1st Semester Study Guide

1. Qualitative ObservationObservation that involves descriptions and characteristics. Example: Color and appearance

The cat looks scared.

The cat has green eyes.

The cat has long whiskers.

The cat has a dry nose.

The cat has stripes.

http://littlefun.org/uploads/51f41915c856111fa9000095_736.jpg

2. Quantitative ObservationObservation that deals with numbers and can be measured. Example: Length, height, weight, and time.

The mouse weighs 0.5 kg.

The mouse has two ears.

The frog is 20cm long.

The frog has one tongue.

The mouse took a ride on the frog for 56 seconds.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/images/060705-mouse-frog_big.jpg

3. Inferring• An interpretation based on observations and

prior knowledge.

Example: Your friend is eating dinner at your house and she asked for

seconds so you infer that she likes it.

http://nutritioneducationstore.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/familydinnerBW.gif

4. Analyzing

• Evaluating data to reach a conclusion about an experiment.

http://www.mtabsurveyanalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/analyzing-collected-survey-data-resized-600.jpg.png

5. Hypothesis• A possible explanation for a set of

observations or answer to a scientific question; must be testable.

Example: If the dog is offered Purina and Iams dog food, then the dog will prefer Purina dog food over Iams.

6. Independent Variable

• The factor that changes in an experiment.

Group A is not treated with fertilizer and Group B is.

The independent variable is the fertilizer.

http://www.bookwormroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Plant-growth-experiment.gif

7. Dependent Variable

• The factor that changes as a result of changes to the independent variable; what you measure in an experiment.

The plants are measured weekly.

The dependent variable is the plant growth.

http://www.bookwormroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Plant-growth-experiment.gif

8. Controlled Variable

• Factors in an experiment that are held constant; also called a constant.

The plants are planted in the same pots with the same soil. They are given the same amount of water and are grown in the same area.

The controlled variables are same pots, soil, amount of water, and the area the plants were grown in.

http://www.bookwormroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Plant-growth-experiment.gif

9. Control

• A group in a scientific experiment where the factor being tested is not applied; also called the control group.

Group A did not receive the fertilizer and Group B did.

The control is Group A because it did not receive the fertilizer.

http://www.bookwormroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Plant-growth-experiment.gif

10. Mass

• A measure of how much matter is in an object.

http://www.affordablescales.com/images/big/Triple_Beam_Propped.jpg

11. Volume

• The amount of space that matter occupies.

http://www.webquest.hawaii.edu/kahihi/mathdictionary/images/volume.png http://smithscience201.wikispaces.com/file/view/waterdis-main_Full.jpg/56482648/waterdis-main_Full.jpg

volume= length x width x height

12. Density

• The measurement of how much mass of a substance is contained in a given volume. Units often used for density are g/mL or g/cm3.

Density=Mass ÷ Volume

13. Weight

• A measure of the force of gravity acting on an object.

14. Meter

• The basic unit of length

• http://faculty.uncfsu.edu/jraynor/FicamsFrontpage/meter_stick_small.gif

15. Liter

• The basic unit of volume

16. Gram

• Unit of mass

17. Producer

• An organism that makes its own food.

18. Consumer

• An organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms.

19. Carnivore

• Any animal that eats flesh.

20. Herbivore• An organism that eats only plants.

21. Omnivore

• A consumer that obtains energy by eating both plants and animals.

22. Decomposer

• An organism that gets energy by breaking down biotic wastes and dead organisms, and returns raw materials to the soil and water.

https://ecology5thperiod.wikispaces.com/file/view/a1836_2849.jpg/229545892/335x234/a1836_2849.jpg

23. Scavenger

• A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead or decaying organisms.

http://scmginc.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/vulture.jpg

24. Parasitism• A relationship in which the parasite benefits

from the host, which is harmed.

25. Mutualism• A relationship in which both species benefit.

Butterfly gets food and plants get pollinated.

26. Commensalism

• A relationship in which one member benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed.

Fish gets protection by living in sea anemone. No effect on sea anemone

27. Ecosystem

• A community of organisms and the abioticenvironment.

28. Energy Pyramid

• A diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web.

29. Food Web• The pattern of overlapping feeding

relationships or food chains among the various organisms in an ecosystem.

30. Dispersal Methods• The spread of animals, plants, or seeds to new

areas.

