Science Olympiad 2 Flashcards
What is the water cycle?
The repeated movement of water through the environment in different forms; also called the hydrologic cycle
What is a proton?
A small positively charged atomic particle.
What is a trait?
A feature such as a body part or behavior
What is a sedimentary rock?
A type of rock that forms when sediments are pressed together in layers
What is magma?
The molten rock beneath Earth’s surface
What does it mean to migrate?
To move from one place to another
What is osmosis?
A special form of diffusion that works to keep water inside the cell
What is a predator?
An animal that hunts other animals for food
What is a volcano?
An opening in Earth’s crust through which melted rock, hot gases, rock fragments, and ash reach the surface
What is temperature?
The average motion energy of particles in matter, a measure of hot or cold
What is a satellite?
An object that orbits another object in space
What is a microscope?
A tool that makes small objects appear larger
What is an organism?
A living thing
What is velocity?
The speed and direction of a moving object
What is a mixture?
A physical combination of two or more substances
What is a parasite?
An organism that lives on or in another organism, helping itself but hurting the other organism
What is a producer?
An organism that makes its own food
What is a barometer?
An instrument for measuring air pressure
What is a conductor?
A material through which heat or electricity flows easliy
What is an ecosystem?
An area in which living things interact with one another and with nonliving things
What is feces?
Solid waste produced by the body during digestion
What is a gem?
A mineral valued for its beauty
What is a generator?
A device that converts other forms of energy into electricity
What is humus?
Decayed plant or animal material in soil
What is kinetic energy?
The energy of motion
What is genetics?
The study of how organisms pass along traits over periods of time
What is a hypothesis?
A suggested statement or explanation that can be tested to answer a question
What is a kingdom?
The broadest group into which organisms are classified
What is geothermal?
Heat energy produced form within Earth’s crust
What does igneous mean?
Type of rock formed when melted rock hardens
What is a landslide?
The sudden movement of loose rock and soil down a steep slope
What is a headland?
A point of land, usually high, that extends out into the water
What is an invertebrate?
An animal that does not have a backbone
What is lichen?
A living thing composed of a fungus and an algae which can survive in harsh enviroments
What is a herbivore?
An animal that eats only plants
What is a jet stream?
A narrow belt of high speed winds in the upper troposphere
What is the lithosphere?
The cool, solid portion of Earth that includes all of the crust and part of the upper mantle
What is a machine?
Something that changes stored energy into motion and heat
What is Jupiter?
The fifth planet from the sun and the largest planet in the solar system
What is humidity?
The amount of water vapor in the air at any given time
What is gravity?
The pulling force between two objects
What is an insect?
A type of animal that has three main body parts and six legs
What is lava?
Molten rock that reaches Earth’s surface
What is lens?
An object that refracts light
What is an insulator?
Something that slows or stops the flow of energy, such as heat, electricity, or sound
What is a habitat?
The place where a plant of animal lives
What is heat?
The form of energy related to the random motion of the atoms and molecules that make up matter
What is an island?
A landform that can be the result of a volcanic eruption at a hot spot
What is light?
A form of energy that can travel in waves through empty space
What is a glacier?
A large mass of slow moving ice
What is inertia?
The property of matter that keeps an object at rest or moving in a straight line
What is latitude?
A measure of how far a place is north or south of the equator
What is a telescope?
A tool that makes distant objects appear larger, brighter, and sharper
What is rotation?
To turn on an axis
What is a forest?
A biome that has many trees
What is the epicenter?
Where the earthquake is felt most strongly or has its greatest intensity
What is cytoplasm?
The gel like substance that fills a cell
What is gas?
The form of matter that has no definite shape or volume
What is a fault?
A break or crack in Earth’s crust where two plates come together
What is diversity?
A measure of the number of the number and variety of species in an ecosystem
What is a circuit?
A path that electricity follows
What is balance?
A tool that measures an objects mass.
What is a fungus?
