SCIENCE FACTOIDS

1. SCIENCE FACTOIDS IMPORTANT FACTS FOR REVIEW FIFTH GRADE

2. PHYSICAL SCIENCES • Know that all matter is made of atoms, which may combine to form molecules. All living organisms and most materials are composed of just a few elements. • All living things contain carbon. Carbon is most abundant element in living organisms. Carbon and hydrogen are found in most living things. • Plant and animals are composed of organic compounds. • The most common elements found in organic compounds are: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. • Know that each element is made of one kind of atom and that the elements are organized in the Periodic Table by their chemical properties. They are arranged so that elements with similar properties are in the same column. The elements in a column are part of a group. Elements in the same group often have the same number of electrons in the outer energy shells of their atoms. They have similar properties. While the 18 columns are called groups, the rows are called periods.

3. PHYSICAL SCIENCES • The arrangement of electrons gives elements their chemical properties. All the elements on the left side of the periodic table, except hydrogen, are metals. All elements on the far right are nonmetals. A change of color separates metals from nonmetals. Some metals have properties of both metals and nonmetals. These are called metalloids. • Some elements known as metals have properties in common, such as high electrical and thermal conductivity others are pure elements such as silver and gold. Sterling silver is a combination of silver and copper. Brass is also a combination of two metals (copper and zinc). Elements in the same group have similar properties. • More than 100 different types of elements have been identified by scientists. • At least 2 elements must be chemically combined to form a compound.

4. PHYSICAL SCIENCES • An atom is the smallest part of an element that still has the properties of that element. • Scientists have developed instruments that can create images of atoms and molecules that show that atoms and molecules often occur in well-ordered arrays. Scientists use the scanning tunneling microscope(STM) to view the atom’s structure.

5. PHYSICAL SCIENCE • CHANGES in which no new substances are formed are physical changes. All changes in state are physical changes. When ice melts, it changes into liquid water. When water boils, it changes into water vapor. But through all the changes, it is still WATER. • Marshmellow melting is a physical change. • Marshmellow burning is an example of a chemical change. • However, changes in which one or more new substances are formed are called chemical changes, or chemical reactions. There are some clues that help you identify chemical reactions. They may include a change in color or the production of light, heat, or a gas. Paper turns black when it burns, for example. When baking soda is mixed with vinegar, it bubbles. This shows that carbon dioxide has been produced. A candle produces heat and light as it burns.

6. PHYSICAL SCIENCES • When wood is burned, it goes through a chemicalreaction with oxygen in the air. Wood compounds break down and form new molecules with oxygen. It needs oxygen for this chemical reaction to take place. • A popcorn kernel undergoes a chemical change when it is heated and turns into popped corn. • The mixed ingredients in a cake mix undergo a chemicalchange once they are baked.(heat)

7. PHYSICAL SCIENCE • During chemical reactions the atoms in the reactants rearrange to form products with different properties. • In nature most elements are joined with other elements in compounds. A compound is a substance made of the atoms of two or more elements. The smallest unit of a compound that still keeps the properties of that compound is a molecule. Example: Water is one of the most common compounds. It contains hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The properties of the compound are different from those of the elements in it. Hydrogen and oxygen, both gases, combine to form water, a liquid compound.

8. Physical Science • The chemical symbol for table salt is NaCl.  When sodium combines with chlorine to make sodium chloride NaCl (salt), light is produced. This new product shows that a chemical reaction has occurred. Notice that the atoms are in an orderly array. • It is solid at room temperature • Color is clear • Soluble in water (A property of salt is that it will dissolve in water.)

9. PHYSICAL SCIENCE FOURTH GRADE REVIEW • Students need to know that electric currents produce magnetic fields. • Electrically charged objects attract or repel each other. Magnets have two poles (north and south).Like poles repel each other while unlike poles attract each other. OPPOSITES ATTRACT • Students know that a magnet and an electromagnet both have a magnetic field, produce an electric force, and can change poles, but a magnet is always magnetized while an electromagnet in magnetized only as long as an electric current is flowing through the coil that is wrapped around the iron bar; the more coils the greater the magnetic field. Also, changing the direction of the current in an electromagnet makes the magnetic poles switch back and forth.

