Science yearly revison 2024

Topics ♡ :

  • What eats what               Hiya   - Answers to questions/concerns

  • Forces (Push & Pull)

  • Bits of Matter

What eats what - ♡

Food Chains

  • Definition: A food chain shows the flow of energy from one organism to another in an ecosystem.

  • Structure:

  • Producers: These are usually plants or algae that make their own food through photosynthesis.

  • Primary Consumers: Herbivores that eat producers (e.g., a rabbit eating grass).

  • Secondary Consumers: Carnivores or omnivores that eat primary consumers (e.g., a fox eating a rabbit).

  • Tertiary Consumers: Top predators that eat secondary consumers (e.g., an eagle eating a snake).

Notes/terms + definitions:

  • Apex Predator - An organism located at the top of a food chain or food web, Apex predators are hunters that do not have any natural predators

  • Algae - A diverse group of organisms that are producers in water environments, Algae include seaweed phytoplankton and tiny organisms that live inside corals. 

  • Abiotic factor - A non-living thing in an ecosystem. Abiotic factors include sunlight, water, sand and rocks.

  • Carnivore - An animal that only eats meat. Lions are carnivores. They eat antelopes, buffaloes and zebras.

  • Biotic factors - A living thing in an ecosystem. Biotic factors include corals, sea jellies, whales and seabirds

  • Competition - The struggle between organisms for the same resources. Competition occurs when resources are limited, either between organisms of the same species or of different species.

  • Case study - A real-life example investigated in depth. Scientists examine case studies to better understand complex problems, such as invasive species.

  • Decomposer - An organism that breaks down dead matter by releasing chemicals. Fungi and bacteria are decomposers. The mold on rotting fruit is a type of fungus.

  • Consumer - A living thing that gets its food by eating other living things. Animals are examples of consumers because they must eat other living things for energy.

  • Ecosystem - A collection of organisms interacting with each other and their environment. A coral reef ecosystem includes a wide variety of living things and their nonliving environment.

  • Food web - A complex model that shows energy flow through an ecosystem. A food web is built by connecting all the food chains in a particular ecosystem.

  • Food chain - A simple model that shows energy flow from one species to another The arrows in a food chain show the flow of energy from one type of organism to another.



( - What's the difference between Food chains and Food webs?)

  • A food chain outlines who eats who while food webs have all the food chain altogether in an ecosystem. Food webs also differ as they may include plants and animals as a way to show how they are connected in an ecosystem.


  • Herbivore - An animal that only eats plants Elephants are herbivores. They eat grasses, tree bark and fruits.

  • Detritivore - An organism that eats dead matter and waste. Worms are detritivores because they eat feces, dead leaves and other plant and animal wastes. 

  • Decomposition - The process of breaking down dead matter and waste. Dead bodies, feces and leaves are broken down into nutrients that go back into the soil. 

  • Habitat - The natural environment of a species Habitats include rainforests, grasslands, deserts or shallow seas. They provide the resources a species needs to survive.

  • Ecology - The branch of science that studies ecosystems. Ecology is a branch of science that studies ecosystems and their interactions.

  • Energy - The ability to move, grow and function. Producers get energy from sunlight while consumers get energy by eating other organisms

  • Invasive species - A species that is introduced to a new ecosystem and then causes harm. Rabbits are an invasive species in some parts of the world. They cause harm to native plants and the animals that depend on them for food

  • Matter - Any substance that takes up space and has mass. Matter is cycled through ecosystems by processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, feeding and decomposition.

  • Omnivore - An animal that eats both meat and plants. Baboons are omnivores. They eat fruits and grasses as well as mice and young antelope.

  • Organism - A living thing; something that carries out life processes. Organisms move, respire, grow, reproduce, eat, excrete and respond to their environment.

  • Photosynthesis - The process in producers that uses sunlight energy to make food. Photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide, water and sunlight into food to support life processes.

  • Phytoplankton - Tiny organisms that float near the water surface. Phytoplankton include algae and some types of bacteria. They are producers and carry out photosynthesis.

  • Predator - A living thing that hunts and eats other living things for food. A bird is a predator to the insects it hunts and eats.

  • Prey - A living thing that is hunted and eaten by another living thing. A fish is prey to the bear that hunts and eats it.

  • Primary consumers - An organism that feeds on producers. Primary consumers are animals that feed on plants, such as water snails that feed on algae.

