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WHAT IS MATTER?

• Matter is anything that has mass and volume.
• Mass is the amount of matter in an object. The mass of an object does not change. (Weight of an object changes based on the gravitational pull on it. A person will have the same mass on Earth, Mars, and our moon. However, his or her weight on our moon will be 1/6 of what it is on Earth and will be 1/3 as much on Mars.)

PHASES OF MATTER : SOLID, LIQUID, GAS

• Matter can exist in several distinct forms which are called phases. The three basic phases of matter generally found on Earth are gas, liquid, and solid. (Though other phases of matter have been identified, these are the phases of matter that fifth-grade students are expected to know.)

Characteristics of Gases, Liquids, and Solids
GAS	LIQUID	SOLID
Assumes the shape of its container	Assumes the shape of its container	Retains a fixed shape
Assumes the volume of its container – no definite volume	Has a definite volume	Has a definite volume
Compressible (lots of free space between particles)	Not easily compressible (little free space between particles)	Not easily compressible (little free space between particles)
Flows easily (particles can move past one another)	Flows easily (particles can move/slide past one another)	Does not flow easily (rigid-particles cannot move/slide past one another)

• As its temperature increases, many kinds of matter change from a solid to a liquid to a gas. As its temperature decreases, that matter changes from a gas to a liquid to a solid.

ATOMS, MOLECULES, ELEMENTS

• All matter, regardless of its size, shape, or color, is made of particles (atoms and molecules) that are too small to be seen by the unaided eye.
• There are more than 100 known elements that make up all matter.
• A few of the more familiar elements include: hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), helium (He), carbon (C), sodium (Na), and potassium (K).

•  The smallest part of an element is an atom.

MIXTURES & COMPOUNDS

• When two or more elements combine to form a new substance, it is called a compound.
• There are many different types of compounds because atoms of elements combine in many different ways (and in different whole number ratios) to form different compounds. Examples include water (H2O) and table salt (NaCl).
• The smallest part of a compound is a molecule.

• A mixture is a combination of two or more substances that do not lose their identifying characteristics when combined. A solution is a mixture in which one substance dissolves in another.

NANOTECHNOLOGY

• Nanotechnology is the study of materials at the molecular (atomic) scale. Items at this scale are so small they are no longer visible with the naked eye. Nanotechnology has shown that the behavior and properties of some substances at the nanoscale (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter) contradict how they behave and what their properties are at the visible scale. Many products on the market today are already benefiting from nanotechnology such as sunscreens, scratch-resistant coatings, and medical procedures.

• Living things are made of cells. Cells carry out all life processes.
  • New cells come from existing cells.
  • Cells are too small to be seen with the eye alone. By using a microscope, many parts of a cell can be seen.
• For plant and animal cells, identify the following structures and their functions
  • For plants: the nucleus, cell wall, cell membrane, vacuole, chloroplasts, cytoplasm.
  • For animal:, the nucleus, cell membrane, vacuole, cytoplasm.
  
  

• Plant cells and animal cells are similar but different in shape and some parts.
  • Plant cells (but not animal cells) have cell walls, chloroplasts, and a large central vacuole
  • Plant cells tend to be rectangular, while animal cells tend to be spherical or at times irregular.
• Organisms that share similar characteristics can be organized into groups in order to help understand similarities and differences.


• Plants can be categorized as vascular or nonvascular
  • Vascular (having special tissues to transport food and water — for example, trees and flowering plants)
  • Nonvascular (not having tissues to transport food and water — for example, moss, liverworts, hornworts).
  • Most plants are vascular.

• Animals can be categorized as vertebrates or invertebrates
  • vertebrates (having backbones) (fish, frogs, reptiles, birds, people)
  • invertebrates (not having backbones). (insects, worms, crabs, spiders)

OCEAN FEATURES

• Oceans cover about 70 percent of the surface of Earth.

• Important features of the ocean floor near the continents are the continental shelf, the continental slope, and the continental rise.
• These areas are covered with thick layers of sediments (sand, mud, rocks).
• The depth of the ocean varies. Ocean trenches are very deep, and the continental shelf is relatively shallow.

OCEAN WATER;

• Ocean water is a complex mixture of gases (air) and dissolved solids (salts, especially sodium chloride).
  • Marine organisms are dependent on dissolved gases for survival.
  • The salinity of ocean water varies in some places depending on rates of evaporation and amount of runoff from nearby land.

OCEAN MOTION

• The basic motions of ocean water are the waves, currents, and tides.
  • Ocean currents, including the Gulf Stream, are caused by wind patterns and the differences in water densities (due to salinity and temperature differences).
  • Ocean currents affect the mixing of ocean waters. This can affect plant and animal populations. Currents also affect navigation routes.

OCEAN LIFE

• As the depth of ocean water increases, the temperature decreases, the pressure increases, and the amount of light decreases. These factors influence the type of life forms that are present at a given depth.

• Plankton are tiny free-floating organisms that live in water.
  • Plankton may be animal-like or plant-like.
  • Animal-like plankton are called zooplankton.
  • Plant-like plankton (phytoplankton) carry out most of the photosynthesis on Earth. Therefore, they provide much of Earth’s oxygen. Phytoplankton form the base of the ocean food web.
  • Plankton flourish in areas where nutrient-rich water upwells from the deep.

ROCK CYCLE

• Rocks move and change over time due to heat and pressure within Earth and due to weathering, erosion, and deposition at the surface. These and other processes constantly change rock from one type to another.
• Depending on how rocks are formed, they are classified as
  • sedimentary (layers of sediment cemented together)
  • igneous (melted and cooled, e.g., lava and magma)
  • metamorphic (changed by heat and pressure)

ROCK IDENTIFICATION

• Rocks have properties that can be observed, tested, and described.
• Composition, grain size and textural features, color, and the presence of fossils help with identification.
• Classification keys (5.1) can aid this process
  • Be sure you can identify rock samples of granite, gneiss, slate, limestone, shale, sandstone, and coal using a rock classification key.

ANCIENT EARTH - FOSSILS

• Scientific evidence indicates Earth is ancient — approximately 4.6 billion years old.
  • The age of many rocks can be determined very reliably.
  • Fossils provide information about life and conditions of the past.

EARTH'S LAYERS

• Scientific evidence indicates that Earth is composed of four concentric layers — crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core — each with its own distinct characteristics.
  • The outer two layers are composed primarily of rocky material.
  • The innermost layers are composed mostly of iron and nickel.
  • Pressure and temperature increase with depth beneath the surface.

PLATE MOVEMENT

• Earth’s thermal energy causes movement of material within Earth. Large continent-size blocks (plates) move slowly about Earth’s surface, driven by that thermal energy.
• Most earthquakes and volcanoes are located at the boundaries of the plates (faults).

• Plates can
  • move together (convergent boundaries),
  • apart (divergent boundaries),
  • or slip past each other horizontally (transform boundaries, also called strike-slip or sliding boundaries).
• Geological features in the oceans (including trenches and mid-ocean ridges) and on the continents (mountain ranges, including the Appalachian Mountains) are caused by current and past plate movements.

WEATHERING & EROSION

• Rocks and other materials on Earth’s surface are constantly being broken down both chemically and physically. The products of weathering include clay, sand, rock fragments, and soluble substances.
• Materials can be moved by water and wind (eroded) and deposited in new locations as sediment (deposition).

HUMAN IMPACT

• Humans have varying degrees of impact on Earth’s surface through their everyday activities. With careful planning, the impact on the land can be controlled.