Student Name: _______________________________ Mrs. Lee – 8th Grade Physical Science Period #: ______ Date: _____________ Chapter 12 Vocabulary: Earth, Moon & Sun Axis: An imaginary line that passes through Earth’s center & the North & South poles, about which Earth rotates (p 465) Revolution: The movement of an object around another object (p 465) Calendar: A system of organizing time that defines the beginning, length, & divisions of year (p 466) Equinox: The 2 days of the year on which neither hemisphere is tilted toward or away from the sun (p 471) Astronomy: The study of the moon, stars, & other objects in space (p 464) Rotation: The spinning motion of a planet on its axis (p 465) Orbit: The path of an object as it revolves around another object in space (p 465) Solstice: The 2 days of the year on which the sun reaches its greatest distance north or south of the equator (p 470) Gravity: The attractive force between objects; its strength depends on their masses & the distance between them (p 474) Mass: The amount of matter in an object (p 475) Inertia: The tendency of an object to resist a change in motion (p476) Phase: One of the different apparent shapes of the moon as seen from Earth (p 479) Force: A push or a pull exerted on an object (p 474) Law of universal gravitation: The scientific law that states that every object in the universe attracts every other object (p 474) Weight: The force of gravity on an object (p 475) Newton’s 1st law of motion: The scientific law states that an object at rest will stay at rest & an object in motion will stay in motion with a constant speed & direction unless acted on by a force (p 476) Solar eclipse: The blocking of sunlight to Earth that occurs when the moon is directly between the sun & Earth Penumbra: The part of a shadow surrounding the darkest part (p 482) Ch 12 Vocabulary 1 Student Name: _______________________________ Mrs. Lee – 8th Grade Physical Science Period #: ______ Date: _____________ Chapter 12 Vocabulary: Earth, Moon & Sun Tide: The periodic rise & fall of the level of water in the ocean (p 484) Neap tide: The tide with the least difference between consecutive low & high tides (p 485) Eclipse: The partial or total blocking of one object in space by another (p 481) Umbra: The darkest part of a shadow (p 482) Lunar eclipse: The blocking of sunlight to the moon that occurs when Earth is directly between the sun & the moon (p 483) Spring tide: The tide with the greatest difference between consecutive low & high tides (p 485) Maria: Dark, flat areas on the moon’s surface formed from huge ancient lava flows (p 489) Meteoroid: A chunk of rock or dust in space (p 489) Telescope: A device built to observe distance objects by making them appear closer (p 488) Crater: A large round pit caused by the impact of a meteoroid (p 489) Ch 12 Vocabulary 2