Glossary
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*Note: Not all these words appear in “Great 8 Science”, but
they are here due to their relevance to the Grade 8 science curriculum.
Absolute Zero: The lowest temperature possible for any
matter, because the particles do not have any energy left in them. In the
Celsius scale, it is -273, and in the Kelvin scale, it is 0.
Acid Rain:
A mixture of rainfall and a small amount of nitric or sulfuric acid, created by
contact with other gases.
Adaptation: A characteristic that allows organism to survive in a certain
environment.
Advance:
The forward movement of a glacier.
Alloy:
A mixture of two or more metals that has been mixed at the liquid state, and
then solidified.
Ammonite:
An extinct sea creature similar to a snail’s shell. It was one of the very
first kinds of life.
Atom:
The smallest particle of an element.
Attract:
Pull together/magnetism.
Axis:
The imaginary line that an object spins on. The earth's axis is approximately
23.5%.
Beds:
The different layers of sedimentary rocks.
Biological Weathering: The process of breaking rocks down into smaller
parts, were the “doers” living things.
Boiling Point: The boiling point is reached when a liquid rapidly turns to gas and
starts to bubble.
Cenozoic Era: The geological time period from 65 million years ago to the present.
Chemical Change: When a new substance is produced and the properties are different
than the original compound/element, a chemical change has occurred.
Chemical Energy: A kind of energy that is stored in matter- the ability to move,
think, grow, etc.
Chemical Weathering: The use of chemicals to crack and split rocks into
smaller pieces.
Cleavage:
The ability to split as a smooth and flat surface is a property that some
minerals have.
Compound:
A pure substance that is made up of two or more elements combined together.
Concentrated: A solvent that contains a lot of dissolved solute.
Condensation: The change of state from gas to liquid.
Conglomerate: A kind of sedimentary rock formed by small stones.
Crust:
The hard, outer shell of our planet, approximately 5-50km thick in certain
places on the planet.
Crystallize: To form crystals.
Day: The
amount of time it takes the earth to completely rotate once (24 hours).
Day and Night Cycle: The repeated cycle of day following night, forever
as along as the earth shall spin.
Delta:
The area of a lake or ocean where the sediment is deposited from erosion.
Density:
The amount of matter in a certain volume of substance, and is achieved by
dividing the mass by the volume of a certain amount of matter.
Deposit:
The build-up of sediment in a certain spot.
Diffusion:
The slow mixing of two or more substances without stirring.
Dilute:
Containing few dissolved solute atoms/molecules.
Direct Measurement: A way to measure a solid, liquid or gas using only
the measurement device and the substance being measured.
Displacement of Water: A form of indirect measurement that uses the “set”
volume of a “set” amount of water, to find the volume of a non-cubic shape.
First, you measure the volume of the water, place the object in the water, and
then measure the volume of the water/object again. Finally, you subtract the
original volume by the new volume, and you get the volume of the other object.
Dissolve:
To wholly mix the particles of two or more substances, forming a solution.
Distillate: The liquid that is recovered during distillation.
Distillation: A method of separating a solution, and recovering both the solute and
the solvent.
Diversity:
The creation of new species in new environments.
Eclipse:
When an object blocks the light rays going from the sun to another object, an
eclipse is said to occur.
Elastic Energy: An object that's shape can be contorted by pulling, pressing, or
twisting, is demonstrating elastic energy.
Electrical Energy: The energy of moving electric particles.
Element:
a pure substance that cannot be broken down into other pure substances.
Emulsifier: A substance added to a suspension to prevent separation.
Emulsion:
A substance that has been treated with an emulsifier.
Energy:
The ability to make things exhibit movement.
Era: One of the four geological time periods that covers
the earth’s history, from 570 billion years ago to the present.
Erosion:
The gradual movement of rocks and soil to another place, caused by gravity,
water or/and winds.
Erratic:
A large boulder dropped by a glacier in the middle of somewhere, normally where
you wouldn’t expect it to be.
Evaporation: The change of state from liquid to a gas.
Evolution:
The way that different species adapt to changing environments, and eventually
change into new species, over a long time.
Extinct:
A species that has ceased to exist on the face of the earth.
Extrusive Rock: Igneous rock that has been formed from the hardening of lava on the
crust of the earth.
Filter:
A device that stops large particles from flowing through, but allows smaller
particles.
Filtrate:
The part of the mixture that passes through a filter successfully (smaller
particles).
Filtration: The method of separating the smaller particles from the larger
particles of mechanical mixtures, suspensions, and solutions.
Fjord:
A long, U-shaped and steep-sided valley leading underneath the sea, formed by
glaciers.
