| Term | Definition |
|
Balanced forces |
Two equal forces acting in opposite directions that cancel each other out. |
|
Balanced diet |
A diet that gives the body the right amounts of all types of food. |
|
Cells |
Tiny bits that all living things are made from. |
|
Electrical conductor |
Something that lets electricity pass through. |
|
Thermal conductor |
Something that lets heat pass through. |
|
Consumer |
Something in a food chain that consumes food. |
|
Dissolve |
This is when a solid mixes into a liquid and just leaves a new liquid. |
|
Evaporation |
When a liquid warms up and starts to turn into a gas – not the same as boiling. |
|
Excretion |
Plants or animals getting rid of waste substances. |
|
Fertilisation |
When sperm joins with egg – or pollen joins with ovule. |
|
Food chain |
A diagram which shows the flow of energy from organism to organism. |
|
Friction |
The force that gives us grip. |
|
Impermeable |
Something that doesn’t let water through. |
|
Electrical insulator |
Something that won’t let electricity pass through it. |
|
Light source |
Something that gives out its own light. |
|
Material |
What something is made of. |
|
Newton meter |
A spring balance used to measure force. |
|
Nutrition |
Plants and animals getting food so that they can grow. |
|
Organ |
Part of the body with a special job to do. |
|
Particles |
Really really tiny bits that everything is made from. |
|
Pollination |
Getting pollen from a flower to the stigma on another flower. |
|
Producer |
An organism in a food chain that makes its own food. |
|
Reversible |
A change that can be made to go the other way. |
|
States |
Solid, liquid and gas are the three ***** something can be in. |
|
Upthrust |
The force which pushes back up from water, air or a solid surface. |
|
Organism |
Living thing, animal or plant. |
|
Ovary |
Where eggs are made. |
|
Photosynthesis |
Making food from carbon dioxide and water – needs chlorophyll and sunlight. |
|
Pollen |
The male part of a plant that goes to make a new seed. |
|
Pollination |
Getting pollen to the stigma. |
|
Predator |
Animals that eat other animals. |
|
Prey |
An animal killed and eaten by a predator. |
|
Protein |
A food that builds muscle. |
|
Puberty |
When the body changes and develops between 10 and 18 years old. |
|
Pulse |
The rhythm of the heart beating. |
|
Pulse rate |
How many times the heart beats in a minute. |
|
Relax |
When a muscle gets longer. |
|
Reproduction |
Making a new generation. |
|
Respiration |
Using oxygen to turn food into energy. |
|
Ribs |
The bones in the chest that protect the heart and lungs. |
|
Root |
Part of a plant under the ground that takes in water. |
|
Sepal |
Protects the petals when the flower is still in the bud. |
|
Side effect |
Something that happens as well as something that was supposed to happen. |
|
Skull |
The bones that protect the brain. |
|
Spine |
The backbone. |
|
Stamen |
The male part of the flower. |
|
Starch |
A type of carbohydrate – eg. In pasta. |
|
Stem |
Holds a plant upright. |
|
Stigma |
At the top of the carpel, where pollen lands. |
|
Style |
The bit that holds up the stigma. |
|
Sugar |
A type of carbohydrate, e.g. honey. |
|
Tendon |
Joins muscle to bone. |
|
Variation |
Differences in living things. |
|
Vein |
Takes blood back to the heart. |
|
Vertebrate |
Animal with a back bone. |
|
Virus |
A type of microbe. |
|
Air |
A mixture of gases including oxygen. |
|
Boiling temperature |
Temperature at which a liquid changes into a gas. |
|
Carbon dioxide |
A gas that’s found in the air. |
|
Chemical change |
A change that cannot be undone. |
|
Condensation |
When water vapour cools and turns into a liquid. |
|
Decant |
Letting solids settle to the bottom and pouring off the liquid very carefully. |
|
Dilute |
A solution with a high percentage of water in it. |
|
Fabric |
Made from fibres spun and woven together. |
|
Filter |
Separate solid bits from a liquid. |
|
Freeze |
When a liquid gets cold and turns into a solid. |
|
Gas |
One of the three states a material can be in. Can flow and change volume. |
|
Irreversible |
A change that can’t be undone. |
|
Liquid |
A state a material can be in. Can change shape, flow but not change volume. |
|
Magnetic |
A material that’s attracted to a magnet. |
|
Force |
A push or pull |
|
Repel |
Push apart |
|
Melt |
When a solid warms up and turns into a liquid. |
|
Mixture |
Two or more substances mixed together – that can be separated. |
|
Oxygen |
A gas in the air that our bodies need to keep us alive. |
|
Permeable |
Allows water to go through it. |
|
Property |
A quality of a material, like ‘hard’, ‘shiny’, 'conducts electricity' etc. |
|
Pure |
Not mixed with anything else. |
|
Irreversible |
