Sun-Moon-Earth Systems
What does rotation mean?
To spin
What is a property of matter?
Something that we use to describe and compare substances
What causes evaporation to happen faster: warm temperatures or cold temperatures?
Warm temperatures
What is the original source of energy in every food web?
The Sun
We can describe and compare different substances using their properties.
List at least 3 properties we can use to describe and compare substances.
Color
Hardness (how easy it is to scratch)
Shininess (reflectivity)
If they attract magnets (magnetism)
If they carry heat or electricity (conductivity)
If they dissolve in water (solubility)
What is the difference between Rotation and Revolution?
Rotation means to spin and Revolution means to orbit or move around
A student mixes sand and water. Is this a chemical change or a mixture? Why?
It is a mixture and not a chemical change because the sand and water can still be separated, and no new substance was formed.
After water falls to the ground, two things can happen. What are they?
Absorption or Runoff
What does a food chain show?
The flow of energy or matter in an ecosystem
Why are shadows shorter in the summer than in the winter?
In the summer, the Sun is higher in the sky, so it makes shorter shadows. That’s also why days are longer in the summer.
(In the winter it is the opposite. The Sun is lower in the sky and so the shadows are longer and the days are shorter.)
1. How long does it take for the Earth to make one full rotation?
2. How long does it take the Earth to revolve around the Sun?
1. 24 Hours or 1 Day
2. 365.25 Days or 1 Year
If you melt an ice cube and then freeze it again, what type of change is happening?
A phase change
Why do clouds form in the sky?
Water vapor cools and condenses into tiny water droplets.
What process uses Sunlight to change carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen?
Photosynthesis
Describe how each of the 3 types of organisms get their energy
Producers
Consumers
Decomposers
Producers make their own energy through photosynthesis (ex. plants)
Consumers get their energy by eating other organisms.
Decomposers get their energy from breaking down dead plants and animals
How are the effects of the Earth's gravity different from the effects of the Sun's gravity on Earth?
Earth's gravity pulls everything towards the CENTER of the Earth.
The Sun's gravity causes the Earth to REVOLVE around the Sun.
Why is mixing vinegar and baking soda a chemical change instead of a physical change?
Because a new substance (a gas) is formed, and the materials cannot change back into vinegar and baking soda.
A student says, “There is plenty of water on Earth, so we should never run out.” Why is this not completely true?
Most water on Earth is saltwater, and only a small amount is freshwater that people and animals can use.
What would most likely happen if all the plants disappeared from a food web?
The animals would not have food and the food web would collapse.
Where can we find salt water on Earth?
Where can we find freshwater on Earth?
We can find saltwater in oceans, seas, gulfs, and bays.
We can find freshwater in rivers, lakes, streams, underground, glaciers, and polar ice caps.
If a shadow is long and pointing to the East, what time of day is it?
It will be evening.
(Shadows are longer when the Sun is lower in the sky, and the Sun sets in the West, so the shadow will be in the opposite direction, to the East)
Why is it easier to prove the law of conservation of matter in a closed system than in an open system?
Because in a closed system no matter can escape, so the total mass stays the same. In an open system, particles can leave, which makes it look like matter disappeared even though it didn’t.
Why does condensation happen after evaporation in the water cycle?
Water has to turn into a gas to evaporate into the air before it can condense back into a liquid in the clouds.
Water vapor rises into cooler air, cools down, and changes back into tiny liquid droplets.
How do decomposers in a composter help plants grow better later on?
Decomposers break down food scraps into nutrients that return to the soil, which helps plants grow.
What is a phase change?
What happens when you add heat to a substance?
What happens when you take away heat from a substance?
A phase change is when matter changes from one state to another.
Adding heat can make solids melt into liquids and liquids evaporate into gases.
Taking away heat can make gases condense into liquids and liquids freeze into solids.