Study Guide
Quick meanings for every word. Pair terms with visuals to support newcomers.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Classify | To put things into groups based on shared characteristics. |
| Communicate | To share ideas, results, or information with others. |
| Compare | To look at two or more things and find how they are alike or different. |
| Conclude | To state what you learned, based on evidence. |
| Data | Information collected during an investigation, often in the form of numbers or observations. |
| Design Cycle | A process engineers use: plan a solution, build and test it, then use what you learn to improve it. |
| Engineer | A person who uses science and math to design and build solutions to problems. |
| Evidence | Data or observations that support or reject an idea. |
| Infer | To make a reasonable guess about something based on evidence, not just observation alone. |
| Interpret | To explain what a set of data or evidence means. |
| Investigate | To study a question closely, often by testing it. |
| Justify | To explain the reasons behind a claim, using evidence to back it up. |
| Measure | To find the size, length, mass, or amount of something using a tool. |
| Observe | To use your senses — sight, hearing, touch, smell — to gather information. |
| Organize | To arrange information or objects in a clear, useful order. |
| Predict / Hypothesis | A testable statement about what you think will happen, made before an investigation, often in an if-then form. |
| Question | A request for information that can guide an investigation. |
| Record | To write down or otherwise capture data during an investigation. |
| Relate | To find and explain a connection between two or more ideas. |
| Science | A way of studying the natural world using observation, evidence, and testing. |
| Acidic | Describes a substance with a pH below 7. Lemon juice and vinegar are common examples. |
| Acidity | A measure of how much a substance behaves like an acid — the lower the pH, the higher this is. |
| Alkalinity | A measure of how much a substance behaves like a base — the higher the pH, the higher this is. |
| Atoms | The smallest particles that make up all matter, made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. |
| Basic | Describes a substance with a pH above 7. Baking soda and soap are common examples. |
| Changes in Matter | How matter can change form: a physical change alters shape or state without making a new substance, while a chemical change creates a new substance entirely. |
| Chemical Equation | A written way to show what happens in a chemical reaction, using symbols for the starting and ending substances. |
| Compounds | Substances made of two or more different elements chemically bonded together. |
| Conservation of Mass | The scientific rule that mass is neither created nor destroyed during a chemical reaction — it just gets rearranged. |
| Elements | The basic substances that make up all matter — each one cannot be broken down into anything simpler by chemical means. |
| Families | Another name for the columns of the periodic table — used because elements in the same one behave in similar ways, like members of a family. |
| Groups | The columns of the periodic table. Elements in the same one share similar chemical properties. |
| Indicator | A substance that changes color to show whether something is acidic or basic. |
| Litmus Paper | A strip of paper that turns red in acids and blue in bases, used to quickly test a substance's pH. |
| Metals | Elements that are typically shiny, bendable, and good at conducting heat and electricity. |
| Mixtures | Two or more substances combined physically, without any new substance forming — each part keeps its own properties. |
| Molecules | Two or more atoms bonded together. |
| Neutral | Describes a substance with a pH of exactly 7 — neither acidic nor basic. Pure water is a common example. |
| Noble Gases | A group of elements on the periodic table that rarely react with other elements. |
| Non-Metals | Elements that are typically dull, brittle, and poor at conducting heat and electricity. |
| Periodic Table of Elements | A chart that organizes all known elements by their properties and atomic structure. |
| Periods | The rows of the periodic table. |
| pH | A number, usually from 0 to 14, that measures how acidic or basic a substance is. |
| pH Scale | The full range of values, from 0 (most acidic) to 14 (most basic), used to measure acidity. |
| Phase Change | A change of state — like solid to liquid, or liquid to gas — without changing what the substance is made of. |
| Phenolphthalein | A chemical indicator that stays clear in acids but turns pink in bases. |
| Properties | The characteristics that describe matter, such as color, hardness, or density. |