Download Water cycle

Water cycle
Continuous movement of water between earth’s
surface and the air changing form liquid to gas
back to liquid.
Evaporation
Slow changing from a liquid to a gas
condensation
Changing a gas into a liquid
precipitation
Water particles that falls from the atmosphere and
reaches the ground.
groundwater
Precipitation that seeps into the ground and is
stored in the soil and rocks.
Runoff
Precipitation that flows across the land’s surface or
falls into rivers and streams.
transpiration
Loss of water through plant leaves
Abiotic factors
Non-living parts of an ecosystem
Biotic factors
The living things or once-living organisms in an
ecosystem
Qualitative data
An object’s color, texture, smell, taste, size, or
appearance
Quantitative data
An object’s temperature, weight, or mass (number).
matter
Any substance that takes up space and has mass
solid
A type of matter that has a specific shape, is 3
dimensional, and is usually firm
liquid
Matter that is wet, can be poured, and takes the
shape of its container
gas
Matter that spreads to fill all empty spaces and can
be invisible (like air)
Thermal energy
Heating of any form of matter. Travels from hot to
cold.
conduction
Transfer of thermal energy between things that are
touching (handle on a pot)
convection
Movement of thermal energy in gases or liquids and
effects the weather and climate
radiation
Movement of thermal energy through
electromagnetic waves. The sun is the main source.
Electromagnetic waves
Carries energy from one place to another (sun,
radio, tv, or microwave)
wavelength
Distance between one wave crest to the next
Convection cell
Pattern of air rising and sinking as the atmosphere is
heated and cooled
atmosphere
Blanket of gases that surrounds and protects the
earth
troposphere
Layer of the atmosphere closest to the earth.
Where weather occurs and living things are found
barometer
Weather instrument that measures air pressure
Air pressure
Force in a given area caused by the weight of the
air above it
Low pressure
Brings clouds and rain
wind
Air that moves horizontally
High pressure
Clear skies
Wind speed
How fast the air is moving
Wind direction
The direction the wind is coming from
Wind vane
or
weather vane
A weather tool that tells the direction the wind is
coming from
anemometer
Measures wind speed
temperature
A measurement of coldness or hotness
thermometer
An instrument used to measure temperature
Rain gauge
An instrument used to measure rainfall
Jet stream
Fast moving band of wind in the upper troposphere
that moves weather patterns in North America west
to east.
hemisphere
The top half (Northern hemisphere) or the bottom
half of the earth (Southern hemisphere).
latitude
Imaginary lines that run horizontal across the earth.
Water currents
Major movements of water in the oceans.
Gulf stream
Warm water current in the Atlantic ocean that
moves from the tip of Florida up the east coast and
then towards Africa.
El Nino
About every 5 years in the Pacific it brings warm and
wet weather
La Nina
About every 5 years in the Pacific it brings cold and
dry weather.
Cirrus clouds
Highest cloud. Made of ice crystals. They are thin
and wispy and do not bring precipitation.
Cumulous clouds
Low to mid level clouds that are puffy and white
with a flat bottom. They usually do not bring
precipitation.
Cumulonimbus clouds
Storm clouds that are tall and have a flat top.
Stratus clouds
Low level clouds that are gray and cover the sky like
a blanket. They bring rain showers.
Trade winds
Band of winds near the equator that moves form
high to low pressure.
Prevailing Westerlies
A band of winds that blow from west to east across
the United States. They are constantly changing and
bring story weather.
Polar Easterlies
A band of winds that blow east to west across the
north and south poles.
Air mass
A pocket of air that has the same temperature and
moisture level
humidity
The amount of water vapor in the air
Water vapor
Water in the form of an invisible gas
Cold front
When cold air moves in and pushes warm air up.
They move quickly and bring stormy weather. After
the storm passes, the weather is cool and dry.
Warm front
When warm air moves in and pushes the cold air
down. It moves slowly and bring light snow or rain
showers. After it passes, the weather is warm and
humid.
Stationary front
When a cold air mass and a warm air mass collide
and do not move causing constant precipitation.
After it moves out, the precipitation continues.
Occluded front
Forms when warm air is trapped between two cold
air masses causing mild precipitation. After it moves
out, the weather becomes fair and cool.
Rain-shadow effect
The dry area on a mountain that faces away from
the wind and does not receive precipitation.
isobar
A line drawn on a weather map to show the air
pressure for a given area.
Sea breeze
Wind that blows that the sea to the land during the
day
Land breeze
Wind that blows from the land to the sea at night
weather
The conditions or state of the atmosphere at a given
place and time
climate
The average weather pattern of a region over a
long period of time
Single cell
One celled organisms in which all life processes
occur inside one cell like amoeba, bacteria, and
protozoa.
