Vocabulary

The following terms should be numbered and defined in the glossary of your science journal.

1. Science - the process of observing, explaining, and understanding our world

2. Hypothesis - a testable prediction for a problem

3. Variable - in an experiment, the factor that you change to see what will happen

4. Independent Variable - the variable which is changed by the scientist in an experiment

5. Dependent Variable - the variable that the scientist focuses his or her observations on to see how it responds

6. Observation - an act or instance of noticing or perceiving using all senses

7. Inference - the act of drawing a conclusion based on observations and prior knowledge

8. Fact - information that has been objectively verified

9. Theory - an explanation or model that covers a group of occurences in nature and has been confirmed by a number of experiments and observations

10. Inquiry - a systematic process for using knowledge and skills to acquire and apply new knowledge

11. Matter - Anything that has mass and takes up space

12. Mass - the amount of matter in an object; SI unit is the gram

13. Volume - the amount of space occupied by an object; SI unit is the cubic meter

14. Solid - Matter having definite shape and a definite volume

15. Liquid - Matter having a definite volume but not definite shape. A fluid.

16. Gas - Matter having no definite shape and no definite volume

17. Plasma - the fourth phase of matter having unique properties and formed at very high temperatures

18. Element - a substance that contains only one kind of atom; cannot be broken down into simpler substances

19. Compound - a substance containing two or more chemically combined elements and having properties different from those elements

20. Mixture - a combination of different sustances that keep their own physical and chemical properties despite being mixed

21. Atom - the smallest particle of an element with all the properties of the element that can combine with other atoms to form molecules

22. Molecule - Two or more chemically bonded atoms; the smallest part of a compound having all the properties of the compound

23. Decomposition Reaction - a chemical reaction in which a single reactant breaks down into simpler parts, such as elements

24. Experimental Error - a deviation from accuracy or correctness; a mistake

25. Chemical Reaction - interaction between substances in which existing chemical bonds break and new bonds form, creating one or more new substances

26. Physical Change - a change in a substances physical properties but not in its chemical identity

27. Sublimation - Phase change from a solid directly to a gas

28. Chemical Bond - the attractive force that holds atoms or ions together

29. Chemical Change - change in the chemical identity of a substance

30. Exothermic Reaction - a chemical reaction that releases energy

31. Endothermic Reaction - any chemical reaction that absorbs energy

32. Solubility - the ability of a substance to dissolve in another substance

33. __ Covalent Bond __ - A type of chemical bond formed between nonmetals in which atoms share one or more electrons.

34. __ Ionic Bond __ - A chemical bond between a metal and a nonmetal in which electrons are transferred from one atom to another.

35. __ Ion __ - An atom or group of atoms having an electric charge as a result of losing or gaining one or more electrons.

36. __ Isotope __ - Atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons, and therefore different atomic masses.

1. __Rotation__ - the spinning motion of a body on its axis.
 * __ SPACE SCIENCE GLOSSARY __**

2. __Revolution__ - the elliptical motion of a body as it orbits another body in space.

3. __Crater__ - a bowl - shaped depression with a raised rim formed by the impact of a meteoroid.

4. __Ray__ - the white lines that extend in all directions from some craters.

5. __Ejecta__ - the material thrown from craters.

6. __Rilles__ - structures that look like canyons or stream courses.

7. __Maria__ - (or mare for one) large dark gray or black areas that are fairly smooth created from the ancient lava flows. Mare means "ocean" in latin.

8. __Highlands__ - light colored areas with lots of rough mountains and craters.

9. __Asteroid__ - large chunks of rocky material from within the solar system.

10. __Meteoroid__ - medium to small solid objects from within the solar system.

11. __Meteorite__ - when a meteoroid hits another object, like the moon.

12. __Comet__ - a small body if ice, rock and cosmic dust loosely packed together that gives off gas and dust in the form of a tail as it passes close to the Sun.

13. __Apparent Magnitude__ - how bright a light appears to an observer or how bright a star appears to an observer from Earth.

14. __Absolute Magnitude__ - the actual or tru brightness of a star.

15. __Light Year__ - The distance light travels in one year at 186,000 miles per second or about 6 trillion miles.

16. __Parallax__ - The apparent shift of the position of an object when viewed from different locations.

17. __Fusion__ - A process in which particles of an element collode and combine to form a heavier element, such as the fusion of hydrogen into helium that occurs in the Sun's core.

18. __ Sunspot __ - A darker spot on the photosphere of the Sun. A sunpot appears dark because it is cooler than the surrounding area.

__ METEOROLOGY __

1. __ Weather __ - The condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place.

2. __ Atmosphere __ - The outer layer of gases of a large body in space, such as a planet or star; the mixture of gases that surrounds the solid Earth; one of the four parts of the Earth System.