Science Semester Study Guide
- The sun and the nine planets make up our solar system.
- All the planets are held in orbit by a force called gravity.
- Each of the nine planets moves in an orbit, or curved path, around the sun.
- Mercury is the closest planet to the sun.
- Venus is the second planet from the sun.
- The earth is the third planet from the sun.
- The earth is about 93 million miles from the sun.
- The earth is 70% water.
- The moon is the largest object in the night sky. It is 240,000 miles from earth.
- The sun is 400 times larger than the moon.
- Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969.
- Thunderstorms are heavy rains with thunder and lighting.
- Tornado is a large storm that forms over an ocean, the winds can go as fast as 500 per hour.
- Hurricane is a violent but small storm that starts over land.
- The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean.
- The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ocean.
- The Indian Ocean is the third largest ocean.
- The Arctic is the smallest ocean.
- Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
- An earthquake is shaking of the surface of earth when the plates of the earth move.
- About one million earthquakes happen every year.
- A tsunami is an earthquake underwater.
- Natural resources that can replace, or renew, themselves in a short time are called renewable natural resources.
- Natural resources that are replaced very slowly or not at all are called nonrenewable natural resources.
- Conservation is the protection of Earth’s natural balance and the wise use of its resources.
- Hibernation is sleeping through the winter.
- Migration is traveling south to warmer areas to find food and returning north in the spring.
- Protective coloring is called camouflage.
- A fox hole is called a den.
- The beaver builds a home in water. It is called a lodge.
- All animals reproduce. They make more living things like themselves.
- An animal that eats only other animals is a carnivore.
- An animal that eat both plants and animals is an omnivore.
- Invertebrates are animals that do not have a backbone.
- Earthworms do not have eyes or ears.
- Earthworms have 10 hearts.
- The two most dangerous spiders are the black widow and the brown recluse.
- Reptiles are vertebrates. A reptile is cold-blooded.
- Alligators can be found in the southeastern United States.
- Boa constrictor is the largest snakes in the world.
- There are about 300 kinds of poisonous snakes in the world.
- Birds are warm-blooded.
- There are over 8,600 kinds of birds.
- The largest bird is the ostrich.
- The smallest bird is the hummingbird.
- There are more than 4,000 different kinds of mammals.
- Mammals are vertebrates.
- Mammals are warm-blooded animals.
- Apes belong to a group of mammals called primates.
- Gibbons are the smallest apes.