Multi- cellular
Organisms that are made up more than one cell like
plants and animals. The cells work together to help
the organism grow, reproduce, and take in
nutrients.
organism
Any form that can grow, reproduce, and take in
nutrients. Can be single or multi-cellular.
Circulatory system
Contains the heart, blood vessels, and blood.
Circulates blood throughout the body and delivers
nutrients to the cells and removes the waste
products.
Respiratory system
Nose, trachea, and lungs. Used for breathing by
taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.
Skeletal system
Provides support, protection, and movement to the
body. It makes blood cells inside the marrow.
Muscular system
Organs that create movement
Digestive system
Breaks down and digests our food so that the body
can absorb the nutrients, through the bloodstream,
for energy.
Nervous system
The control center for physical and mental activities
performed by the body.
Ecosystem
Living and non-living things in an environment and
how they interact.
Population
All of the members of a species in an area
Community
The interaction f all the living things in an area
Terrestrial
A land-based type of ecosystem
Aquatic
Water based type of ecosystem that includes both
fresh an d salt water environments.
Estuary
A place where fresh and saltwater meet in a
coastal area; the fresh water automatically
becomes salty.
Salt marsh
An area of coastal wetlands where an estuary or
river meets the sea. They have a rich marine life and
are brown, gray, and green.
Fertile
Produces abundant vegetation crops and has rich
nutrients that supports the plant life
Species
A group of living organisms that are similar
Biome
One of the Earth’s largest ecosystems with its own
kind of climate, soil, and animals. Tundra, Deciduous
Forest, Grasslands, Tropical Rainforest, Desert, Taiga,
Estuary, Marine, and Freshwater
Deciduous forest
A biome that has many trees that lose their leaves
each fall. It has four seasons. The word deciduous
means decay.
Tropical rainforest
Hot biome near the equator with heavy rainfall and
a wide variety of animal and plant life.
Grasslands
A biome where grasses are the main plant life.
Ocean
Largest bodies of water that are saltwater and
contain a variety of aquatic life. The oceans are
divided by the continents.
Lakes/ponds
Smaller bodies of water that are freshwater.
Continental shelf
The edge of a continent under the ocean water.
Starts at the coastline to a drop off point under the
water.
Plankton
Tiny organisms including algae and protozoa that
float and drift in fresh and salt water at or near the
surface of the water.
Food chain
Path of energy from one organism to another. This
path of energy goes from producers to consumers
to decomposers.
Food web
Overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.
Energy pyramid
Shows the flow of energy in an ecosystem.
Producers are on the bottom and consumers are on
the top.
Producers
Any of the plants and algae that produce oxygen
and food that animals need.
Consumers
Organisms that cannot produce their own food and
consume other organisms.
Decomposers
Fungi and bacteria that breakdown plants and
animals into nutrients for the soil.
Photosynthesis
Process in green plants and certain organisms
carbohydrates are formed from water and carbon
dioxide through the use of sunlight as an energy
source.
Interconnected
Organisms that are connected to one another in
the ecosystem. Their relationship impacts another
population in an ecosystem.
Symbiosis
A mutually beneficial relationship between two
organisms in an ecosystem.
Mutualism
Relationship where two or more organisms benefit
without any of them being harmed (bees/flowers,
plover bird/crocodile)
Commensalism
Relationship bewteen 2 living organisms where one
benefits and the other is not significantly helped or
harmed (birds living in trees, orchids growing on
trees)
Parasitism
A relationship in which one organism is benefited
but the other is harmed (ticks/dogs, mistletoe/trees,
mosquitoes/animals)
Salinity
Degree of saltiness in a body of water
Algae
Simple rootless plants that grow in sunlit waters.
Amphibian
An animal that can live on the land and in the
water. Cold-blooded and have smooth skin. (Frogs
and salamanders)
Inherited traits
Traits that are passed down to an offspring by either
f its parents through genes.
Offspring
The descendants born from a person or animal.
Genetics
Study of heredity and the variation of inherited
characterisitcs.
Characteristics
A feature or quality belonging typically to a person,
place, or thing.
Culture
Pattern of behavior that includes thoughts, speech,
and actions for learning for generations. Beliefs,
race, or religion.
Force
A push or pull on an object
Inertia
The way an object resists change in motion. An
object at rest stays at rest, an object in motion stays
in motion until a force is acted upon it. Newton’s First
Law.
Friction
A force that acts on a moving object in the
opposite direction. It usually slows the object down.
Gravity
A forced of attraction between objects due to their
weight.
Mass
The amount of matter in an object.
Momentum
Mass and velocity together. A heavy truck has more
momentum and is harder to stop.
Motion
Movement or changing of an object’s position
Speed
Distance traveled divided by the time
Time
How long an activity takes place from start to finish.
Graph
A diagram showing the relationship between 2
variables suing an x and y axis.