Vocabulary tests occur on the last day of the week (usually Friday). While there is not vocabulary homework, it might be important for students to review the definitions of the words that we are focusing on that week at home.
Human Body Systems
- characteristics: Qualities of an organism
- inherited: Characteristics from parents
- likeness: Similar or nearly the same
- organism: An individual living system, such as an animal or plant
- traits: Distinguishing characteristics
- generation: A group of individuals born and living at the same time, such as siblings
- offspring: The young of a person, animal, or plant
- parents: Animals (including humans) or plants that produce offspring
- DNA: Material in organisms that transfer genetic characteristics from parents to their offspring
- Nervous system: Made up of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves, that work together to control and coordinate the body’s activities, senses, and responses to changes in the environment
- brain: The portion of the nervous system that is located within the skull; it functions as a primary receiver, organizer, and distributor of information for the body
- spinal cord: The main pathway for information connecting the brain and the peripheral nervous system
- nerves: Carry the messages to and from the body, so the brain can interpret them and take action
- digestion: The process of breaking down food into substances the body can use and absorb
- esophagus: The muscular tube that transports food from the mouth to the stomach.
- large intestine: The muscular tubing where solid wastes are compacted after substances have been absorbed by the body in the small intestine.
- small intestine: The muscular tubing that receives food that has been broken down into a liquid mush by the stomach; substances from food are absorbed into blood here to be transported to other parts of the body by the circulatory/cardiovascular system.
- stomach: The organ where food goes after it leaves the esophagus; strong chemicals in the stomach mix with food to continue breaking it down into a liquid mush.
- respiratory system: A system consisting of the nose, mouth, trachea, and lungs with the function of inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide.
- diaphragm: A thin, dome-shaped muscle that works with your lungs to allow you to inhale and exhale air. The contraction of this muscle causes a change in air pressure and allows the lungs to expand.
- lungs: A pair of breathing organs located within the chest which removes carbon dioxide from and brings oxygen to the blood.
- respiration: The bodily process of inhaling and exhaling. The process of taking in oxygen from inhaling air and releasing carbon dioxide from exhaling.
- inhale: Breathe in
- exhale: Breathe out
- ribs: Curved bones attached to the spinal cord. Protect your lungs.
- trachea: A long tube in your neck and chest that carries air into and out of your lungs. Also called the windpipe.
- nasal passages: A channel for air flow through the nose.
- circulatory/ cardiovascular system: is made of the heart, blood, and vessels that work together (function) to transport needed substances throughout the body and carry away wastes
- system: A set of connected parts forming a whole
- heart: an organ with four chambers. The walls of your heart are made of really strong muscles that squeeze and relax to pump blood around the body
- circulation: the movement of blood through the body that is caused by the pumping action of the heart.
- blood: made up of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma
- red blood cells: Blood cells that carry oxygen (which is a gas) throughout the body
- white blood cells: Blood cells that fight infections
- platelets: Tiny cells that help your blood clot, which means that if you get a cut, some of your platelets stick together to plug the hole in the blood vessel wall caused by the cut. Eventually, the clot dries out to form a scab to protect the healing skin underneath.
- plasma: a yellowish liquid that carries nutrients, hormones, and proteins throughout the body
- blood vessels: a small tube that carries blood to different parts of a person or animal's body. Arteries, veins, and capillaries are kinds of blood vessels.
- capillaries: the smallest of the blood vessels. The walls are so thin that oxygen and glucose can pass through them and enter the cells, and waste products like carbon dioxide can pass back into the blood to be carried out of the body.
Ecology
- dependent relationships: one species relying on another (Example: A fox a rabbit for food.)
- parasitism (+ -): one organisms lives in or on another organism and harms it; it benefits one organism but harms the other (Example: A flea on a dog or cat harms the pet, but benefits the flea through food.)
- commensalism (+ 0): one organism benefits while the other organism isn’t hurt or helped, they are unaffected (Example: A kind of crab spider resembles the petals of a flower and uses a flower to hide. The flower isn’t hurt or helped but the crab is helped through camouflage.)
- interdependent relationships: when two species depend on each other to succeed (Example: Bees rely on flowers for nectar and flowers rely on bees for pollination.)
- mutualism (+ +): all organisms in this relationship benefit (Example: Bees drink nectar from flowers. In the process, they carry away pollen which pollinates flowers. Both the bees and flowers benefit.)