Floodplain: A flat area beside a river that would flood if the river ran high.
Fluorescence: If a mineral is put under ultra-violet light and the color changes
and seems to glow, the property of fluorescence is demonstrated.
Fossil:
An imprint from the past in rock, be it a molded fossil, preserved original
matter or a replacement fossil.
Fracture:
The ability to split into many thousand pieces upon impact is a property that
some minerals have.
Freezing/Solidifying: The changes of state from a liquid to a solid.
Freezing Point: The temperature at which a pure substance changes from a liquid to a
solid. This temperature is the same as the melting point.
Gas: A
state of matter that has mass but no fixed volume or shape. A gas fills and
takes the shape of the container it is in.
Generation: Referring to organisms or roughly the same age that have the same
parents
Glacier:
A thick land-mass of moving ice.
Gravitational energy: Gravitational energy: Every atom or molecule has
its own gravitational energy, but it is so small, it doesn’t attract any thing.
However, when a clump of atoms/molecules is big enough, it starts to attract
smaller groups. This also causes the orbits of planets, stars, galaxies; and
makes electrons orbit around the neutrons and protons of an atom. All matter is
subject to gravity.
Heat: A sample of matter that has more energy than
another has a greater temperature, which results in warmth.
Ice Age:
A period in the earth's history that most of the world was covered in ice.
Ice Sheet:
A gigantic domed glacier, like those present in antiparticle and
Ice Wedging: As one of the many kinds of mechanical weathering, ice wedging is the
most common. Water fills up cracks in rock, and when it freezes, it expands and
cracks the rock, similar to driving an axe into wood.
Igneous Rock: Rock that is formed by the cooling of lava or magma, inside or
outside of the earth’s crust.
Indirect Measurement: A way to measure a solid, liquid or gas
using the measurement device, the substance being measured, and another
substance or container. See “displacement of water”
Inherit:
For an organism to receive something genetic from it’s parents.
Insoluble:
A solute that is not able to be dissolved in a solvent.
Intrusive rock: Igneous rock formed inside the earth from cooling magma.
Jungle: A forested area that is very dense, humid and
moist.
Kinetic Molecular Theory: A theory that says:
● All matter is made up of tiny particles,
● Those particles are continually moving,
● Gaps of empty spaces are between the particles,
● Both the particles and the spaces are two small to
be seen with the unaided eye,
● In a solidified object, the particles are very
close together, and move so slowly, they can only vibrate back and forth,
● A liquid's particles are slightly farther apart and
move a bit faster than a solid,
● The particles of a gas are very far apart
(comparatively) and move quickly,
● AND, any kind of energy makes the particles in any
of the three states move faster.
Landscape:
The physical features on the earth’s surface.
Lava:
Magma that has come in contact with the air, (only the mane changes to lava,
not the make-up) and flows on the earth’s surface.
Light Energy: The only form of energy that you can see directly.
Liquid:
The middle stage of matter that has a fixed volume and a fixed mass, but not a
fixed shape. A liquid takes the shape of the container that it it’s in.
Lunar Eclipse: When the earth is directly between the sun and the moon, and the
earth's shadow is cast upon the moon.
Magma:
Rock that is melted into a liquid at the center of the earth, and does not
touch the air.
Magnetic Energy: The kind of energy that causes certain metals to attract or repel
each other (also known as magnetism).
Mass:
The amount of matter in an object, measured in milligrams, grams, kilograms, or
tones.
Matter:
Matter is anything that has mass and volume.
Mechanical Energy: The energy of moving parts, like a bike or a
hand-shake.
Mechanical Mixture: A mixture that's two or more component can be seen
with the unaided eye.
Mechanical Weathering: The process of breaking rocks down into smaller
pieces by water continually freezing and thawing, similar to chopping an axe
into wood.
Metamorphic Rock: Any igneous or sedimentary rock that has been altered by changing
into magma, and then solidifying back to rock again.
Melting Point: The temperature that a solid changes into a liquid. The melting point
of a substance is the same as its freezing point.
Meniscus:
The point at which a liquid's curved side’s touch it's container's edge.
Mesozoic Era: 225-65 million years ago; the time period known as the age of
reptiles.
Mixture:
Any kind of matter that is not a pure substance, and has two or more
atoms/molecules that are not connected. The three kind of mixture are;
mechanical mixture, suspension, and a solution.
Mold:
A type of fossil that has been formed from any imprints or remains.
Molecule:
A tiny particle made up of two or more atoms joined together.
Month:
The amount of time that it takes the moon to revolve around the earth once
(29.5 days).
Moraine:
A deposit left at the furthest point that a retreating glacier reached.
