6th Grade Final Exam Flashcards

Flashcards reviewing key vocabulary for the final exam.

Water Vapor

The gaseous form of water.

Condensation

The process by which a gas changes into a liquid.

Plants Use Water

Process where plants use water to create nourishment.

Groundwater

Water that fills cracks and spaces in underground soil and rock layers.

Precipitation

Water that falls to Earth as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

River System

A river and its tributaries.

Tributaries

Streams and small rivers that feed into a main river.

Reservoir

A lake that stores water for human use.

Permeable

Materials that allow water to pass through them easily.

Aquifer

Underground layer of rock or sediment that holds water.

Artesian Well

Well in which groundwater rises because of pressure.

Watershed

The land that supplies water to a river system.

Mineral

Inorganic; contains no materials that were once part of living things.

Streak

The color of a mineral’s powder.

Vein

A narrow channel or slab of a mineral that is different from the surrounding rock.

Ore

A rock that contains a metal or other useful mineral that can be mined and sold at a profit.

Smelting

Process that removes metal from the ore.

Crystal

Repeating pattern of a mineral’s particles forms a solid.

Diamond

The hardest known mineral.

Fracture

Characteristic type of fracture when minerals do NOT split apart evenly.

Luster

How light is reflected from a mineral’s surface.

Mineral Formation

Minerals may form when solutions evaporate.

Talc

The softest mineral on the Mohs hardness scale.

Geode Crystal Formation

Crystals form when a mineral solution crystallizes.

Igneous Rock

Rock that forms from the cooling of magma below the surface or lava at the surface.

Metamorphic Rock Formation

Most metamorphic rock forms deep underground.

Extrusive Rock

Igneous rock that formed from lava erupted onto Earth’s surface.

Deposition

Sediment settles out of water or wind.

Metamorphic Rock

Heat and pressure change any rock into this.

Rock Cycle

A series of processes that slowly changes rocks from one kind to another.

Metamorphic Rock

A collision between two continental plates could produce this rock.

Cementation

Dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediment together.

Compression

Stress force that produces reverse faults.

Anticline

A fold in rock that bends upward into an arch.

Secondary Waves

S waves

Seismograph Recording

A seismograph records ground movements caused by seismic waves.

Earthquake Risk

Earthquake risk is high where the Pacific and North American plates meet.

Stress

A force that acts on rock to change its shape or volume.

Strike-Slip Fault

Strike-slip fault involves rocks that slip past each other sideways with little up-or-down motion.

Plateau

A large area of flat land elevated high above sea level.

Fault Friction

High friction between opposite sides of a fault leads to fault locks and stress buildup, causing earthquakes.

Earthquake Waves Through Liquids and Solids

P waves

Earth's Layers Order

Correct order of Earth’s layers (starting from the surface): crust, mantle, outer core, inner core.

Earth's Inner Core

Earth’s inner core is a dense ball of solid metal.

Radiation

The transfer of energy through empty space.

Pangaea

The name of the supercontinent that existed millions of years ago.

Sonar Technology

Scientists used sonar to map the mid-ocean ridge.

Sea-Floor Spreading

In sea-floor spreading, molten material rises from the mantle and erupts along mid-ocean ridges.

Earth's Plates

The movement of Earth’s plates is caused by convection currents in the mantle.

Plate Tectonics Theory

The geological theory that states that pieces of Earth’s lithosphere are in constant, slow motion is the theory of plate tectonics.

Transform Boundary

A transform boundary is where two plates slip past each other, moving in opposite directions.

Earth's Mantle

Earth’s mantle is a layer of hot rock.

Continental Crust Collision

A collision between two pieces of continental crust at a converging boundary produces a mountain range.

Fossil

Any trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in rock.

Mid-Ocean Ridges

Mid-ocean ridges are found in all of Earth’s oceans.

Convergent Boundary

The place where two plates come together is known as a convergent boundary.

Volcano Pipe

The long tube in the ground that connects the magma chamber to Earth’s surface is called the pipe.

Pahoehoe

Fast-moving, hot lava.

Hot Spring

Groundwater heated by magma rises to the surface and collects in a natural pool.

Composite Volcanoes

Tall, cone-shaped mountains in which layers of lava alternate with layers of ash are called composite volcanoes.

Lava Plateau

When many layers of thin, runny lava build up a high, level area, the result is a lava plateau.

Magma

Before lava reaches the surface, the molten material is called magma.

Batholith

A mass of rock formed when a large body of magma cools inside the crust is called a batholith.

Dormant Volcano

A volcano that may erupt again at some time in the distant future is dormant.

Caldera

The huge hole left by the collapse of a volcanic mountain is called a caldera.

Magma hardens in pipe

Volcanic Neck

Magma Eruption Force

Dissolved gases trapped in the magma provides force for eruption

Magma Flow

The amount of silica in the magma helps determine how easily magma flows.

Metric System

The metric system of measurement is based on the number 10.

Metric Length Unit

The basic unit of length in the metric system is the meter.

Meters in a Kilometer

There are 1,000 meters in a kilometer.

Basic Metric Unit of Mass

Kilogram

Weight and Gravity

Weight Depends on the force of gravity

Volume

Amount of space and object takes up

Density Calculation

To calculate density divide mass by volume

SI Unit of Time

The SI unit of time is the second.

Scientific estimation

If scientist cannot obtain exact numbers they estimate

Accuracy

The closeness of a measurement to its true value is its accuracy.

Median

The middle number in a set of data is the median.

Observing

Using sensory to gather information.

Quantitative Observations

Observations deal with amount

Qualitative Observations

Observations that deal with descriptions that cannot be expressed in numbers.

Inferring

Explaining or interpreting the things you observe based on reasoning from what you already know.

Predicting

Making a forecast of what will happen in the future based on past experience or evidence.

Classifying

Scientists put things into categories or group together items that are alike in some way.

Making Models

When scientists create a representation of a complex process.

Hypothesis

A possible explanation for a set of observations or answer to a scientific question.

Testable Hypothesis

In science, a hypothesis must be testable.

Controlled Variables

During an experiment, factors must be controlled so that researchers can draw a logical conclusion from the experiment.

Manipulated Variable

During an experiment, temperature is the manipulated variable if you purposely change it to test a hypothesis.

Responding Variable

The factor that may change in response to the manipulated variable.

Data Table

An organized way to collect and record scientific observations.

Summary of Experiment Learnings

Scientific Experiment Conclusion