- biome: a major ecosystem that has a distinct combination of plants and animals due to its climate
- terrestrial: having to do with the land or the Earth
- forest: an area of land densely populated with trees
- grassland: a large, flat area of land which is mostly populated by tall grasses and few trees
- desert: a dry area of land, typically covered with sand that is characteristically desolate, waterless and without much vegetation
- tundra: a treeless region found in the Arctic, Antarctic and on the tops of mountains, where the climate is cold and windy and rainfall is minimal; the ground is covered in permafrost
- rainforest: a tropical forest, usually of tall, broad-leaved trees in an area that receives a high amount of rain; this biome is found near the equator
- coniferous forest or taiga: a forest with cone-bearing, needle-leaved trees
- deciduous forest: a type of forest characterized by trees that lose their leaves
- biome: a major ecosystem that has a distinct combination of plants and animals due to its climate
- aquatic: having to do with water
- freshwater: this water doesn’t contain salt and includes, rivers, streams, and lakes; it is an aquatic biome
- marine: salt water which includes the oceans and the seas; it is an aquatic biome
- estuary: this is brackish water, a mixture of saltwater and freshwater; the water is slightly salty; it is an aquatic biome
- pond: a small body of water that is relatively shallow
- lake: a large body of water, surrounded by land
- algae: producers that can be single celled or multicellular (like seaweed) that are found in aquatic biomes; algae are important because they make much of the Earth’s oxygen
- climate: the average measurements of temperature, wind, humidity, snow, and rain in a place over the course of years; climate is like the weather, but over a long period of time
- ecology: an area of science focused on the relationship of living things to each other and their natural environment; a scientist in this area is called an ecologist
- ecosystem: an interconnected community that includes all the living and nonliving things found in a certain area
- abiotic factors: a nonliving condition or thing, such as climate or habitat, that influences or affects an ecosystem and the organisms in it
- biotic factors: a living thing, such as an animal or plant, that influences or affects an ecosystem
- organism: a living thing
- producer: an organism that can make its own food through the process of photosynthesis
- consumer: an organism that gets it energy by eating other organisms
- herbivore: a consumer which gets it energy by eating only plants and vegetation
- carnivore: a consumer which gets its energy by eating only meat/animal flesh
- omnivore: a consumer which gets it energy by eating both plants and meat/animal flesh
- decomposer: an organism that breaks down the cells of dead plants and animals into simpler substances
FOrce and MOtion
- force: a push or pull on an object
- motion: an object changing position over time; change in position is measured by the relationship of distance and time
- mass: how much matter an object contains
- momentum: force or speed of movement; mass in motion - for example, a moving train has much more momentum than a moving soccer ball
- friction: force that resists motion between two touching surfaces, slows things down and can also produce heat (like rubbing hands together); acts in the opposite direction of the force.
- gravity: the force of attraction by which objects on Earth tend to fall toward the center of the Earth
- fair test: a planned and controlled act to determine if an idea works properly; only one variable is changed, keeping the others the same
- control: the parts of an experiment that do not change
- variable: the part of the experiment that changes
- rate or speed: a comparison of distance traveled and time; for example 25 miles per hour
- distance: how far an object travels
- velocity: speed with direction; for example, 45 mph northeast
- acceleration: rate of increase of speed or velocity
- deceleration: rate of decrease of speed or velocity
- constant: stays the same
- at rest: not moving; all forces are balanced
- tension: the act of stretching or straining
- inertia: the tendency of an object to resist change in motion or to keep doing what it is doing; NOTE: the greater the mass of an object, the greater the inertia
- momentum: force or speed of movement; mass in motion - for example, a moving train has much more momentum than a moving soccer ball
- velocity: speed with direction; for example, 45 mph northeast
- acceleration: rate of increase of speed or velocity
- deceleration: rate of decrease of speed or velocity
- distance: how far an object travels
- fair test: a planned and controlled act to determine if an idea works properly; only one variable is changed, keeping the others the same
- control: part of an experiment that does not change
- variable: something in an experiment that changes
- hypothesis: an educated guess using background information to make an inference; this is what the scientist believes will happen; they then need to prove it with data collected during the fair test
- Newton's First Law of Motion (inertia): an object at rest tends to stay at rest while an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same direction and speed
- Newton's Second Law of Motion (acceleration): it takes more force to accelerate a more massive object
- Newton's Third Law of Motion (action and reaction): forces are found in pairs: for every action (force), there is an opposite and equal reaction (force)
- force: any push or pull on an object
- motion: an object changing position over time; change in position is measured by distance and time
- balanced force: an object is not moving because all forces are pressing on it equally
- unbalanced force: an object that is in motion because one force is pressing on it more than another force
- gravity: the force of attraction by which objects on Earth tend to fall toward the center of the Earth
- mass: how much matter an object contains
- friction: a force that resists motion between two touching surfaces, slows things down, can also produce heat, acts in the opposite direction of the force