Mr. B's Quizlet

Vocabulary Sheet

Vocab Words for Water

Hydrosphere- all the water found on, above and under Earth’s surface

Estuary- A place where freshwater from a river meets and mixes with salt water from the ocean

Turbidity- a measure of how clear the water is

Reservoir- A natural or artificial lake that stores water for human use

River basin/watershed- an area of land that drains into a stream, river, lake, or other body of water

Dissolved gases- to become part of a liquid that is unseen but present in the liquid, such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide

pH- a measure of how acidic or how basic a liquid is

Nitrates- are the chemicals found in fertilizes, pesticides, and food preservatives; not good for water if water contains high amounts of it

Phosphates- are the chemicals found in some house hold cleaners, not good for water if the water contains high amounts of it

Bio-indicators- an organism used to monitor the health of a river, based on tolerant and intolerant organisms

Universal Solvent- a liquid that will dissolve anything with a charge (polarity)

Ground water - water held underground in the soil or in pores and crevices in rock

Potability – water that is fit or suitable for drinking

Geology Evolution Vocab

1. Relative Dating/Age – the age of a rock or fossil when compared to another rock or fossil
2. Absolute Dating/Age – the actual age of a rock or fossil, or how long ago it formed
3. Law of Superposition – in undisturbed layers of sedimentary rocks, older layers of rock beneath younger rock layers
4. Radioactive Dating – a way to measure the age of a material by comparing the amount of decayed radioactive element present in the item
5. Half-Life – the amount of time required for half of the radioactive material to decay in an item
6. Geology – the study of Earth’s history, processes, and structures
7. Geologic time scale – a timeline that organizes major events in the Earth’s history
8. Fossil – the preserved remains or evidence of an organism that lived in a past age
9. Index fossil – a fossil that is useful for dating geologic layers because the organism only lived for a short period of time
10. Ice core – a cylinder of ice removed from an ice sheet
11. Intrusion- the forcing of molten rock into an earlier rock formation
12. Extrusion – rock formation form when weathering erodes newer rock, exposing older rock
13. Fault – a break or crack in the Earth’s surface along which movement occurs

Alternative Energy Vocabulary

Biomass - any material from living things that can be used as an energy source

Energy - the ability to make things move or change

Geothermal energy - heat energy from within earth that can be used to heat buildings and produce electricity

Hydropower - the energy of moving water

Nonrenewable energy resource - a source of energy that is used much faster than it can be replaced by nature

Nuclear energy - energy stored in the nucleus of an atom

Renewable energy resource - a source of energy that can be replaced by nature as it is used or that cannot be used up

Solar battery - a device that stores electrical energy produced by a solar cell during the day

Solar energy - energy from the sun

Solar reflector - a device that gathers sunlight and reflects it onto fluid-filled pipes

Stewardship - the following of practices that protect earth's resources

Thermal energy - the energy of the moving particles that make up all matter

Wind energy - the energy of moving air

Photovoltaic cell - a device that can change light energy into electricity; also called a solar cell

Fossil fuels - a source of energy that formed from the remains of organisms that lived millions of years ago

Global warming - a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants.