Download Unit A: Trees and Forests

Name: __________________________
Review Outline: Science 6
Review Suggestions: - Review for 20-30 minutes each day, starting
TODAY.
- Try all the sample questions. Use loose-leaf to put
your answers on.
- Ignore the topics that you know you have already
mastered.
- Work with a friend or two to review the topics you
need to.
- Bring specific questions to class for discussion.
Unit A: Trees and Forests
Big Ideas:
1.
2.
3.
Describe characteristics of trees and the interaction of trees with other
living things in the local environment.
Identify reasons why trees and forests are valued, both by humans and
other forms of life.
Identify an issue regarding forest uses, identify different perspectives
on that issue, and identify actions that might be taken.
Study Questions
1. Identify reasons why trees and forests are valued, by people and by other
organisms.
2. Describe plant photosynthesis, and explain how it benefits humans and
other animals.
View http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/tdc02_vid_photosynth/ or
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/methuselah/photosynthesis.html
3. Use a Venn Diagram (
) or table to list the differences and similarities
between:
a) trees and other plants (What makes a tree a tree?)
b) coniferous and deciduous trees (How are evergreens different/the
same as poplars?)
4. Why might only coniferous trees be growing in one part of a forest?
5. Describe how plants and animals found living on, under and among trees,
form an ecosystem (community) in a forest.
E.g.
 How do birds/mammals/insects help trees? How do trees help
birds/mammals/insects?

How to birds/mammals/insects harm trees?
6. Be able to name and draw three different leaf types, leaf shapes, and
leaf margins.
7. Recognize and describe what causes different patterns and damages to
tree growth rings. See:
http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/climate/treerings/index.cfm
8. Draw a food cycle showing examples of producers, consumers (with
herbivores and carnivores), and decomposers. See:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/foodchain/pr
oducersconsumers.htm
9. List five ways or things humans have used forests for.
10. Predict how forest use in the next 100 years may change.
11. Use a “T”-chart to compare the good things and the bad things a large
forest products company might be doing as they turn trees into products.
12. Know the meaning of:

Photosynthesis

Chlorophyll

Omnivore

Tree growth ring

Leaf margin

Ecosystem

Coniferous tree

Deciduous tree
If you have reviewed this material intently, you are ready for the final 
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Unit B: Evidence and Investigation
Big Ideas:
1.
Students develop their skills in observing and interpreting what they
see by investigating evidence of human and animal activity.
2.
Students learn to pose questions, plan investigations, recognize
patterns and discrepancies in those patterns, and think logically about
what they observe.
Study Questions
1. Use a line to join each of the following terms with its definition:

opinion
Something that was not seen but likely
happened or is true because it fits the
evidence.

observation
A decision or explanation reached after
considering all the evidence.

inference
A probable explanation for some know
facts or observations that might be
proven true or false by a test or when
more facts are known.

conclusion
A personal judgement that is not
testable as true or false.

hypothesis
Something that you see (or taste/feel/
smell/hear) and make a note about it.
2. Show and explain how footprints would change when someone was
walking and then running.
3. List at least four different characteristics tire tracks might show that
would help us identify the tire later.
If you have reviewed this material intently, you are ready for the final 
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4. Name two reasons police might want to pour Plaster of Paris into a print
or track and make a “mold.”
5. Write the name of each type of fingerprint under its example:
Loop, Whorl, Arch.
_______________
_______________
________________
6. Label these fingerprint characteristics on the diagram:
Ridge
Delta
Lake
Ridge Endings
Island
__________
Bifurcation
______________
_____________
___________
_____________
______________
If you have reviewed this material intently, you are ready for the final 
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For fingerprint information, see:
http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/agesubject/lessons/hando
uts/print_patterns.html
7. What is a major reason that fingerprints can be used to identify people?
What other personal characteristic can be used that is unique to each
person? See: http://www.wonderville.ca/asset/fingerprint-activity
8. Label the track images with the animal that made them.
Snowshoe hare
Whitetail deer Magpie
Coyote
___________ _____________ ________________
See: http://www.bsatroop542.org/AnimalId.htm or
http://funschool.kaboose.com/preschool/amazinganimals/games/game_animal_tracks.html?g=tr2_ds3
________________
9. Circle the inferences that may be made from a chromatography analysis,
and cross out the inferences that cannot be made.
Ink type
Age of ink
Person who wrote
Brand of pen
Ink color
Individual pen
Handwriting style
10. Name four characteristics fabrics have that may help identify them.
11. When analysing soil, what are four properties of the soil you might
observe?
If you have reviewed this material intently, you are ready for the final 
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12. Hand writing samples can sometimes help us identify who did the
writing. What are five characteristics that can be different between different
hand writing samples?
13. Define these terms.

