It’s never too early to introduce excellent science vocabulary words to kiddos of all ages. Don’t underestimate the power of a young mind! You’re going to want to incorporate these simple science terms into your next science lesson! Let’s think and talk like a scientist!
SCIENCE VOCABULARY
Experiment like a scientist, talk like a scientist, and write like a scientist. No science vocabulary word is too big or too small; try them all!
You will be amazed at how quickly kiddos will pick up on and use these science terms once you start incorporating them into your science activities, demonstrations, and experiments.
ACIDS and BASES: An acid is any substance that increases the concentration of the hydrogen (H +) ions when it dissolves in water. A base is any substance that increases the concentration of the hydroxide (OH-) ions.
Both acids and bases can be weak. Many fruit juices, such as cranberry, apple, and orange juices, have weak acids that taste sour. Vinegar is a slightly stronger acid.
Acids and bases are vital if they release many ions in water. Bases are usually slippery or bitter-tasting. Many vegetables have weak bases. A stronger base would be household ammonia.
Pure water is neither an acid nor a base. Scientists measure the strength of an acid or base using a scale called pH. Distilled water has a pH of 7. Acids have a lower pH, and bases have a higher pH.
ATOMS: Atoms are the most minor units of an identifiable pure substance or a substance known as an element. Everything is made up of atoms.
Imagine you kept making an iron bar smaller and smaller until it was the size of a grain of sand. Well, an atom is much smaller than that, so we can’t see it even with a magnifying glass!
If you break up an atom and make the pieces smaller, the pieces cannot be identified as a substance or element. For example, you cannot have a piece of an Iron or Gold atom smaller than the atom and still call it Iron or Gold.
BUOYANCY: The ability of fluids to exert an upward force on the objects immersed in them.
CAPILLARY ACTION: The ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces without the help of an outside force, like gravity.
Capillary action occurs because of several forces. These include the forces of adhesion (water molecules are attracted and stick to other substances), cohesion, and surface tension (water molecules like to stay close together).
Plants and trees couldn’t survive without capillary action. Think about how tall trees can move a lot of water so far up to their leaves without a pump of any kind.
CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2): A colorless gas made up of molecules of one carbon atom joined with two oxygen atoms. It occurs naturally in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Plants take in carbon dioxide from the air and use it with energy from the sun to make food. We breathe out more carbon dioxide than we breathe in because our bodies release it when we use food for our energy. This is called the carbon cycle.
CHEMICAL REACTION: A chemical reaction is a process in which two or more substances form a new chemical substance. This might look like a gas formed, cooking or baking, or milk souring.
Some chemical reactions require energy to start, in the form of heat, while others produce heat when the substances react with each other.
Chemical reactions take place all around us. Cooking food is an example of a chemical reaction. Burning a candle is another example.
COHESION: The “stickiness” of like molecules to one another. The cohesive attractive force between like molecules causes it.
Water forms drops because of its cohesion. Because water molecules are more strongly attracted to each other than to other molecules, they form droplets on surfaces (e.g., dew drops) and form a dome when filling a container before spilling over the sides.
DATA: A collection of information useful for analyzing and interpreting to answer scientific questions.
DENSITY: The compactness of stuff in space or the amount of material in a set size. Denser materials of the same size are heavier because more material is in the same size space.
Density refers to a substance’s mass (the amount of matter in the substance) compared to its volume (how much space a substance takes up). For example, a block of lead will weigh much more than an equal volume of wood, which means that the lead is denser than wood.
DISSOLVE: To cause a solid or a gas (the solute) to pass into a liquid and form a solution. For example, sugar dissolves in water to form a sugar solution. Soda water is an example of a gas (carbon dioxide) dissolved in water.
When a solution forms the two substances stay the same without a chemical reaction. This is why if you dissolve sugar or salt in a glass of water and let the water dry out or evaporate, the salt or sugar will be left behind in the glass.
EMULSIFICATION: A process by which two liquids, that can’t dissolve in each other, are forced to combine in a liquid mixture (emulsion). Salad dressing is an emulsion of oil and vinegar.
EXPERIMENT: A test or investigation done under controlled conditions to discover something.
FATS: Nutrients in food that are made up of unique carbon and, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The body uses fats, which are very important to build nerve tissue (including the brain and nerves) and hormones. The body also uses fat as fuel. The extra fat that you eat can be stored in the body below the skin.
Fat has more energy in it than other foods. This is why the body uses fat to store food energy. Too much fat is bad for your health.
There are many types of fats. Oils such as olive oil and vegetable oil are fast. The fats we see in meat are made up of many different types. Some fats, like oils, are liquids, and others, such as the fat we see in meat, are solid at room temperature.
FLOAT: To rest on top of a liquid. More solid items have molecules that are packed tighter together and will sink. Less solid items are made up of molecules that are not as tightly packed together and will float! If the object is denser than water, it will sink. If it’s less dense, it will float!
FRICTION: A force that acts when two objects are in contact with each other. It slows or stops movement when those two surfaces are sliding or trying to slide across each other. Friction can occur between objects – solids, liquids, and gases.
GAS: One of the three states of matter, solid and liquid. In a gas, the particles move freely from one another. You can also say they vibrate! Gas particles spread out to take the shape of the container they are put in. Steam or water vapor is an example of a gas.
