Earth & Space
This is the name for a pattern of stars seen from Earth, like Orion or the Big Dipper.
What is a constellation?
This word describes all the living and nonliving things in an area interacting together.
What is an ecosystem?
This is the smallest building block of matter.
What is an atom?
This crosscutting concept asks the question: 'What made this happen?'
What is cause and effect?
This is what photosynthesis produces for plants.
What is food (sugar) and oxygen?
This is what causes day and night on Earth.
What is Earth's rotation on its axis?
Plants, algae, and trees are all examples of this type of organism because they make their own food using sunlight.
What is a producer?
Cutting paper, melting ice, and bending a paperclip are all examples of this type of change.
What is a physical change?
A student tracks ocean temperatures every month for a year and notices they rise and fall at the same times each year.
What is patterns?
A shark eats a fish, the fish eats shrimp, and the shrimp eats algae. The algae is this type of organism.
What is a producer?
This is what causes the seasons on Earth.
What is Earth's revolution around the Sun?
Unlike a food chain, this shows ALL the feeding relationships in an ecosystem — not just one path
What is a food web?
Burning wood, rusting metal, and baking a cake are all examples of this type of change because a new substance is created.
What is a chemical change?
A scientist studies how the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere all work together on Earth. This concept describes her approach.
What is systems?
Ice is water in this state of matter.
What is a solid?
Water from a puddle disappears on a sunny day because of this step in the water cycle.
What is evaporation?
These are the four spheres of Earth — name all four.
What are the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere?
These are the three states of matter.
What are solid, liquid, and gas?
Plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Animals breathe in oxygen and release carbon dioxide. This concept describes how matter moves in this cycle.
What is energy and matter?
This force is responsible for keeping the planets in orbit around the Sun.
What is gravity?
A scientist notices that the same constellations appear in the sky every winter. This concept explains what the scientist is observing.
What is patterns?
A forest loses all its decomposers. This is what would most likely happen to the dead plants and animals on the forest floor.
What is they would pile up and nutrients would not return to the soil?
An engineer builds a bridge but it collapses during testing. According to the engineering design cycle, this is what she should do next.
What is improve (or redesign) the bridge?
A student asks: 'If we remove the wolves from Yellowstone, what will happen to the deer population?' Name the TWO crosscutting concepts this question involves.
What are cause and effect AND systems
A student mixes baking soda and vinegar and sees bubbles form. This is evidence of this type of change, and THIS is how you know
What is a chemical change? You know because a new substance (gas) was created.