Alberta PAT key terms

The central point that a paragraph, article, or passage is built around - what the writer most wants a reader to understand. It may be stated in a topic sentence or worked out from the details.

A broad idea about life or human behaviour that a literary work explores, such as loyalty, loss, or courage. Readers generalize a theme from characters, events, and repeated details rather than finding it stated once.

A conclusion a reader reaches by combining clues in a text with what the reader already knows. The answer is not printed outright, so evidence and reasoning must support it.

Wording that means more than, or something other than, its literal sense, used for effect - for example similes, metaphors, personification, and hyperbole. It shapes how vividly and emotionally a text reads.

A comparison that says one thing is another without using 'like' or 'as', as in 'the city was a furnace'. It borrows the qualities of one thing to describe another.

The vantage point from which a text is narrated - first person ('I'), second person ('you'), or third person ('he', 'she', 'they'). It determines what information and opinions the reader can receive.

The main reason a text was written, usually to inform, persuade, or entertain, and sometimes to instruct or describe. Naming the purpose helps a reader decide which details and claims deserve attention.

The writer's attitude toward the subject or audience, shown through word choice, sentence length, and detail - for example sarcastic, solemn, or cheerful. It is a clue to how the message should be taken.

The matching of words in gender and number, and of verbs with their subjects in person and number, that French grammar requires, as in 'les petites filles sont arrivées'. Missing agreement is one of the most common writing errors.

A small word placed before a noun to mark its gender, its number, and whether it is definite or indefinite - le, la, les, un, une, des, mon, cette. French needs one before nearly every noun.

A word or phrase that shows how two ideas are connected - cause (parce que), contrast (cependant), addition (de plus), or order (d'abord). These signals help a reader follow the logic of a French text.

The form of a verb that places an action in time and shows whether it is finished, ongoing, or repeated - présent, passé composé, imparfait, futur. Keeping tenses consistent is essential in a narrative.

A group of words in a text that all point to the same topic or idea, such as terms about cold weather or about money. Spotting one reveals what a passage is really focused on.

A comparison of two or more quantities by division, written as 3:5, 3 to 5, or as a fraction. It states how much of one quantity corresponds to a given amount of another.

A ratio that compares a number to 100, written with the % sign; 40% means 40 out of every hundred. Percents make it easy to compare parts of different-sized wholes.

A statement that two ratios are equal, such as 3/4 = 9/12. It is used to find an unknown quantity when the relationship between the amounts stays the same.

Any whole number that can be positive, negative, or zero - for example −8, 0, or 15. Integers contain no fractions or decimals and can be ordered on a number line.

A letter or symbol that stands for a number that is unknown or that changes, such as n in 4n + 3. Variables let people write general rules and solve equations.

The agreed order for calculating an expression: brackets, then exponents, then multiplication and division from left to right, then addition and subtraction from left to right. It ensures everyone gets the same result.

The measure of centre found by adding all the values in a data set and dividing by how many values there are; the average. One very large or very small value can pull it far from the rest.

The middle value of a data set once the values are arranged from least to greatest. With an even number of values, it is the mean of the two middle ones.

A number between 0 and 1 that expresses how likely an event is. When outcomes are equally likely, it equals the number of favourable outcomes divided by the total number of outcomes.

A testable prediction or explanation offered before an investigation begins, based on what is already known. It must be stated so that evidence could show it to be wrong.

A factor that an investigator deliberately holds constant across all trials so that it cannot explain differences in the results. Keeping everything else the same makes a comparison fair.

All the living organisms in an area together with the non-living parts of their surroundings - water, air, soil, sunlight - interacting as one system.

A diagram of the feeding relationships in an ecosystem, made of overlapping food chains. Arrows show the direction energy travels, from the organism eaten to the one that eats it.

A body feature, behaviour, or life process that helps an organism survive and reproduce where it lives, such as camouflage or deep roots. Adaptations build up in populations over many generations.

The process by which green plants, algae, and some bacteria use light energy to turn carbon dioxide and water into sugar, releasing oxygen. It supplies the energy that most food chains depend on.

The explanation that all matter is made of very small particles with empty space between them, always in motion, and moving faster when heated. It accounts for changes of state, expansion, and diffusion.

The amount of mass packed into a unit of volume, often measured in grams per cubic centimetre. A substance denser than the fluid around it sinks; a less dense one floats.

A system of government in which supreme power belongs to the people, who exercise it by voting for representatives in regular, free elections and by holding those representatives accountable.

The part of Canada's Constitution, in force since 1982, that lists fundamental freedoms plus democratic, legal, mobility, and equality rights, and that courts can enforce against governments.

A way of sharing power between one central government and several regional governments, each with its own responsibilities. In Canada, the Constitution divides authority between Parliament and the provinces.

The full authority of a state or nation to govern itself and make its own laws without outside control. In Canada the word also appears in debates over Quebec and over Indigenous self-government.

Evidence created at the time by someone involved in or witnessing an event - a letter, diary, photograph, treaty, or artefact. It gives direct testimony but may be one-sided or incomplete.

An account produced later that interprets, summarizes, or analyses primary evidence, such as a textbook, biography, or documentary. It depends on someone else's choices about what to include.

A leaning or unfair preference that shapes how information is chosen, left out, or worded, making a source less balanced. Historians look for it rather than assuming any account is neutral.

The rising share of a region's people who live in towns and cities rather than in the countryside, usually driven by jobs, services, and migration. It can bring opportunity along with crowding and strain on services.