  • Producer - A living thing that produces its own food by using sunlight. Producers, such as plants and algae, create their own food through photosynthesis.

  • Quaternary consumer - An organism that feeds on tertiary consumers. Quaternary consumers are usually apex predators, at the top of the food chain.

  • Secondary consumers - An organism that feeds on primary consumers. Secondary consumers feed on other animals, such as frogs that feed on water snails.

  • Species - A group of similar living things that can breed with each other. At least 8 million species are believed to exist on Earth but only 1.7 million have been discovered.

  • Tertiary consumers - An organism that feeds on secondary consumers. Tertiary consumers feed on other animals, such as snakes that feed on frogs.



Food chain & food webs ♡


Purpose of food chains

  • Describe feeding relationships among species (Describing who eats whom)

Purpose of food webs

  • Describe how energy & nutrients are passed along through an ecosystem. At the basic level there are plants that produce energy then it moves to higher level organisms like herbivores, after carnivores eat herbivores energy is transferred from one to another. ( A more complicated version of a food chain )



Labeling food chain & food webs 









                                                       












                                                                                                









Forces, push & pull:

  • Definition:

  • A force is a push or pull that can change the shape of motion of an object (motion meaning movement)

  • Unit:

  • Newtons (N)

  • Types of forces:

  • Contact forces: Forces that occur when objects touch each other e.g. friction,tension

  • Non contact forces: Forces that can act at a distance e.g. gravity

  • Push & Pull

  • Push: A force that moves the object away from you e.g. kicking a ball

  • Pull: A force that moves the object towards you e.g. pulling a rope

  • Balanced & unbalanced forces:

  • Balanced forces: Forces that are equal in size but opposite in direction, as they cancel each other out resulting in no change in motion e.g. book resting on a table

  • Unbalanced: Forces that are not equal in size hence causing a change in the object's motion e.g. pushing a toy car

  • Effects of forces:

  • Change in speed: Forces can make objects, slow down,speed up and stop

  • Change in direction: Forces can change the direction of an object's motion

  • Change in shape: Can stretch, compress, or deform objects

Types of forces !!

  • Friction: 

  • Definition: A force that opposes motion between 2 surfaces in contact

  • Effect:

  • Slow or top object's motion

  • Can cause wear or tear (gradual damage)

  • Gravity:

  • Definition: A non contact force that pulls objects towards the center of the earth









Bits of matter:

What is matter?

  • Definition: Mass is anything that occupies space and has mass

  • States of matter:

  • Solid : Definite shape and volume

  • Liquid: Definite volume but takes the shape of the container ( Occupies its surrounding)

  • Gas : Has no definite shape of volume but still occupies space in the container e.g. oxygen

Atoms and molecules: 

  • Atoms: 

  • Smallest unit of an element

  • Made up of protons,neutrons and electrons

  • Molecules:

  • 2 or more atoms bonded together

  • Example: Water (h2o) is made up of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom

Changes of states:

  • Melting: Solid to liquid e.g. Ice melting to water

  • Freezing: Liquid to solid e.g. water freezing to ice

  • Evaporation:Liquid to gas e.g. Boiling water to steam

  • Condensation:Gas to liquid e.g. steam turning into water droplets

  • Sublimation: Solid to gas without becoming liquid e.g. dry ice turning into carbon dioxide 

Mixtures and solutions:

  • Difference between mixture & solution?

  • Mixtures are when substances are mixed together but are not completely dissolved while solutions are completely dissolved as they cannot be filtered out

  • Mixture: A combination of 2 or more substances that are not chemically bonded e.g. sand and water 

  • Solution: Where a mixture is dissolved in another substance e.g. sugar water

  • Solvent & Solute 

  • Solvent : 

  • Solute : 


High & Low concentrations:

  • High concentration: 

  • Low concentration: 



State of matter particle structures:

Different states of matter + properties 


Fixed volume: 

  • the volume of both solid and liquid remain fixed or constant under fixed temperature and pressure.

No fixed volume:

  • particles are widely spaced apart and move quickly and random directions

Rigid meaning

  • Stiff & inflexible


Level of cellular:

Organelles → cells → tissues → organs → organ system → living organism


 What are organelles?

  • Specialized cellular part that has a specific function e.g. nucleus

What are cells?

  • Basic building blocks of all living life

What are tissues?

  • Group of cells or fluid that work together to complete different