PSSA Grade 5 Science flashcards
PSSA Grade 5 Science · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Hypothesis
- A testable prediction about what will happen in an experiment, based on observations and prior knowledge, that can be supported or rejected by the data collected.
- Independent variable
- The one factor an experimenter purposely changes or manipulates in order to observe how it affects the outcome being measured.
- Dependent variable
- The factor that is measured or observed in an experiment; it responds to changes the experimenter makes to the independent variable.
- Controlled variable
- A factor that is kept the same across all trials of an experiment so that it cannot affect the results.
- Inference
- A conclusion drawn from observations combined with prior knowledge rather than from direct evidence; it is an interpretation of what was observed.
- Quantitative data
- Information recorded as numbers or measurements, such as length in centimeters or temperature in degrees Celsius, which can be compared, averaged, and graphed.
- Scientific model
- A representation such as a diagram, physical object, or computer simulation used to study things that are too large, small, slow, or dangerous to observe directly.
- Repeated trials
- Running the same experiment multiple times so that errors average out and the results become more reliable and trustworthy.
- Cell
- The smallest unit of structure and function in living things; all organisms are made of one or more cells that carry out life processes.
- Photosynthesis
- The process in which plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make sugar for food and release oxygen into the air.
- Producer
- An organism, usually a plant or alga, that makes its own food using sunlight and forms the base of a food chain.
- Decomposer
- An organism such as a fungus or bacterium that breaks down dead plants and animals and returns nutrients to the soil.
- Adaptation
- A body part or behavior that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment, such as camouflage, thick fur, or migration.
- Inherited trait
- A characteristic passed from parents to offspring through genes, such as eye color, fur pattern, or flower color.
- Metamorphosis
- A change in body form during an animal's life cycle, such as a caterpillar becoming a butterfly or a tadpole becoming a frog.
- Ecosystem
- All the living and nonliving things in an area, including organisms, water, soil, air, and sunlight, interacting as a system.
- Matter
- Anything that has mass and takes up space; it exists as solids, liquids, and gases and is made of particles too small to see.
- Physical change
- A change in size, shape, or state of matter that does not create a new substance, such as melting ice or dissolving sugar.
- Chemical change
- A change that produces a new substance with different properties, often shown by color change, gas bubbles, heat, or a new odor.
- Friction
- A force that opposes motion when two surfaces rub against each other, producing heat and slowing moving objects down.
- Gravity
- A force that pulls objects toward each other; Earth's gravity pulls objects toward its center and keeps the planets in orbit.
- Kinetic energy
- The energy an object has because of its motion; a faster-moving or more massive object has more kinetic energy.
- Conductor
- A material, such as copper or aluminum, that allows heat or electric current to pass through it easily.
- Series circuit
- A circuit with only one path for electric current, so if one bulb or wire is broken the whole circuit stops working.
- Rotation
- The spinning of Earth on its axis, which takes about 24 hours and causes the cycle of day and night.
- Revolution
- The movement of Earth around the Sun, which takes about 365 days and, together with Earth's tilt, causes the seasons.
- Water cycle
- The continuous movement of water between Earth's surface and the air through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection.
- Weathering
- The breaking down of rocks into smaller pieces by water, wind, ice, or living things, without the pieces being carried away.
- Erosion
- The movement of weathered rock and soil from one place to another by water, wind, ice, or gravity.
- Igneous rock
- Rock formed when melted rock cools and hardens, either slowly deep underground or quickly at the surface after a volcano erupts.
- Moon phases
- The changing shape of the lit part of the Moon as seen from Earth, repeating about every 29 days as the Moon orbits Earth.
- Fossil
- The preserved remains or traces of an organism that lived long ago, most often found in layers of sedimentary rock.