31. Abiotic

• Nonliving factor

32. Biotic

• Living factor

33. Rock Cycle• The series of

processes in which a rock forms, changes from one type to another, is destroyed, and forms again by geological processes.

34. Sedimentary Rock

• Relating to rocks formed when sediment is deposited and becomes tightly compacted.

35. Igneous Rock

• Rocks formed by the cooling and solidifying of molten materials.

Granite

Basalt

Obsidian

36. Metamorphic Rock• Metamorphic rocks have undergone

metamorphism and are formed when rocks undergo a physical change due to extreme heat and pressure.

Gneiss

Slate

Marble

37. Plate Tectonics

• The theory that pieces of Earth’s lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle.

38. Continental Drift

• The hypothesis that states that the continents once formed a single landmass, broke up, and drifted to their present locations.

39. Crustal deformation

• The bending, tilting, and breaking of the earth's crust caused mainly by movement of the tectonic plates.

40. Relative Age• The age of a rock compared to the ages of

other rocks.

41. Absolute Age•The age of a rock given as the number of

years since the rock formed.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/higheredbcs/legacy/college/levin/0471697435/chap_tut/images/nw0012-nnc.jpg

42. Law of Superposition

•The geologic principle that states that in horizontal layers of sedimentary rock, each layer is older than the layer above it and younger than the layer below it.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRiVz189mtfPjtaAHhaOa0T4g0ftQbh5dxuFibgjlwjxC6ESISNn8xQeuE https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSOH-

byle5KaNfljRcHExAgWcfx-5NHUDpZh_II0ITyfk5v106jw_kioT2m

43. Index Fossil•Fossils of widely distributed organisms that

lived during a geologically short period.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/higheredbcs/legacy/college/levin/0471697435/chap_tut/images/nw0013-nn.jpg

44. Biosphere• The part of the earth where life exists.

45. Geosphere• The solid part of the Earth consisting of the

crust and outer mantle

46. Hydrosphere• All of the Earth's water, including surface

water (water in oceans, lakes, and rivers), groundwater (water in soil and beneath the Earth's surface), snow cover, ice, and water in the atmosphere, including water vapor.

47. Water Cycle

• The continuous movement of water from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean.

48. Photosynthesis

• Is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert the light energy captured from the sun into chemical energy that can be used to fuel the organism's activities.

49. Cellular respiration

• The processes in an organism in which oxygen is given to tissues and cells, and carbon dioxide and water are given off.

50. Transpiration

• Part of the water cycle, and it is the loss of water vapor from parts of plants (similar to sweating), especially in leaves but also in stems, flowers and roots.

51. Carbon Cycle• Refers to a series of naturally occurring

processes where carbon is exchanged between organisms and the environment.

52. Conduction

• The transfer of energy as heat through a material.

53. Convection

• The transfer of thermal energy by the circulation or movement of a liquid or gas.

54. Comet

• A small body of ice, rock, and cosmic dust that follows an elliptical orbit around the sun and that gives off gas and dust in the form of a tail as it passes close to the sun. “dirty snowball”

55. Asteroids

• A small, rocky object that orbits the sun, usually in a band between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

56. Abiotic

• Nonliving factor such as soil

57. Biotic

• Living factor such as a tree

58. Climate• The average weather conditions in an area

over a long period of time.

59. El Niño•A change in the water temperature in the

Pacific Ocean that produces a warm current.

http://preddyspanthers.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/2/8/13285310/1532745_orig.jpg

60. La Niña

• A change in the eastern Pacific ocean in which the surface water temperature becomes unusually cool.

http://www.oc.nps.edu/webmodules/ENSO/images/pg_lanina.jpg

61. Upwelling•The movement of deep, cold, and nutrient-

rich water to the surface of the ocean.

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/upwelling.jpg

A commercial claims that Zap It pimple cream gets rid of pimples quicker than the regular brand. A scientist finds 20 people with acne problems and separates them into two groups. Group A receives the Zap It pimple cream and Group B receives the regular pimple cream. The people in the groups apply the cream daily for 1 month. The scientist determines if the cream works by counting the number of pimples on each person before and after the trial.

• 55. What is the independent variable? Zap It pimple cream

• 56. What is the dependent variable? Number of pimples

• 57. What is the control? Group B

• 58. List a controlled variable. Both groups apply cream daily