Analysis

Chromatography

Inference

Observation

Fingerprint bifurcation

Fingerprint ridge

Fingerprint delta
Unit C: Sky Science
Big Ideas:
1.
Students move from a simple view of land and sky, to one that
recognizes Earth as a sphere in motion within a larger universe.
2.
Students learn that the motions and characteristics of astronomical
bodies can be observed, described, and interpreted.
Study Questions
1. Describe the differences between:

a Solar System and a Galaxy

a Planet and a Moon

an Asteroid and a Meteor
If you have reviewed this material intently, you are ready for the final 
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
Light emitting versus light reflecting night sky objects

planetary Rotation versus Revolution

a seasonal Equinox versus a Solstice

a Gibbous Moon versus a Crescent Moon

a Full Moon versus a New Moon

a Waning Moon versus a Waxing Moon
2. Order these location groupings from smallest to largest.
Orion’s Arm
Solar System
Earth
Local Group
Universe
Northern Hemisphere
Milky Way Galaxy
3. Why should you never look at the sun directly? How can you safely view
the sun or its image?
4. Explain what is really moving and how, when we see the Sun apparently
traveling across the sky.
5. What motions and positions of the Earth cause the four seasons in
Canada?
6. How does the length of your shadow under a clear sky change from
sunrise until sunset?
7. List two advantages and two disadvantages of placing a telescope like the
Hubble Telescope in orbit around the Earth.
8. Name two characteristics of Mars that makes it a good choice to send
people to in a rocket, and name two characteristics of Saturn that make it a
poorer choice.
9. List the four inner “rocky” planets, in order from the Sun, and then list
the four “gas giants” in order from the Sun.
10. Label these statements as true or false:
________ The closer to the Sun a planet is, the shorter its year is.
________ All planets have at least one moon.
If you have reviewed this material intently, you are ready for the final 
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________ The only light emitting objects are stars, nebulae, and meteors.
________ The time for one rotation of a planet on its axis is called a “day.”
________ Earth is the only planet that has an atmosphere.
11. Define and give an example of a constellation. Explain why people in
Australia can see different constellations than people in North America see?
See: http://www.nrccnrc.gc.ca/eng/education/astronomy/constellations/planisphere.html
12. Using the words Earth, Sun, Moon, revolves, and position, explain
what causes the moon’s phases.
13. Light is the fastest moving thing we know. What is the reason that
sunlight takes 8 minutes to get to Earth from the Sun, and starlight from the
nearest star, Alpha Centauri, takes 4.2 years? (Hint: This is about distance,
not light.)
If you have reviewed this material intently, you are ready for the final 
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Answer Key
(“etc.” means “other answers are possible”)
Unit A: Trees and Forests
1. Trees and forests supply Oxygen, building materials (human and non-human), food, recreation
areas, homes/habitats, water reserves, . . .
2. Chlorophyll in green plants uses the energy in sunlight to convert carbon dioxide (CO2), and
water (H2O) into sugars that the plant uses as food. Oxygen (O2) is produced and released to the
air in this process, so humans and other animals can use this Oxygen to breath. Also, many types
of plant sugars are eaten by animals: fruits, vegetables, grains, etc.
3.
Trees
Both
Other Plants
Have bark
Are usually green
May have no bark
Have trunks
Have branches
Have stems
Grow vertically
Grow larger
May grow horizontally
Are usually tall
Are usually short
(> 2 meters)
(Shrubs or creeping plants)
Have leaves/needles
Have flat surfaces
May have no leaves
Grow on land
Need nutrients
Grow on land or in water
(or on other plants)
Coniferous
Deciduous
Have Cones
Have needles
Keep needles year round
Known as “softwoods”
Have no cones.
Are trees
Have leaves
Have seeds
Used in forest industries
Loose needles in the fall
Known as “hardwoods”
4. Coniferous tree shade or chemicals may have crowded out or poisoned other species, or a fire
may have occurred recently there and allowed coniferous trees to grow before other trees.
5. A forest is an ecosystem because many different plant and animal species, along with soil,
water, and weather, form a community that survives for long times with only minor changes.
Small and large animals all find food and shelter and homes in or around the trees, while helping
the trees by spreading seeds and eating species that attack trees. Harmful species may eat the
leaves, burrow into the tree and rob nutrients or let diseases enter the tree, cut trees down or eat
their bark and branches.
6. Leaf types: simple, compound, double compound. Leaf margins: smooth, toothed, wavy.