10. PHYSICAL SCIENCES • Electromagnets are used in construction of electric motors, electric generators, and simple devices, such as, doorbells and earphones. Electromagnets convert electrical energy into motion. • Series circuit: There is only one path for the electrons. If one of the bulbs burns out, all the other bulbs go out because the circuit is broken, and the electric current stops flowing. • Parallel circuit: Each bulb is on a separate path. If one of the bulbs burns out the other stays lighted because the electric current continues to flow ; in other words, current flows through more than one path.

11. PHYSICAL SCIENCES • Students know electrical energy can be converted to 1.heat 2.light 3.motion • When electric current flows through the metal filament of a light bulb, electrical energy is converted to heat and light energy. The use of an electric fan shows electrical energy converted to motion.

12. Life Sciences • Plants and animals have structures for respiration, digestion, waste disposal, and transport of materials. • Many multicellular organisms have specialized structures to support the transport of materials. • Blood circulates through the four heart chambers, lungs, and body and carbon dioxide and oxygen are exchanged in the lungs and tissues not the heart. Red blood cells are responsible for carrying oxygen and carbon dioxide through the body. After the oxygen rich blood leaves the lungs it flows to the heart. • Digestion starts in the mouth with the teeth, and onto the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and colon. The main role of the teeth in digestion is to break up the food. The esophagus carries food from the mouth to the stomach. Nutrients are absorbed in the intestine.

13. Life Sciences • Students know that the role of the kidneys is to remove cellular waste from the blood and convert it into urine, which is stored in the bladder. • All organisms need energy and matter to live and grow. • The digestive system breaks down food into nutrients that can be used by the body. These nutrients are absorbed in the intestine. • In both animal and plant cells sugar(food) is broken down to obtain energy. When sugar is digested in a cell, carbon dioxide is produced.(cellular respiration)

14. Life Science Fourth Grade Plants are the primary source of matter and energy entering most of the food chains. Many plants depend on animals for pollination and seed dispersal, and animals depend on plants for food and shelter. In any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. Living organisms depend on one another and the environment for survival. Ecosystems can be recognized by their living and nonliving components.

15. Life Science Fourth Grade Producers and consumers are related in food chains and food webs and may compete with each other for resources in an ecosystem. First………………..Producersare the beginning of a simple food chain. Producersare plants and vegetables. Plants are at the beginning of every food chain that involves the Sun. All energy comes from the Sun and plants are the ones that make food with that energy. They use the process of photosynthesis. Producers = Plants

16. Life Science Fourth Grade Second……………..Consumersare the next link in a food chain. There are three levels of consumers. The levels start with the organisms that eat plants. Scientists named this first group of organisms the primary consumers. They are also called herbivores. They are the plant eaters of the chain. It might be a squirrel or it might be an elk. It will be out there eating plants and fruits. It will not eat animals. Secondary consumers eat the primary consumers. A mouse might be a primary consumer and a cat might be the secondary. Secondary consumers are also called carnivores. Carnivore means "meat eater." In some ecosystems, there is a third level of consumer called the tertiary consumer (that means third level). These are consumers that eat the secondary and primary consumers. A tertiary consumer could be a wolf that eats the cat and the mouse. There are also consumers called omnivores. Omnivores can either be secondary or tertiary consumers. Humans and bears are considered omnivores: we eat meat, plants, and just about anything.

17. Life Science Fourth Grade • Herbivores: A herbivore is an animal that gets its energy from eating plants, and only plants.(squirrel) • Carnivores: A carnivore is an animal that gets food from eating other animals.(fox or lion) • Omnivores: An omnivore is an animal that eats both plants and other animals.(Human) • Decomposers: Decomposers, including many bacteria and fungi, insects, and microorganisms, recycle matter from dead plants and animals. Bacteria helps to balance the ecosystem by recycling nutrients, and microorganisms do not cause disease with many being beneficial.

