General Science Flash Card Set 851119

Cards 10
Topics Central & Peripheral Nervous Systems, Classification of Life, Electron, Geologic Time Scale, Health Benefits of Vitamins & Minerals, Heart, Heredity, Periods, Precipitation, Somatic Nervous System

Study Guide

Central & Peripheral Nervous Systems

The nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system) and the peripheral nervous system which is the network of nerve cells (neurons) that collect and distribute signals from the central nervous system throughout the body.

Classification of Life

Classifications of life are too numerous to enumerate, here's an overview of the classifications from broadest to narrowist:

Classification Contains Related
Kingdom phyla
Phylum classes
Class orders
Order families
Family genera
Genus species
Species organisms

Electron

An electron is a subatomic particle that orbits the nucleus of an atom. It carries a negative electric charge. Generally, an atom has the same number of negative electrons orbiting the nucleus as it does positive protons inside.

Geologic Time Scale

The Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old and its history is divided into time periods based on the events that took place and the forms of life that were dominant during those periods. The largest graduation of time is the eon and each eon is subdivided into eras, eras into periods, periods into epochs, and epochs into ages.

Health Benefits of Vitamins & Minerals
Vitamin / Mineral Sources Health Benefits
Calcium Dairy products (milk, yogurt, cheese), spinach. Aids bone growth and repair, muscle function.
Iron Red meat, beans, whole grains. Allows red blood cells to transfer oxygen to body tissues.
Magnesium Nuts, whole grains, green leafy vegetables. Muscle, nerve, and enzyme function.
Potassium Bananas, nuts, seeds. Helps balance fluid levels in the body.
Vitamin A Liver, milk, eggs, carrots. Vision, immune system, cell growth.
Vitamin C Green and red peppers, citrus fruits, broccoli. Collagen formation, immune system function, antioxidant (helps protect cells from damage).
Vitamin D Exposure to sunlight. Helps calcium strengthen bones, muscle, nerve, and immune system function.
Heart

The heart is the organ that drives the circulatory system. In humans, it consists of four chambers with two that collect blood called atria and two that pump blood called ventricles. The heart's valves prevent blood pumped out of the ventricles from flowing back into the heart.

Heredity

Heredity is the passing on of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to another. Heredity is made possible via large strings of chromosomes which carry information encoded in genes.

Periods

The rows of the Periodic Table are called periods and contain elements that have the same number of electron shells ordered from lower to higher atomic number.

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.

Somatic Nervous System

Part of the peripheral nervous system, the somatic nervous system is made up of nerve fibers that send sensory information to the central nervous system and control voluntary actions.