Matter & Atomic Structure
This subatomic particle has a positive charge and is found in the nucleus; its number determines the identity of the element.
What is a proton?
When a track star starts a race, they are converting this "stored" energy into kinetic energy.
What is potential energy?
This "powerhouse" organelle is responsible for creating energy (ATP) for the cell through cellular respiration.
What is the mitochondria?
This is the primary reason Virginia experiences four seasons throughout the year.
What is the tilt of the Earth on its axis? (Note: Remind students it's not distance from the sun!)
This is a testable explanation or an "educated guess" about the outcome of an experiment.
What is a hypothesis?
In a softball game, the dirt on the field is this type of mixture where you can clearly see the different parts.
What is a heterogeneous mixture?
To find the speed of a pitch in a baseball game, you must divide the distance to home plate by this.
What is time?
This green pigment in plant cells captures sunlight to start the process of photosynthesis.
What is chlorophyll?
This object has the strongest gravitational pull in our solar system?
What is the sun?
In an experiment testing how different cleats affect a track runner's speed, the type of cleat is this type of variable.
What is the independent variable?
These are the three states of matter. In the first, particles vibrate in place; in the second, they slide past; in the third, they move fast and spread out.
What are solids, liquids, and gases?
This type of heat transfer occurs when a Staunton sidewalk gets hot under the sun without any air moving or objects touching it.
What is radiation?
This is the process where a single cell divides to produce two identical daughter cells for growth and repair.
What is mitosis?
This is the name for the the 4 innermost planets.
What is rocky or terrestrial?
This is the group in an experiment that receives no treatment and is used for comparison.
What is the control group?
This is the smallest unit of a compound that still has all the properties of that compound, formed when two or more atoms bond.
What is a molecule?
According to Newton, an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by this type of force.
What is Newton's First Law of Motion?
In the Chesapeake Bay, a blue crab is an example of this type of consumer that eats both plants and animals.
What is an omnivore?
These tides occur when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned, producing the greatest difference between high and low tide.
What are spring tides?
These are resources like wind, sun, and water that can be replaced in a relatively short amount of time.
What are renewable resources?
On the Periodic Table, elements in the same vertical column (Group) share these, while elements in the same horizontal row (Period) share the same number of energy levels.
What are chemical properties?
In a circuit, this is the measure of the "push" or electrical potential difference
What is voltage?
This level of organization includes all the different populations of species living and interacting in a specific area, like Gypsy Hill Park.
What is a community?
This is the movement of water from the surface of the earth into the atmosphere.
What is evaporation?
This is the largest watershed in Virginia, which many of our local Staunton streams eventually flow into.
What is the Chesapeake Bay watershed?