18. Life Science Fourth Grade Decomposers The last links in the chain are the decomposers. If you die, they eat you. If you poop, they eat that. If you lose a leaf, they eat it. Whenever something that was alive dies, the decomposers get it. Decomposers break down nutrients in the dead "stuff" and return it to the soil. Bacteria helps to balance the ecosystem by recycling nutrients.

19. LIFE SCIENCE • A food chain shows how each living thing gets its food. Plants are the primary source of matter and energy entering most food chains. Some animals eat plants and some animals eat other animals. For example, a simple food chain links the trees and shrubs, the giraffes (that eat trees and shrubs), and the lions (that eat the giraffes). Each link in this chain is food for the next link. A food chain always starts with plant life and ends with an animal.

20. LIFE SCIENCE • Food webs begin with producers such as grasses. • TREES produce ACORNS which act as food for many MICE and INSECTS. • Because there are many MICE, WEASELS and SNAKES have food. • The insects and the acorns also attract BIRDS, SKUNKS, and OPOSSUMS. • With the SKUNKS, OPPOSUMS, WEASELS and MICE around, HAWKS, FOXES, and OWLS can find food. • They are all connected! Like a spiders web, if one part is removed, it can affect the whole web.

21. LIFE SCIENCE • FOOD CHAINS follow just one path of energy as animals find food. • FOOD WEBS show how plants and animals are connected in many ways to help them all survive.

22. LIFE SCIENCEPhotosynthesis Photosynthesis- The process by which plants use energy from sunlight to produce sugar. Plants use carbon dioxide and energy from sunlight to build molecules of sugar and release oxygen.

23. LIFE SCIENCEPhotosynthesis • Plants are the source of our oxygen in the process of photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, • Students know how sugar, water, and minerals are transported in a vascular plant. • Students know plants use carbon dioxide (CO2) and energy from sunlight to build molecules of sugar and release oxygen. • Students know plant and animal cells break down sugar to obtain energy, a process resulting in carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (respiration).

24. LIFE SCIENCEPhotosynthesis • Plants absorb nutrients and water through their roots, but photosynthesis — the process by which plants create their fuel — occurs in the leaves. Therefore, plants need to get fluids and nutrients from the ground up through tubes in their stems to their parts that are above ground level. • Plants contain vascular tissues (xylem), which transports water and minerals up from the roots to the leaves, and phloem, which transports sugar molecules, amino acids, and hormones both up and down through the plant. • Transpiration- The transfer of water from plants to the atmosphere.

25. EARTH SCIENCE • The solar system consists of planets and other bodies that orbit the Sun in predictable paths. Students know the path of a planet around the sun is due to the gravitational attractionbetween the sun and the planet. Gravitational attraction keeps the Earth in a path. • The Sun is an average star and the largest body in our solar system. • The Sun is the center of our solar system. • The Sun is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. • The Sun is the source of all energy on Earth.

26. EARTH SCIENCE • Students know the solar system includes the planet Earth, the Moon, the Sun, seven other planets and their satellites, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and comets. • Students know the path of a planet around the Sun is due to the gravitational attraction between the Sun and the planet. • Energy from the Sun heats Earth unevenly, causing air movements (convection currents) that result in changing weather patterns.

27. EARTH SCIENCE • Earth’s atmosphere exerts a pressure that decreases with distance above Earth’s surface and that at any point it exerts this pressure equally in all directions.

28. EARTH SCIENCE • The heat from the sun causes water to evaporate from the oceans , lakes, rivers, trees and plants in the process called evaporation . When liquid water evaporates, it turns into water vapor in the air and can reappear as a liquid when cooled or as a solid if cooled below the freezing point of water. • As the water mixes with the air it forms water vapor. This water vapor moves from one place to another and can form fog or clouds, which are tiny droplets of water or ice, and can fall to Earth as rain, hail, sleet, or snow. • We know that the amount of fresh water located in rivers, lakes, underground sources, and glaciers is limited and that its availability can be extended by recycling and decreasing the use of water.