A change that cannot be made to go the other way. |
|
Room temperature |
The temperature indoors, usually 20 degrees C |
|
Solid |
One of the states a material can be in – Keeps its shape and you can hold it. |
|
Solidify |
When something turns into a solid. |
|
Solution |
A mixture of solid and liquid. You can’t see the solid, but it is still there. |
|
Temperature |
How hot or cold something is. |
|
Thermal conductor |
Something that lets heat pass through it easily. |
|
Thermal insulator |
Something that won’t let heat pass through it easily. |
|
Thermometer |
Something we use to measure temperature. |
|
Undissolved |
Excess solid that hasn’t dissolved. |
|
Water cycle |
Water in the air condenses and falls as rain and flows to the sea where the sun evaporates it... again and again... |
|
Artery |
Blood vessel carrying food and oxygen to the body cells. |
|
Adapted |
Suited to the environment where the organism lives. |
|
Canines |
Pointed teeth that tear food. |
|
Carbohydrate |
Food that gives the body energy. |
|
Carpel |
The female part of the flower. |
|
Carnivore |
Animal that only eats other animals. |
|
Chlorophyll |
The green stuff in plants that allows it to carry out photosynthesis. |
|
Classification |
Grouping similar organisms together. |
|
Contract |
When a muscle gets shorter. |
|
Dispersal |
Spreading seeds far away from the parent plant. |
|
Food web |
A lot of food chains linked up. |
|
Germ |
A non scientific word for microbe. |
|
Germination |
When a seed starts to grow. |
|
Habitat |
Where an organism lives. |
|
Herbivore |
An animal that only eats plants. |
|
Incisors |
Teeth that cut food. |
|
Key |
A set of questions that help you identify an unknown plant, animal or material. |
|
Life cycle |
The stages an organism goes through right from fertilisation to death. |
|
Micro-organism |
A very tiny living thing. |
|
Minerals |
Needed by plants to help them grow. |
|
Muscles |
These pull on bones to make you move. |
|
Air Resistance |
The air pushing back against you when you move through it. |
|
Axis |
An imaginary line through the earth from the North Pole to the South Pole. |
|
Battery |
More than one cell in a circuit - where the electricity comes from. |
|
Cell |
Forms part of a battery in a circuit. |
|
Circuit Diagram |
A diagram with symbols that shows all of the components in a circuit and how they are connected. |
|
Symbol |
Used in a circuit diagram instead of a picture to represent a component. |
|
Complete |
What a circuit must be to allow the flow of electricity. |
|
Component |
Something that does a job in a circuit. e.g. bulb, buzzer, or motor. |
|
Ear drum |
The part of the ear that vibrates to allow us to hear sound. |
|
Forcemeter |
Another name for a Newton meter - Used to measure force. |
|
Gravity |
Force that pulls us towards the centre of the earth. |
|
Light ray |
Light travelling - always in a straight line. |
|
Mirror |
Something that reflects light very well. |
|
Newton |
The unit we measure force in. |
|
Opaque |
Does not let light through. |
|
Orbit |
The path an object takes around another object in space. |
|
Periscope |
Device with two mirrors that lets you see over the top of things. |
|
Pitch |
How high or low a sound is. |
|
Reflection |
When light bounces off a smooth shiny surface. |
|
Rotate |
To go round and round on an axis. |
|
Shadow |
When light is blocked by something opaque. |
|
Solar system |
The Sun, the Earth and the other planets. |
|
Sound |
Made by something vibrating. |
|
Sphere |
The shape of the Earth. |
|
Spin |
The same as rotate. |
|
Sunrise |
When the Earth moves round so that an area, previously in darkness, is lit by the Sun. |
|
Sunset |
When a part of the Earth, previously lit by the Sun is plunged into darkness due to the Earth's rotation. |
|
Surface area |
The measurement of the outer surface of an object. |
|
Switch |
Allows you to make a gap in a circuit and close it again to control the flow of electricity. |
|
Tension |
The amount of pull in the length of a string - How tight it is. |
|
Tight |
When a string has a lot of tension you would describe it as... |
|
Tuning |
Changing the length or the tension of a string to change the pitch of the sound it makes. |
|
Vacuum |
Where there is no air. |
|
Vibration |
The way something moves to make it produce a sound. |
|
Water resistance |
Water pushing you back as you try to move through it. |
|
Weight |
The force pulling down on something due to gravity. |
|
Observation |
The act of noting and recording something. |
|
Measurement |
The dimension, quantity, or capacity determined by measuring. |
|
Table |
Used to record results from an investigation in columns and rows to allow them to be easily read. |