In preparation for the STAAR Science test your student will be taking next year, I use a cumulative vocabulary quiz format.  The STAAR test covers knowledge acquired from 6th-8th grades so your student will be responsible for knowing the following terms from the 6th grade.  These terms will randomly be included on their 7th grade vocabulary quizzes; I will try to tie and quiz the 6th grade terms into the material we are studying. Their first vocabulary quiz for this year will be a review of the 6th grade terms.   

Background Vocabulary

Acceleration -a measure of the change in velocity during a period of time

Autotrophic – an organism that converts light energy to usable energy (an organism that can make its own food)

Average Speed -the total distance traveled divided by the total time taken to travel that distance

Chemical Energy – energy that is stored in and released from the bonds between atoms

Compounds –a substance made of two or more elements that are chemically joined in a specific combination

Conductivity – the ability to transfer thermal energy by collisions between particles of matter

Density – the mass per unit volume of a substance

Displacement – the difference between the initial, or starting, position and the final position of an object that has moved

Distance –the extent or amount of space between two things, points, lines, etc.

Electrical Energy – energy carried by an electric current

Elements – a pure substance made of only one kind of atom

Energy Transformation – the conversion of one form of energy to another

Eukaryotic – a cell that has a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles

Force -a push or a pull on an object

Gravity –an attractive force that exists between all objects that have mass

Heterotrophic – an organism that obtains energy from other organisms

Kinetic Energy – energy due to motion

Luster – the way a mineral reflects or absorbs light at its surface

Malleability – the ability of a substance to be hammered or rolled into sheets

Mass -the amount of matter in an object

Mechanical Energy – sum of the potential energy and the kinetic energy in a system

Metalloids – an element that has physical and chemical properties or both metals and nonmetals

Metals – an element that is generally shiny, is easily pulled into wires or hammered into thin sheets, and is a good conductor of electricity and thermal energy

Multicellular –Having or consisting of many cells

Nonmetals – an element that has no metallic properties

Potential Energy – stored energy due to the interactions between objects or particles

Prokaryotic – a cell that does not have a nucleus or other membrane-bound organelles

Solar System –the sun together with all the planets and other bodies that revolve around it.

Speed -the distance an object moves divided by the time it takes to move that distance

Substance – matter with a composition that is always the same

Time –A continuous, measurable quantity in which events occur in a sequence proceeding from the past through the present to the future.

Transition Metals – elements in groups 3-12 on the periodic table

Unicellular –Having or consisting of a single cell

Velocity -the speed and the direction of a moving object

Volume – the amount of space a sample of matter occupies