in cm or inches).

3. Diameter: the width of a circle (measured with a ruler in cm or inches).

4. Mass is the weight of something and can be measured using a scale or a balance. The unit of measurement is the gram ( g ).

5. Volume is how much space something takes up. The tools to measure volume are a graduated cylinder, a beaker, or a measuring cup. The main units of measurement are milliliter (ml) or liter (L).

6. Temperature is how hot or cold something is. The tool to measure temperature is the thermometer, and the unit of measurement is degrees Celsius or degrees Fahrenheit.

Physics of Sound

1. Vibration is movement back and forth, which causes sound energy. Example: hitting tuning fork makes it vibrate, which then makes sound. Force and Motion

1. Gravity is a force that pulls objects toward the center of the Earth.

2. Friction is a force that pushes in the opposite direction an object is moving. Example: concrete has more friction than ice, and that’s why you slide less.

3. Lubricant is something that decreases/ reduces friction, like water on a water slide, or the slime that helps a snail glide.

4. Simple machines help us use less force to do work. Examples are pulleys, levers, inclined plane (ramp), and screws.

5. Work: In science, work is done when you apply force to something causing it to move.

Magnetism and Electricity

Conductors are materials that transmit/carry the flow of electricity. All metals are conductors. Examples include wires, paper clips, coins, tuning forks, etc.

Insulators are materials that block the flow of electricity (anything non-metal). Examples include rubber, glass, wood, plastic, paint etc.

The force of attraction is how much pull there is between two magnets. As you increase the distance between two magnets, the force of attraction decreases. This just means that if you take two magnets and move them further apart, they attract each other less.

Iron is the main metal that attracts magnets. Metals like copper and aluminum do not attract magnets, while nickel does a tiny bit.

Chemical energy is the kind of energy you find in batteries which then flows through wires in the form of electric energy, and becomes heat energy and light energy in the bulb.

A circuit is a closed path around which electricity can flow. Electricity only flows in a closed circuit (when metal is touching metal). An open circuit breaks the flow, like a river damn.

Water expands (gets bigger and the molecules further apart) when heated.

Water contracts (gets smaller and the molecules closer together), when cooled. However, when water freezes, it expands again. That’s why ice is less dense than water and floats. Water Cycle: The sun gives energy to the water cycle by evaporating water from bodies of water (puddles, lakes, and oceans), which then goes up into the clouds (condensation), and falls back to the earth (precipitation).

Evaporation is when water turns to vapor.

Condensation is when vapor/gas turns back to water. This is how clouds are formed.

Precipitation is when the water in the clouds gets too heavy and falls back down as rain or snow.

State of Matter refers to solid, liquid or gas. In the case of water, is it ice when solid, water when liquid, and water vapor when gas.

Structures of Life

1. A structure is a part of something. For example, the structures (parts) of the plant are the roots, stem, and leaves.

2. Function: Function is the job of something, or what it’s force. For example, the function (job) of a plant’s roots is to take in water and nutrients, and to anchor the plant into the ground.

3. Habitat: the natural home or environment of an organism (plant or animal).

4. Inherited trait: An inherited trait is something that you get from your parents when you’re born. Eye color is an example.

5. Learned trait: A learned trait is something you learn, and are not born with. Learning to read is an example.

6. Offspring are someone’s children. For example, you are your parents’ offspring.

7. Life Cycle of Insect: Egg Larva Pupa Adult

Example: EggCaterpillar  Cocoon  Butterfly

Food Chains and Webs 1. Predators are animals that hunt other animals for food. If a cat hunts a mouse, the cat is the predator and the mouse is the prey.

2. A prey is any animal that is hunted by other animals.

3. A Food Chain is a series of organisms that depend on eating each other for survival. The source of energy for a food chain is the sun. Sun Plant  Primary Consumer  Secondary Consumer  Tertiary Consumer

4. Producer: Plants are producers because they produce (make) their own food, using energy from the sun.

5. Primary consumer is an animal that eats plants.

6. Secondary consumer is an animal that eats that primary consumer.

7. Decomposers are animals that break down dead plants and animals by eating them. Earthworms and flies are examples of decomposers.

8. Competition happens when different animals need the same resources for survive. For example, if there is a limited amount of food, an animal needs to try harder to get that food before the others.

9. Adaptation: An adaptation is a change by which an organism (living thing) becomes better suited for its environment. Examples of adaptation include a snail’s shell (which helps protect it from predators), an anole’s camouflage (it turns brown or green to blend in to the background, which protects them from predators), and a bear hibernating (to adapt to environmental changes).

Earth Science

1. Erosion is when water or wind takes away land (soil or rock) from somewhere.

2. Deposition is when land that was taken away from somewhere, is added to somewhere else.

3. The Sun is a star that is the main source of energy for life on Earth.

4. The rotation (spinning) of the Earth around the sun takes one year.