Mudstone:
Sedimentary rock made of mud particles that have been cemented together over
many, many years.
Natural Selection: The theory that new species are created because of
the environment around them, and the genetic traits in some blood-lines.
Nuclear Energy: The energy stored in the nucleus of an atom.
Paleontologist: A person who studies the earth's life and past through fossils.
Paleozoic era: The time period from 570 billion years ago to 225 million years ago.
This block of time saw the beginnings of life.
Particle Model: A scientific theory that explains the properties of solid, liquids
and gases, and also that matter are made up of tiny particles. This theory has
been out dated by the kinetic molecular theory.
Penumbra:
The part of a shadow that some light rays have been blocked.
Physical change: A change in matter where no new substances are produced.
Population: A group of the same species living in the same relative area.
Precambrian Era: The oldest era- 4.6 billion years ago (when the earth was formed) to
570 million years ago.
Properties: A characteristic used to describe something.
Pure Substances: A material of which any sample's properties are the same, and is
either an element or a compound.
Qualitative Properties: Any property that uses words to describe a sample
of matter.
Quantitative Properties: Any property that uses number to describe a sample
of matter.
Quartzite:
Sandstone that has gone through the metamorphic process.
Replacement fossil: A fossil in which a dead animal's soft tissues are
replaced by minerals over a long period of time.
Residue:
The remainder of something that has evaporated, been distilled, or the
particles held back by a filter.
Retreat:
The backwards movement of the front edge of a glacier.
Revolution: The circling of one object around another, on an invisible path, like
the earth revolving around the sun, and the moon revolving around
the earth.
Rock Cycle: The way how rocks (metamorphic, sedimentary, and igneous)
inter-change from one to another.
Rotation:
The spinning of an object upon its axis.
Sandstone:
Sedimentary rock made of sand particles that have been cemented together over
many, many years.
Saturated:
When a substance is said to be saturated, it means that the solvent cannot
dissolve anymore of the solute.
Sediment:
The fragments of rock that are taken away from the source due to erosion;
including clay, mud, sand, gravel and boulders.
Sedimentary Rock: The result of sediment from erosion being broken down, decomposed,
compacted, and left undisturbed until it changed into rock.
Shadow:
The dark area behind an object that is blocking light rays coming from the
source, which is the opposite way that the shadows directed.
Shale:
Sedimentary rock formed from compressed clay.
Slate:
Metamorphic rock formed from shale.
Solar Eclipse: When the moon is directly between the sun and the earth, and the
moon's shadow is cast upon the earth.
Solar Energy: The general name for light energy received from the sun.
Solar System: Everything that revolves around the sun; planets, moons, asteroids.
Solid:
A state of matter that has a fixed mass, volume and shape, and is the lowest
possible matter.
Soluble:
A solute that is able to be dissolved in a solvent.
Solution:
A mixture that is made up of two or more components, but looks as if there is
only one.
Solvent:
The substance that dissolves a solute.
Solute:
The particles that are dissolved into a solution.
Sound Energy: The energy that you can hear that travels in vibrating waves through
the air.
Species:
The “global family” of a organism, that can breed or reproduce with one another
(“global family” refers to all of the human, rabbits, cats, dogs; etc; they all
are the same, no matter the color of fur or eyes; etc.)
Stages of Matter: Solid, Liquid, and Gas.
Streak:
The powdery mark created when some minerals are scratched against one another.
Striation:
The long parallel scrapes and scratches on rocks made by glaciers.
Sublimation: When a solid changes directly to a gas, and skips the liquid state
completely.
Summer and Winter Cycle: The repeated cycle of spring to summer to fall to
winter and then back to spring again; for ever as along as the earth shall spin
around the sun.
Surface Area: The rock or soil exposed to weathering.
Temperature: The average energy in an object, OR, a way of expressing the hot or
coldness of something.
Thermal energy: The amount of energy in the particles of matter (similar to heat).
Tides:
The constant rise and fall of the water level of the bodies of water, caused
buy the sun and moon's gravitational pull.
Trait:
A characteristic inherited from ancestors.
Trilobite:
An extinct underwater organism.
Umbra:
The part of a shadow that all light rays have been blocked.
Vibrate:
Move slowly back and forth.
Volume:
The amount of space that matter occupies. The units used to measure volume are
milliliters, liters, and sometimes, kiloliters.
Weathering: The process of slowly breaking down rocks into smaller pieces
(staring with boulders, ending up with sand.)
Year:
The amount of time it takes the earth to completely revolve once around the sun
(12 months/52 weeks/365 days).
Zero: The absence of any quality or simply
put, nothing.
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