GRAVITY: A pulling force by which a planet or other body draws objects toward its center. Gravity is what keeps all the planets in orbit around the sun. The force of gravity keeps us close to the ground.
Our moon has less gravity than the Earth because it is smaller. If you went to the moon, you could jump about six times higher than on the Earth. That means if you can jump one foot off the ground now, you could jump 6 feet high on the moon because the moon has less force pulling you down.
KINETIC ENERGY: The energy an object has due to its motion. The faster or heavier a moving object is, the more kinetic energy it has.
A cannonball moving at the same speed as a tennis ball has more kinetic energy because it has more mass (weight).
A golf ball going 100 miles an hour has more kinetic energy than a tennis ball slowly rolling down the floor because the speed of the ball also gives it more kinetic energy.
LEVER: A long, sturdy body that rests on a support called a fulcrum. A lever can be used to move things. A see-saw is a lever that rests on a fulcrum in the middle.
LIQUID: One of the three states of matter, solid, and gas. In a liquid, the particles have some space between them with no pattern, and so they are not in a fixed position. A liquid has no distinct shape but will take the shape of a container it is put into. Water is an example of a liquid.
MAGNET: A magnet is a rock or a piece of metal that can pull specific types of metal toward itself. The force of magnets, called magnetism, is a force like electricity and gravity.
Magnetism works over a distance. This means a magnet does not have to touch an object to pull it.
MASS: The amount of matter in a substance. The amount of mass in a set area is called density.
MATTER: Any object that takes up space and has mass.
MINERALS: Solid substances that occur naturally. They do not come from animals, plants, or other living organisms.
MIXTURE: A material made up of two or more substances mixed. No chemical reaction occurs, and you can separate the substances in the mixture. Producing a mixture of liquids, solids, or gases is possible.
MOLECULES: The smallest unit of a substance called a compound that has all the properties of that substance. Molecules are made of at least 2 atoms joined together.
MOTION: The act of changing location from one place to another. The opposite of motion is rest.
NITROGEN: A chemical element that makes up a significant part of the Earth’s atmosphere. It is a colorless, odorless gas essential for life as it is a key component of proteins, DNA, and other organic molecules.
NON-NEWTONIAN FLUID: A fluid whose viscosity changes with the force applied. The fluid gets thicker depending on how it moves or is pressed on. It can be picked up like a solid but also flow like a liquid. Slime is an example of a non-Newtonian fluid.
OBSERVATION: Noticing what’s happening through our senses or with tools like a magnifying glass. Observation is used to collect and record data, which enables scientists to construct and then test hypotheses and theories.
POLYMER: Something made of very big molecules of the same type. Often, many smaller molecules are layered together in a repeating pattern. Many plastics are polymers. Silk and wool are also polymers.
Polymers can be hard or flexible, depending upon how the molecules are arranged. The word “poly” means many. Making slime is a great way to explore polymers.
POTENTIAL ENERGY: An object’s stored energy because of its position or state. Objects that are sitting in one place have potential energy.
A ball up high on a shelf has potential energy because if you push it off the shelf, it will fall. A falling ball has kinetic energy.
Water in a closed dam on a lake or river has potential energy because it is not moving past the dam. When the water is released, the stored or potential energy can be used to power machines or even turn a machine to make electricity.
PREDICTION: A guess at what might happen in an experiment based on observation or other information.
PROTEIN: A molecule in food. Protein is a nutrient found in food (such as meat, milk, eggs, and beans) made up of many smaller molecules called amino acids. These amino acids are joined in different patterns to make many proteins.
Protein is a necessary part of the diet for normal cell structure and function. It is best to have protein for your muscles, bones, and teeth to grow normally.
There are many different proteins, but once they are in your body, they all turn back into the amino acids that make your body strong. Egg whites are made of a protein called albumin, and milk has a protein called casein.
REST: Scientists use the word “rest” to mean when something is not moving. The opposite of “rest” is motion.
SINK: To fall below the surface of a liquid. The opposite of float.
SOLID: One of the three states of matter, the others are liquid and gas. A solid has tightly packed particles in a specific pattern, which cannot move about. You will notice a solid keeps its shape. Ice or frozen water is an example of a solid.
SOLUTION: A specific type of mixture where one substance (solute) is dissolved into another (solvent). In a solution, the ingredients mix. When a solution forms, the two substances stay the same without a chemical reaction.
This is why if you dissolve sugar or salt in a glass of water and let the water dry out or evaporate, the salt or sugar will remain in the glass.
STRATIFICATION: The arrangement of something into different groups.
SURFACE TENSION: A force that exists on water’s surface because water molecules like to stick to each other. This force is so strong that it can help things sit on top of the water instead of sinking into it.
Water’s high surface tension allows a paper clip, with much higher density, to float on water. It also causes drops of rain to stick to windows, which is why bubbles are round.
VARIABLE: A factor that can be changed in a science experiment. Three types of variables are independent, dependent, and controlled.
The independent variable is changed in the experiment and will affect the dependent variable. The dependent variable is the factor observed or measured in the experiment.
The controlled variable stays constant in the experiment. Experiments are repeated several times to determine how a change in the independent variable affects the results.
VISCOSITY: How thick a fluid is. A liquid with high viscosity – that is thick, like molasses- will flow very slowly. Like water, a liquid with low viscosity or that’s thin will flow quickly.
