Carbohydrates - An organic compound made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen that is used to store energy. They are what makes sugars and starches in food.
Carbon Footprint - A measure of the total amount of carbon emissions made by an individual due to all its activities.
Cellular respiration - the biological process by which organisms use oxygen to break down food molecules (glucose) to get chemical energy for cell functions
Celcius - Celsius is a temperature scale where water freezes at 0° and boils at 100°. It's a metric unit of temperature represented by the symbol °C and is the standard scale for most of the world.
Charles Darwin - A British naturalist who developed the theory of natural selection. Most of his evidence came from his voyage to the Galapagos Islands on the HMS Beagle in the 1830's.
Chemical Change - A process in which a substance reacts with another substance to make a new substance with different properties than the original substance.
Chemical energy - energy that is stored in the bonds of atoms and molecules in chemical compounds
Chemical Formula - a shorthand way of representing a compound by listing the elements it contains and the number of atoms of each element present in a molecule, using the symbols of the elements and small numbers as subscripts
Chemistry - the branch of science that deals with the properties, composition, and structure of elements and compounds, how they can change, and the energy that is released or absorbed when they change
Chromosome - structures found inside the nucleus where the genetic material is found. They are made of DNA wrapped around a protein and are arranged in pairs, one inherited from each parent.
Codon - A sequence of 3 nucleotides that codes for a particular amino acid.
Cold Front - The leading edge of a cold air mass advancing into a region occupied by warmer air. It is often associated with stormy weather, including thunderstorms, rain, or snow.
Combustion - A chemical process that occurs when a substance reacts quickly with oxygen, releasing heat and sometimes light.
Compound - a substance made of two or more elements that are chemically bonded to each other.
Condensation - A physical change in which a substance changes from a gas to a liquid.
Consumers - Organisms that eat other organisms for energy. Plant eaters are called herbivores, meat eaters are carnivores and omnivores eat both plants and animals.
Covalent Bond – a bond formed when two atoms share valence electrons.
Crescent Moon - Any moon phase where less than half of the face of the moon is lit up. It comes before or after a New Moon.
Demitri Mendeleev - A Russian chemist who studied the elements and used his studies to create the first periodic table in the 1860’s.
Deposition - A physical change in which a substance changes from a gas directly to a solid, skipping the liquid state.
Dew Point - The temperature at which air becomes saturated with water vapor, leading to the formation of dew or condensation. It is a measure of atmospheric moisture content.
Diploid - A cell that contains two sets of chromosomes, one from each parent.
Dominant trait - A trait that shows up in an organism if it is present.
DNA - Deoxyribonucleic Acid. This molecule contains the genetic material that controls all of the body’s functions. It is found in the nucleus of the cell.