Science - Water Movement Through Earth Materials ( VOCAB )

8th Grade Science Vocab

Aquifer

Layer of material that holds water and allows water to flow through

Aquitard

A layer of material that resists the flow of water through it. In nature, layers of impermeable rocks (granite, clay, or basalt)

Permeability

The degree to which something can go through certain material. How well the open space is connected.

Groundwater

Water found underneath the earth’s surface, contained in aquifers and in underground lakes/rivers

Porosity

The amount of space in solid material, pore spaces, openings, or channels

Condensation

The phase change that occurs when water vapor loses heat energy to form liquid water (gas to liquid). Brought by a fall in air temperate.

Evaporation

The phase change that occurs when liquid water acquires enough heat energy to form water vapor (liquid to gas).

Precipitation

Moisture condensed from vapor. In nature, it takes the form of rain, snow, hail, and sleet (means to “fall out of”)

Transpiration

The evaporation of water from plant parts (leaves, stems, flowers, fruit).

Runoff

Water and materials that dissolve in water that travel on the surface of the land. It eventually makes its way to lakes, rivers, and ocean.

Water Cycle

Transfer of water between the surface and interior of the earth and the atmosphere, and back again. This happens through the process of transpiration, evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

Plume

An underground liquid source of contamination. An area of water flowing beneath the surface that contains materials that may be toxic to living things

Point Source Contamination

When hazardous material is highly concentrated in a area such as the spill of toxic material from a truck or barrel

Non-Point Source Contamination

When hazardous material is spread over a large area, such as fertilizers applied on large plots of land, or the combined run-off of fertilizer from many different houses

Acid Rain

Rain that is acidic (below a pH of 5). Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide form sulfuric and nitric acids in the cloud vapor. They eventually drop as rain. Snow, hail, and sleet can also be acidic.

Aquatic

From the water; living or growing thing

Combustion

A chemical process when oxygen combines with another substance and produces heat and light. Also known as burning.