A plant like organism that breaks down dead or dying plants
What is an eruption?
The flow of lava or ash from a volcano
What is diffusion?
The movement of materials from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration
What is a Chemical Compound?
A substance made of two or more materials
What is a atom
The smallest particle of matter that has the properties of that matter
What is a fossil?
The remains or signs of past life
What is the equator?
An imaginary line that circles Earth halfway between the North and South poles
What is a decomposer?
Consumer that breaks down the remains and wastes of plants and animals
What is a carnivore?
An animal that eats meat of other animals
What is an amphibian?
A vertebrate animal that spends part of its life in water and part on land
What is force?
A push or pull that causes an object to move, stop, or change direction
What is energy?
The ability to do work or cause change; ability to make things move, stretch, or grow
What is the crust?
The layer of rock that forms the outer surface of Earth
What is a boiling point?
The particular temperature at which a substance changes state from liquid to gas
What is accommodation?
An individual organism’s response to a change in the ecosystem
What is fission?
A reaction in which the nucleus of an atom is split
What is an electron?
A particle in an atom that has a negative charge
What is a constellation?
A group of stars that forms a pattern or picture
What is bedrock?
The bottom layer of soil, made mostly of solid rock
What is abiotic?
A nonliving part of an ecosystem
What is a food chain?
The path of food energy in an ecosystem from plants to animals
What is an element?
A basic building block of matter
What is a consumer?
A living thing that eats other living things for food
What is a biome?
A region of the world defined by its climate and the types of plants and animals that live there
What is acid?
A chemical compound that:
- turns blue litmus paper red
- has a pH less than 7
- tastes sour, sharp or biting
- when combined with a base can form a salt
What is camouflage?
An adaptation that allows an animal to blend into its surroundings
What is an adaptation?
A trait or characteristic that helps an organism survive and meet its needs
What is friction?
A force that occurs when one object rubs against another object
What is erosion?
The movement of rock material from one place to another
What is density?
A measure of how tightly matter is packed in a given amount of space
What is a cell?
The smallest unit of life
What is an aquifer?
An underground layer of rock, sand, or gravel through which water easily moves
What is a galaxy?
A very large group of stars
What does extinct mean?
All dead; no more left alive on Earth
What is digestion?
The process that changes food into a form that the body can use
What is chlorophyll?
A green pigment that allows a plant cell to use light to make food
What are bacteria?
Microorganisms that have cell membranes but no nuclei
What is population?
A group of organisms of the same species living together in an ecosystem
What is the rock cycle?
An endless process in which rocks are changed from one type to another by weathering, erosion, heat, and pressure
What is work?
The result of a force causing an object to move in the direction the force is applied
What is the universe?
Everything that exists, including stars, planets, and energy
What is symbiosis?
A relationship between two organisms that helps one or both of them
What is a magnet?
An object that can attract iron and produce a magnetic field
What is opaque?
Not allowing light to pass through
What is a pole?
The part of a magnet where the magnetic force is strongest
What is resistance?
The ability of a material to slow down or stop electric current
What is weathering?
The process by which rock material is broken into smaller pieces
What is a nucleus?
- the center of an atom containing protons and neutrons
- the central part of a cell that directs the cell’s activities and stores information to pass on to new cells
- a mass of dust and frozen water and gases at the center of a comet
What is a mantle?
The thick layer of Earth beneath the crust: Magma is created in the mantle
What is a stratus cloud?
A type of cloud that forms low in the atmosphere, possibly leading to light percipitation
What is a tundra?
Earth’s coldest biome, with ground whose lower layers stay frozen all year long
What is mass?
A measure of the amount of matter in an object
What is a planet?
A large body in space that moves around a star
What does reproduce mean?
To make more organisms of their own kind
What is a water shed?
An area of land that is drained by a series of creeks and rivers
What is through?
The lowest point of a wave
What is a seed?
An undeveloped plant with stored food in a protective covering