29. Earth Science • What causes fog? • Fog can be considered a cloud at ground level. The processes forming it, however, are usually different from those that form clouds. Like clouds, fog is made up of condensed water droplets which are a result of air being cooled to a point (actually the dewpoint) where it can no longer hold all of the water vapor it contains.

30. EARTH SCIENCE Weather • The oceans play a major role in regulating the weather and climate of the planet.Most of Earth’s water is present as salt water in the oceans, which cover most of the Earth’s surface (71%). • Water on Earth moves between the oceans and land through the processes of evaporation and condensation. The water cycle is the only way that Earth can be continually supplied with fresh water. The heat from the Sun is the most important part of renewing our water supply. • Oceans have the most influence on Earth’s weather.

31. Causes and Effects of Different Types of Severe Weather • Energy from the Sun heats Earth unevenly, causing air movements that result in changing weather patterns (convection currents). Tornadoes Although tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, these destructive forces of nature are found most frequently in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains during the spring and summer months. Tornadoes happen during severe thunderstorms. These severe thunderstorms often produce large hail, strong winds, and tornadoes.

32. Causes and Effects of Different Types of Severe Weather • Hurricanes begin as tropical disturbances in warm ocean waters with surface temperatures of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit. These low pressure systems are fed by energy from the warm seas. If a storm achieves wind speeds of 38 miles an hour, it becomes known as a tropical depression. A tropical depression becomes a tropical storm, and is given a name, when its sustained wind speeds top 39 miles an hour. When a storm reaches wind speeds of 74 miles an hour it becomes a hurricane and earns a category rating of 1 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

33. Earth Science • Wind direction………….weather vane • Wind speed……………….anemometer

34. EARTH SCIENCE • Waves, wind, water, and ice shape and reshape Earth’s land surface. Students should know that some changes in the Earth are due to slow processes, such as erosion, and some changes are due to rapid processes, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. • Students know natural processes , including freezing and thawing and the growth of roots, cause rocks to break down into smaller pieces. • Students know moving water erodes landforms, reshaping the land by taking it away from some places and depositing it as pebbles, sand, silt, and mud in other places (weathering, transport, and deposition).

35. EARTH SCIENCE Types of Rocks ………………Rocks are not all the same! • The three main types, or classes, of rock are sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous and the differences among them have to do with how they are formed.(Rock Cycle) • The concept of the rock cycle is attributed to James Hutton (1726—1797), the 18th-century founder of modern geology. The main idea is that rocks are continually changing from one type to another and back again, as forces inside the earth bring them closer to the surface (where they are weathered, eroded, and compacted) and forces on the earth sink them back down (where they are heated, pressed, and melted). So the elements that make up rocks are never created or destroyed — instead, they are constantly being recycled. The rock cycle helps us to see that the earth is like a giant rock recycling machine!

36. EARTH SCIENCE Sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are formed from particles of sand, shells, pebbles, and other fragments of material. Together, all these particles are called sediment. Gradually, the sediment accumulates in layers and over a long period of time hardens into rock. Generally, sedimentary rock is fairly soft and may break apart or crumble easily. You can often see sand, pebbles, or stones in the rock, and it is usually the only type that contains fossils. • Examples of this rock type include conglomerate and limestone.

37. EARTH SCIENCE Metamorphic Metamorphic rocks are formed under the surface of the earth from the metamorphosis (change) that occurs due to intense heat and pressure (squeezing). The rocks that result from these processes often have ribbon-like layers and may have shiny crystals, formed by minerals growing slowly over time, on their surface. • Examples of this rock type include gneiss and marble.

38. EARTH SCIENCE Igneous Igneous rocks are formed when magma (molten rock deep within the earth) cools and hardens. Sometimes the magma cools inside the earth, and other times it erupts onto the surface from volcanoes (in this case, it is called lava). When lava cools very quickly, no crystals form and the rock looks shiny and glasslike. Sometimes gas bubbles are trapped in the rock during the cooling process, leaving tiny holes and spaces in the rock. • Igneous Rock is formed by lava. • Examples of this rock type include basalt and obsidian. The Hawaiian Islands were formed from volcanic rock.