Middle School Science Review

Physical Science

100

How many laws does Newton have?

3

300

When potential energy goes up, kinetic energy goes _______?

Down

400

What is the equation to calculate kinetic energy?

KE=1/2mv²

500

What do each of Newton's 3 Laws state?

1st: Things in motion tend to stay in motion, things at rest tend to stay at rest (law of inertia)

2nd: F=ma

3rd: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

Chemistry

100

What is the difference between an atom and a molecule?

Atom: Smallest particle of matter, contains protons, neutrons, and electrons

Molecule: Many atoms chemically bonded together

200

How many oxygen atoms are in H₂O?

1

300

What is the difference between a physical change and a chemical change?

Physical Change: A change that does not change the molecular makeup of the substance. (boiling water, cutting in half, coloring)

Chemical Change: A change that does change the molecular makeup of the substance. (burning/presence of heat, bubbling, new smell, brand new color, presence of new light)

400

What is the difference between reactants and products?

Reactants are present at the beginning of a reaction, products are present at the end.

500

How many of carbon atoms are there?

2CO₂

2

Earth Science

100

What is a tectonic plate?

Part of Earth's crust that moves. 

There are 12 major and several minor plates.

200

Name one natural hazard and its cause. 

Answers will vary. 

300

What are the 4 layers of the Earth?

Crust

Mantle

Outer Core

Inner Core

500

What are the three types of tectonic plate boundaries? 

Convergent, divergent, transform?

Astronomy

100

Name the phases of the moon.

New Moon

Waxing Crescent

First Quarter

Waxing Gibbous

Full Moon

Waning Gibbous

Third Quarter

Waning Crescent

New Moon

200

Explain the difference in the seasons between the northern and southern hemisphere.

The seasons are swapped in the northern and southern hemispheres (winter in the northern is summer in the southern). This is because the hemispheres are facing different ways (summer towards the sun winter away).

300

What is the difference between rotation and revolution:

Rotation: The Earth rotates on its axis (to spin around itself)

Revolution: The Earth revolves around the Sun (to spin around something else)

400

Gravity _________ (grows/shrinks) as two objects get closer together?

Grows

500

What is the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse?

Solar Eclipse: When the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, obscuring sunlight.

Lunar Eclipse: When the Moon moves into Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened.

Biology

100

What is an ecosystem? 

All of the living and nonliving things in an area.

200

What is the difference between predation and competition?

Predation: One organism hunting and killing another

Competition: Two organisms fighting/competing for resources to survive

300

Name one organelle and its function.

Nucleus: Control center of cell, Mitochondria: Produces energy for the cell, Cell Membrane: Controls what goes in or out of the cell

Many more answers taken!

400

What is an index fossil and why are they more useful than regular fossils in dating the rock layer? 

Index fossils are fossils that appear multiple times in a single rock layer. If we know the age of the index fossil, we know the age of the rock layer. This is different from regular fossils because they may appear across multiple layers of rock and don't tell us anything about the rocks' age.

500

Provide an example of natural selection and why is is an example.

Answers will vary.