Praxis II 5159 Middle School Science

Weather systems

Most weather systems in the US move from west to east

Rivers

Rivers flow from high ground to low ground

Epicenter

The point on Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake

Uniformitarianism

Geologic processes operating today have acted in the same manner and with roughly the same intensity over geologic time

Equator

An area of calm surface winds

Doldrums

Calm surface winds

Layers of the ocean

Sunlight, twilight, midnight, abyss, trench

Tides

Caused by gravitational force from the moon

Volcanic ash

Small fragments of rock, minerals and volcanic glass

Theory of plate tectonics

Earth's outer shell is divided into several plates that glide over the mantle

Subduction zone

Oceanic plates converge and denser oceanic crust slides under the less dense crust which destroys the oceanic crust

Chemical weathering

Acid rain

Physical weathering

Repeated freezing and rhawing, roots causing cracks, forest fire heat cracking rocks

Asexual reproduction

Only one parent, offspring are clones of the parent

Enzymes

Proteins that selectively catalyze metabolic reactions

Transpiration

Evaporation of water from the leaves and stems of a plant to the atmosphere.

Punnett square

Used to predict an outcome of a particular cross or breeding experiment

WW and ww

Ww, Ww, Ww, Ww

Lymphocytes

Defend the body from foreign substances

Half life

The period of time it takes an isotope to decrease by half

Meteor shower

Debris trail of a comet

Earth Day

The farther away a planet is from the sun, the longer it takes the planet to complete one orbit around the sun, or Earth days

Star surface temperature

The color of a star depends on its surface temperature: hottest=blue, medium=yellow, coolest=red

Nebula

Interstellar cloud of dust

Mars rover 2004

Found evidence of liquid water in the past on Mars

Tertiary consumer

Carnivore at the top of the food chain, consumes other carnivores

Natural selection

Organisms with certain heritable characteristics survive and produce the most offspring

Insecta

The animal class with the greatest number of species

Homologous structures

Structures of different species that have some similarity because they are derived from a common ancestor

Convergent evolution

Organisms not closely related independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments

Hierarchy of organism classification

Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genis, species

First appearance of organisms

Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds

Ohms law

V=lR ; V=voltage, l=current in a resistor, R=resistance

Doppler effect

Sound relative to stationary observer

Law of conservation of mass

The mass of the products in a chemical reaction must equal the mass of the reactants

Diatomic molecule

Compound of only 2 atoms of either the same or different chemical elements. Examples: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen

Organic compounds

Compounds that contain carbon

Down Syndrome

Also called Trisomy 21, occurs when an individual has a full or partial.extra copy of chromosome 21

Imprinting

A rapid learning process that takes place early in the life of a social animal (as a goose) and establishes a behavior pattern (as recognition of and attraction to its own kind or a substitute)

Solar eclipse

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth;

Coriolis Effect

most apparent in the path of an object moving longitudinally. On the Earth an object that moves along a north-south path, or longitudinal line, will undergo apparent deflection to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.

Cleavage

The tendency of a mineral to break along flat planar surfaces as determined by the structure of its crystal lattice. These two-dimensional surfaces are known as cleavage planes and are caused by the alignment of weaker bonds between atoms in the crystal lattice.

Galaxy heirarchy

Universe, superclusters, galaxy clusters, galaxy, star

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a colorless, odorless gas found in our atmosphere. Its chemical formula is CO2, which means it is one carbon atom bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is a waste product in our bodies, and is also produced by burning fossil fuels.

Carbon monoxide

A colorless, odorless gas formed when a compound containing carbon burns incompletely because there is not enough oxygen. It is present in the exhaust gases of automobile engines and is very poisonous. Chemical formula: CO.

Planets nearest to farthest from the sun

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupitor, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Planets largest to smallest

Jupitor, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury

Venus

The hottest planet

Earth

The only planet where all three forms of water are present (oce, liquid, vapor)

Saturn

Lightest planet

Uranus

Dark planet

Terrestrial planets

Also known as rocky planets; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

Gaseous planets

Jupitor, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Jupiter and Saturn's atmosphere

Liquid hydrogen, helium

Uranus and Neptune's atmosphere

Hydrogen, helium, methane

Mercury

Planet with no atmosphere