Leaf shapes: linear, oblong, oval, lobed, deltoid, needle, etc.
7. Tree rings are affected by wet/dry years (wide/narrow spacing), physical damage (interrupted
rings), insects (holes/stains), uneven growth (oval rings), etc.
8. Carbon Dioxide
Producers (all plants) Consumers (E.g. mice, cows, hawks,)
Soil nutrients
Decomposers (E.g. worms, fungi, molds, bacteria)
If you have reviewed this material intently, you are ready for the final 
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9. Forests have provided fuel (firewood), shelter (lumber products), food (fruit), transportation
(lumber, dugout canoes), recreation (camping, hiking), medicine (aspirin), paper, etc.
10. For example, forests may be used less for products (lumber/paper) and more as recreation
areas, protected wildlife habitats, and intentional sources of Oxygen, while also being used to get
rid of excess CO2 and provide sources of medical chemicals.
11.
Good Things
Lumber Companies
Bad Things
Provide work for people
Pollute with fuels, oil, exhaust gasses
Plant new valuable trees
Decrease areas of forests in the world
Clear out “garbage” trees
Cause some plant species to become extinct
Control wild fires
Reduce variety of plant species
Provide useful products
Destroy animal habitats and species
Photosynthesis – process plants use to produce food from Carbon Dioxide, water, and light.
Chlorophyll – A green substance in plants that performs photosynthesis.
Omnivore – A consumer that eats both plants and animals (E.g. humans, bears)
Tree growth ring – The yearly pattern of light and dark wood produced as a tree grows.
Leaf margin – The border of a leaf, on deciduous trees.
Ecosystem – A community of plants, animals, and non-living parts that live and grow
together in a natural, self-sustaining way.
Coniferous tree – Any tree that produces seeds contained in cones (E.g. pine, spruce, fir)
Deciduous tree – Any tree that has leaves (not needles) which fall off each autumn.
Unit B: Evidence and Investigation
 opinion
Something that was not seen but likely happened or is true
because it fits the evidence.
 observation
A decision or explanation reached after considering all the
evidence.
 inference
A probable explanation for some know facts or observations that might be proven true or false by a test or when
more facts are known.
 conclusion
A personal judgement that is not testable as true or false.
 hypothesis
Something that you see (or taste/feel/ smell/hear) and make
a note about it.
2. Walking footprints are more complete, distinct, and closer spaced than running footprints,
which may only show the front part of the foot or shoe. 3. Tire tracks show: width, tread design,
tread wear, unique marks like cuts, number of grooves, groove depth, etc. 4. Molds can be
moved easily, will not be lost by rain or traffic, can be copied again, and are convenient for
examining closely at any time. 5. Order of images is: Arch, Loop, Whorl 6. Top left – bifurcation, top right – island, middle left – ridge, middle right – lake, bottom left – ridge endings,
bottom right – delta. 7. No two people have the same fingerprints. DNA is also unique.
8. Magpie, coyote, snowshoe hare, whitetail deer. 9. Circled: ink type, brand of pen, ink color.
10. Fabrics are described by color, stretch, burn patterns, fibre type, weave, weight, etc.
11. Soil properties: color, particle size, shape and variety, texture (feel), type of materials, etc.
12. Hand writing differences: pressure, size, height of tips and tails, spacing or letters and
words, shape of letters, etc.
13. Analysis – a systematic method of studying evidence to reach a conclusion.
Chromatography – Using blotting paper to absorb different parts of an ink in different places to
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If you have reviewed this material intently, you are ready for the final 
form a pattern that can be identified. Inference – an “educated” guess about what happened or
what is true, based on evidence known to be true. Observation – the act of noticing some fact or
event or evidence and recording it. Fingerprint bifurcation – the branching of a single ridge into
two ridges. Fingerprint ridge – the raised lines of skin on the ends of fingers. Fingerprint delta –
the triangular area where three ridges meet, looking like a “y”.
Unit C. Sky Science
1. A solar system is a group of planets (1-30) circling one or two stars at the center. A galaxy is
a very much larger group of stars (millions or billions) circling around each other. A moon must
be smaller than the planet it revolves around, and need not be round. Planets must be big enough
to become round, and circle a star. An asteroid is a small (1 mm to about 10 km) rock or piece of
ice that orbits a star, while a meteor is an asteroid that has been captured by a planet’s gravity and
is heading toward the planet. Any object that produces its own light is called light emitting
