______’sScience Test Study Guide

You can find practice science questions here:

Animals

*adapt (adaptation) – changes that help living things survive in their environment

*organism – any living thing

*habitat – the area where an organism lives

*hibernate – to go to sleep for the winter and live on stored fat

*migrate – to move from one place to another, usually with

the changing of the seasons

*behavior – the way an animal responds to a change in the environment

*population – all the members of ONE speciesliving in a

particular area (What is the deer population in White Plains?)

*community– ALLthe populations living in one area

*species – a group of organisms that are the SAME

*ecosystem – a collection of living things and the environment in which they live

Obtaining Food

  • Food Chain – a series of organisms

through which energy is passed

  • The Sun – source of energy (Most important!)
  • Producers – organisms that use the

sun’s energy to MAKE THEIR OWN FOOD!

  • Consumers – organisms that eats OTHER

organisms in a food chain

  • Predators – animals that eat other animals for food
  • Prey – animals that are eaten by hunters
  • Decomposers – breakdown(eat) DEAD plants and animals
  • Carnivores – meat eaters
  • Herbivores – plant eaters
  • Omnivores – eat BOTH meat and plants
  • Vertebrates– an animal with a backbone (Like You!)
  • Invertebrates–an animal without a backbone (A snake!)

Human Growth and Development

  • Balanced Diet – eating a variety of healthy foods every day.
  • Harmful Substances – things such as alcohol, tobacco, and drugs that do damage to the body that will last a lifetime
  • Offspring– new living things that parents produce.

These are the young (babies) of plants and animals

  • Traits – are qualities or characteristics of living things or a species

Example:

Birds have wings.

I have hazel eyes.

  • Inherited – traits that are passed down from parents to offspring

Example:

I have hazel eyes just like my mom’s.

  • Life Cycle – the stages of growth of a plant or animal form the beginning of its life to the end of its life

Example:

Frog: egg, tadpole, adult frog

Insect: egg, larva, pupa, adult

  • Metamorphosis– a complete CHANGE in form

Example:

A caterpillar becomes a butterfly.

  • Life Span – the length of time from the beginning of a plant or animal’s life until the end of its life (birth to death)
  • Warm-blooded – an animal whose blood temperature remains relatively constant (the same)

Example:

A healthy human’s temperature is about 98.6 degrees. If we go outside in the freezing cold, our body temperature is still around 98.6 degrees.

  • Mammals –warm blooded vertebrates. They give live birth to their young (they do not lay eggs) and generally have hair.

Example:

Humans are mammals as are cats, dogs, giraffes, and lions.

  • Cold-blooded– an animal whose blood temperature changes with the outside temperature. (They also, lay eggs!)

Example: Fish and most reptiles

  • Instinct – something you are born knowing

Example:

You are born knowing how to cry, swallow, and laugh.

  • Learned Behavior – something you learn

Example: You learn how to read and ride a bike.

Characteristics of a Plant:

*Energy – gives the plant strength to live, grow, and carry out life processes (THE SUN)

*Germinate (Germination) – when a seed starts to grow roots and shoots

Life Cycle: Seed Seedling Plant

*Photosynthesis – the process by which a plant makes its food.

Carbon dioxide + Water + Energy (sunlight) = Glucose (plant food)

PLANTS NEED SUNLIGHT, WATER AND NUTRIENTS, AND AIR!

Life Cycle: Seed Seedling Plant

Parts of a Plant:

*Leaves – help plants gather sunlight and use it to make food for the plant (it’s like the ‘kitchen’ – where the food is made)

*Roots –grow in the soil and take in water and nutrients

*Flowers – help the plant reproduce

(This is where the SEEDis made)

*Stem – gives the plant support and transports the water and nutrients from the roots to the leaf, where the food is made.

Plants change light energy, from the Sun, to food which is stored as chemical energy.

Earth, Moon, and Sun:

*Rotation (to rotate) – the Earth rotates or spins ONCE around every 24 hours…resulting in day and night.

*Revolution (to revolve) - the Earth moves in a path around the sun…it takes ONE YEAR for the Earth to revolve around the sun.

Properties of Matter:

*Property – what can be observed about an object…size, shape, color, hardness, luster (shiny or dull), and weight.

States of Matter:SolidLiquidGas

*Matter – anything that has mass and takes up space.

(You, me, book, pencil)

*Mass – the amount of matterin an object
The Water Cycle:

*Water cycle – the constant movement of water from the ground, to the sky, and back again.

*Water vapor – water in its gas form

*Evaporation – the changing of a liquid into a gas

*Condensation – the changing of a gas into a liquid

*Precipitation – water falling from the sky as snow, sleet, rain, or hail

*Runoff – water flowing on the Earth’s surface (can be flooding)

*Groundwater – water that moves downward into the ground

*Erosion- the process by which the surface of the earth is worn away by the action of water, glaciers, winds, waves, etc.

*Weathering – the breaking of rock into smaller rocks and soil

*Deposition – dropping or settling of earth materials

Rivers, glaciers, and oceans can carry rocks for thousands of miles and drop them off in a different area.

Energy:

*Energy – the ability to do work

*Work – is done when something moves and energy is transferred

Types of Energy:

*Heat energy – raises the temperature of matter

(A cup of hot cocoa in your hands)

*Chemical energy – energy stored in substances such as food, gasoline, and wood(also heat energy when burned)

(Striking the tip of a match)

*Light energy – moves out from objects like the sun or a light bulb

*Sound energy – is created when objects vibrate causing movements in the air

*Mechanical energy – is involved in moving matter -- This is the kinetic (moving) or potential (stored) energy

(Remember the roller coasters!)

*Circuit – a path like circle

A closed circuit will allow the light to go on!

An open circuit will turn the light off!

A conductor will allow electricity to pass through it!

***Metal is a great conductor!***

An insulator does not allow electricity to pass through it.

***Rubber, plastic, and wood are great insulators!***

**Batteries –are containers of matter with stored energy (chemical energy)

**Solar – means powered by energy from the sun

Mechanical Forces

*Force – a push or a pull

*Friction – a force that resists the motion of one surface past another surface

Simple Machines – make work easier

*Inclined plane – a ramp

*Wedge – cuts through a material (a knife)

*Screw

*Wheel and axle

*Pulley

Magnetism:

*Magnet – an object that pulls, or attracts, certain materials to it.

A magnet is attracted to most (not all) metals. These metals are IRON, nickel, and cobalt.

Every magnet has two magnetic poles --- a north poleand a south pole. A magnet’s force is STRONGEST at its poles.