General Science Flash Card Set 21816

Cards 10
Topics Acidity, Base Units, Bones & Cartilage, Cerebrum, Compound, Consumers, Menstruation, Precipitation, Primary Consumers, Scavengers

Study Guide

Acidity

An acid is a substance that gives up positively charged hydrogen ions (H+) when dissolved in water. A base (alkaline) gives up negatively charged hydroxide ions (OH-) when dissolved in water. pH is a scale that measures of how basic or acidic a solution is. Numbered from 0 to 14, solutions with a pH of 7 are neutral, less than 7 are acidic, more than 7 are alkaline.

Base Units
Measurement Base Unit Example
length / distance meter (m) km
mass gram (g) kg
volume liter (L) mL
volume (medical) cubic centimeter (cc) cc
time second (s), minute (min), hour (h) ms, min, h
temperature centigrade (°C) °C

Bones & Cartilage

Hard bones provide primary support for the endoskeleton while more flexible cartilage is found at the end of all bones, at the joints, and in the nose and ears. In addition to providing support and protecting bodily organs, bones also produce blood cells and store minerals like calcium.

Cerebrum

The cerebrum is the major part of the brain and is responsible for the main senses (thinking, hearing, seeing).

Compound

A compound is a substance containing two or more different chemical elements bound together by a chemical bond. In covalent compounds, electrons are shared between atoms. In ionic compounds, one atom borrows an electron from another atom resulting in two ions (electrically charged atoms) of opposite polarities that then become bonded electrostatically.

Consumers

Most animals consume other organisms to survive. Consumers (heterotrophs) are divided into three types, primary, secondary, and tertiary, based on their place in the food chain.

Menstruation

If the ovum fails to become fertilized, the lining of the uterus sloughs off during menstruation. From puberty to menopause, this cycle of menstruation repeats monthly (except during pregnancy).

Precipitation

Rising into the atmosphere, the water condenses into clouds. When the clouds become too saturated with water, the water is released as snow or ice precipitation which may warm as it falls to reach Earth as rain.

Primary Consumers

Primary consumers (herbivores) subsist on producers like plants and fungus. Examples are grasshoppers, cows, and plankton.

Scavengers

Like decomposers, scavengers also break down the dead bodies of plants and animals into simple nutrients. The difference is that scavengers operate on much larger refuse and dead animals (carrion). Decomposers then consume the much smaller particles left over by the scavengers.