(sending out light), while all other objects only reflect light (light bounces off them). Rotation
(spinning) is the turning of a planet or moon or sun about an imaginary axis inside it that causes
day and night, while a revolution is one complete trip of a planet or moon around its star or
planet. An equinox is one of the two days each year when the Sun is directly over the Equator
and visible in the sky for 12 hours (spring and fall), while a solstice is one of two days each years
when the sun is seen overhead furthest from the Equator and seen for the least time (winter) or
for the most time (summer) in one day. A gibbous moon shows more than half of its face
illuminated, and a crescent moon shows less than half of its face. The full moon appears as a full
circle in the sky, while the new moon actually means we can see no moon at all, or just the tiniest
crescent. A waning moon is the phase of the moon following full moon, when the visible part is
getting smaller each night, but a waxing moon follows a new moon and appears fuller each night.
2. From smallest: N. Hemisphere, Earth, Solar System, Orion’s Arm, Milky Way Galaxy, Local
Group (of galaxies), Universe. 3. View the Sun only through #14 or darker welding glass, or use
a pinhole camera to display the image of the Sun on a surface, because sunlight directly entering
the eye has enough energy to burn (kill) the rods and cells at the back of the eye, causing
blindness. (These cells have no sense of hot/cold, so you do not feel the damage.) 4. The Sun
appears to travel across the sky from East to West, but in fact Earth is rotating from West to East
almost at right angles to the Sun. We just think the Sun is moving because we are so small
relative to Earth that we cannot feel or see or feel it rotating. 5. Seasons happen because Earth’s
rotation line (rotational axis) is tilted as Earth revolves around the Sun. Earth does not spin at a
perfect right angle to the Sun, nor does it spin with the North Pole pointed directly at the Sun. If
it did either of these we would have no seasons. The Sun’s light can strike the Northern
Hemisphere of the Earth more directly, and cause summer, when the Earth’s axis (North Pole) is
closest to pointing at the Sun. When the South Pole is more toward the Sun, the Southern
hemisphere has summer (during our winter). 6. A shadow is longest at dawn, grows shorter until
the Sun is highest in the sky (around noon) and then grows longer again to reach its greatest
length again at sunset. 7. A telescope in space has a clearer view of a larger portion of the
universe because of no atmosphere, pollution, or manmade light interfering, and the Earth blocks
out less of the sky. Disadvantages to satellite telescopes are that they are expensive to launch and
repair, are in a more extreme climate (cold and radiation), do not last as long as on Earth, and
then become space “junk” when they quit working. 8. Mars is closer than Saturn, has some
Oxygen in its atmosphere, has weather temperatures close to Earth’s, has a solid surface, and has
water on it. Saturn is much more distant and colder, and is a big ball of gasses with no solid
If you have reviewed this material intently, you are ready for the final 
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surface, very high wind speeds, and no known Earth-like conditions or compounds to support our
kind of life. 9. Rocky: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. Gas: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
10. True – 1 Mercury year is just 88 Earth days. False – Mercury and Venus have none. True –
The Moon reflects light. True – “Day” = rotation time. False – Most planets have some sort of
outer layer of gasses. 11. A constellation is a pattern of stars in the night sky people see and have
given names to, like Orion or the Big Dipper. The stars are not really grouped together in space,
but look like they are from Earth. People in different places on the Earth have different parts of
the night sky blocked out by the Earth itself, so Canadians cannot see all the same constellations
that Australians can, and vice versa. 12. Lunar phases occur because the Moon revolves around
the Earth, but the Sun’s position barely changes. So the moon’ position travels from between the
Earth and Sun (new Moon), to beside the Earth (first quarter), to behind the Earth compared to
the Sun (full Moon), and back through last quarter to being between Earth and Sun for a new
Moon again. 13. Distances in space are so extremely huge that our brains cannot even
comprehend them. Even at 300 000 km/second, light needs four years of travelling time to get
from Alpha Centauri to us. Our Sun is relatively close to us, but is still 150 million kilometers
away.
If you have reviewed this material intently, you are ready for the final 
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