FCAT Science Vocabulary

1. FCAT Science Vocabulary Valerie Ledford Moss Park Elementary June 2007

2. Ecosystem Vocabulary • Life cycle- The circular path that life takes from being born to dying • Protist- A single cellular organism that is the base of the food chain in an aquatic biome • Organism- A living thing

3. Ecosystem Vocabulary • Photosynthesis- The process where green plants use carbon dioxide (which humans breathe out) to produce sugars as food and oxygen as a by product (which humans breathe in) The process…. CO2 + sunlight + nutrients from soil = sugar + oxygen

4. Ecosystem Vocabulary • Ecosystem- An area with specific climate and environmental factors to have a specific set of organisms that live there • Population- A specific group of organisms living in one area at one time

5. Ecosystem Vocabulary • Food Chain- A simple version of what eats what in an ecosystem- this is a transfer of energy to the organism that the arrow is pointing to

6. Ecosystem Vocabulary • Food Web- A web that shows the flow of energy in an ecosystem by showing what organism eats what

7. Ecosystem Vocabulary • Energy Pyramid- • A pyramid that represents the amount of energy at each level of a food chain

8. Ecosystem Vocabulary • Predator- An animal that hunts and kills food • Prey- An animal that is hunted • Carnivore- An animal that kills and eats meat

9. Ecosystem Vocabulary • Herbivore- An organism that only eats plant matter • Omnivore- An organism that eats both meat and plant matter

10. Ecosystem Vocabulary • Producer- A green plant that produces food through photosynthesis • Consumer- An organism that eats another organism for food (everything but green plants) • Decomposer- An organism that gets energy by breaking down dead or decaying matter and returning the nutrients to the soil

11. Ecosystem Vocabulary • Structural Adaptation- A physical trait of an animal that helps them survive (like wings or sharp teeth) • Behavioral Adaptation- A behavior that helps the animal survive (like flying south for the winter to escape bad weather)

12. Earth Vocabulary • Water Cycle- The cycle of water from precipitation, evaporation, and condensation and back again • Precipitation- Liquid coming from the clouds in rain, snow, sleet, etc. • Condensation- When liquid begins to collect together in clouds and changes from a gas to a liquid again • Evaporation- The upward movement of liquid as it turns to gas

13. Earth Vocabulary • Fossil- The remains of a long dead organism • Resource- A natural item that is used by man (like a tree or a cow) • Renewable Resource- More of this can be made fairly easily • Nonrenewable Resource- Fossil fuel; This cannot be made easily and takes millions of years to be created (coal, oil, natural gas)

14. Earth Vocabulary • Pollution- Placing unnatural materials in an area and affecting the populations in the area • Conservation- Saving natural resources

15. Earth Vocabulary • Igneous Rock- Rock made by cooled magma from volcanic lava • Sedimentary Rock- Rock made by layers of rock • Metamorphic Rock- Another type of rock turned into a metamorphic rock by extreme heat and pressure

16. Earth Vocabulary • Erosion- The process where water wears away at rock and carries it to another area • Deposition- The process where the eroded material is deposited • Weathering – The process where wind, water, chemicals, etc. break down rock but does not move it

17. Earth Vocabulary • Volcano- An earth process where lava seeps up from inside the earth and shoots out of an area of built up rock • Earthquake- A process where the plates on the earth’s surface slide against one another producing movement on land or water

18. Physical Science Vocabulary • Matter- Anything that takes up space • Element- The basic building blocks of matter • Atom- Smallest piece of an element that has the same properties as the element

19. Physical Science Vocabulary • Density- How tightly packed molecules are in matter • Mass- The amount of space an object takes up; Is often determined by weighting the object, however, weight requires taking gravity into account • Volume- The amount of space within an object

20. Physical Science Vocabulary • Compound- Formed of multiple elements and cannot be separated simply • Mixture- Matter gets mixed together but can be separated (ex. cereal) • Solution- A liquid mixture

21. Physical Science Vocabulary • Physical Change- When a change happens to matter that changes the way it looks but keeps it the same matter (cutting a cake ) • Chemical Change- This type of change changes the matter (baking a cake- the ingredients mix to form a new substance)

22. Force and Motion Vocabulary • Force- A push or pull that creates movement • Gravity- A force that the Earth exerts that pulls things toward the Earth • Friction- A force caused by rubbing; it transforms movement into heat energy • Inertia- The tendency of any object to resist motion

23. Force and Motion Vocabulary • Pulley- A rope that runs through a grooved wheel that reduces the amount of force required to do work • Lever- A bar that rotates around a point • Fulcrum- The point at which the level rotates

24. Force and Motion Vocabulary • Wheel and Axle- Made of a circular object and a bar that reduces the force required to do work • Inclined Plane- Basically a ramp

25. Energy Vocabulary • Energy- The ability to do work or cause a change in motion • Kinetic Energy- Energy of motion; An object has this if it is moving • Potential Energy- Energy stored in an object because of position or a spring

26. Energy Vocabulary • Energy Transfer- The change from one form of energy to another (ex. transferring the chemical energy in a battery to light energy when you turn on the flashlight) • Change of State- Adding or removing heat energy to change an object from a solid to a liquid , a gas to a liquid, a liquid to a solid, etc. • Heat Energy- The amount of movement in an object’s molecules

27. Energy Vocabulary • Chemical Energy- Energy stored in the bonds of molecules; Can be released by digestion or adding heat • Mechanical Energy- Energy of motion

28. Space Vocabulary • Galaxy- A huge system of stars, dust, and gas held together by gravity (We are in the Milky Way galaxy) • Solar System- A part of a galaxy

29. Space Vocabulary • Moon- Something that orbits a planet • Moon Phase- Is the way the moon looks to us based upon its relationship to the sun and Earth

30. Space Vocabulary • Star- A big ball of gas (The sun is a star) • Equator- An invisible line that divides the Earth into two sections (hemispheres) • Axis- The invisible line around which the Earth spins • Orbit- The path a planet or moon takes around another object like the sun

31. Seasons