General Science Flashcards
An assumption or idea that is validated and tested through an experiment.
Hypothesis
A variable that is manipulated or changed to have an effect on the dependent variable
Independent Variable (IV)
Is what you measure in the experiment and what is affected by the independent variables.
Dependent Variable (DV)
Is a statement based on repeated experimental observation that describes some aspect of the world.
Scientific Law
Tested and widely accepted model that helps explain and predict natural facts and which is based on observations, experiments and reason.
Scientific Theory
Aids in the visualization of occurrences and objects that cannot be observed directly.
Model
The solid, outer part of Earth. This includes the brittle upper portion of the mantle and the crust, the outermost layers of Earth’s structure.
Lithosphere
Is the total amount of water on a planet. It includes water that is on the surface of the planet, underground, and in the air.
Hydrosphere
Is a layer or a set of layers of gases surrounding a planet or other material body that is held in place by the gravity of that body.
Atmosphere
Defined as the region on, above, and below the Earth’s surface where life exists.
Biosphere
Rocks formed from the cooling of magma (a very hot liquid found underneath the Earth’s surface). Examples: Rhyolite, Granite, Basalt
Igneous Rocks
Rocks that are formed from pre-existing rocks or pieces of once-living organisms. Examples: limestone, conglomerate, dolomite, shale.
Sedimentary Rocks
Rocks that are formed through the alteration of pre-existing rocks in response to changing environmental conditions, such as variations in temperature, pressure, and mechanical stress, and the addition or subtraction of chemical components. Examples: marble (from limestone), slate(from shale).
Metamorphic Rocks
The breakdown of rocks at the Earth’s surface, by the action of rainwater, extremes of temperature, and biological activity.
Weathering
Geological process in which earthen materials are won away and transported by natural forces such as wind or water.
Erosion
The process or processes by which unconsolidated materials are converted into coherent solid rock, as by compaction or cementation
Lithification
Is a solid, dust-like sediment that water, ice, and wind transport and deposit. It is made up of rock and mineral particles that are larger than clay but smaller than sand.
Silt
Is a piece of rock trapped in another type of rock.
Xenolith
It is a deposit in Earth’s crust of one or more valuable minerals. The most valuable deposits contain metals crucial to industry and trade, like copper, gold, and iron.
Ore
Concerned with the processes and phenomena of the atmosphere, especially as a means of forecasting the weather.
Meteorology
The study of everything in the universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere. That includes objects we can see with our naked eyes, like the Sun, the Moon, the planets, and the stars . It also includes objects we can only see with telescopes or other instruments, like faraway galaxies and tiny particles.
Astronomy
It consists of a number of belief systems that hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events or descriptions of personality in the human world. It has been rejected by the scientific community as having no explanatory power for describing the universe.
Astrology
The layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth’s surface, extending up to about 10-15 km above the Earth’s surface. It contains 75% of the atmosphere’s mass. It is wider at the equator than at the poles.
Troposphere
Describes the formation of our solar system from a nebula cloud made from a collection of dust and gas. It is believed that the sun, planets, moons, and asteroids were formed around the same time around 4.5 billion years ago from a nebula.
Nebular Theory
States that the Earth lay at the centre of the universe with the sun, the moon, and the known planets revolving around it in complicated orbits.
Ptolemaic Theory
In astronomy, model of the solar system centered on the Sun, with Earth and other planets moving around it, formulated by Nicolaus Copernicus, and published in 1543.
Copernican Theory
A rocky object in space that can be a few feet wide to several hundred miles wide. Most are in the solar system orbit in a belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Asteroids
A small chunk of rock or iron that travels through space
Meteoroid
A ball of frozen gases, rock and dust that is about the size of a small town. It orbit the sun. Jets of gas and dust from comets form long tails that can be seen from Earth.
Comet
Occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring Earth’s view of the Sun.
Solar Eclipse
An eclipse in which the full moon passes partially or wholly through the umbra of the earth’s shadow
Lunar Eclipse
