7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009Language ArtsKey Concept Definition

1. Accountability Being liable or responsible

2. Adventures Stories that include a risky undertaking or exciting experience

3. Alliteration The repetition of initial consonant sounds

4. Analyze To examine critically

5. Antonym A word opposite to another

6. Appositives An adjective that directly follows the noun it describes

7. Assonance The repetition of vowel sounds in words near each other (but not consonant sounds)

8. Cause and effect Explaining the reasons that something happened or the results that an event or a situation will probably produce

9. Character A person or an animal that takes part in the action of a written work

10. Characterization The act of creating and developing a character

11. Chronological Arranged in order of time

12. Clarify To make an idea clear or intelligible

13. Classification To categorize items into different groups or systems

14. Climax The high point or turning point in the action of the plot

15. Closure Bringing to an end

16. Colon Used to introduce a letter, a list, or an important point. Also, they are used between the numbers in time.

17. Comedy A humorous play

18. Comparison Studying similarities between two objects or people

19. Compassion A feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is experiencing misfortune

20. Complex A sentence made up of one independent clause and at least one dependent clause

21. Compound Having two or more parts

22. Consistent Holding together; compatible

23. Contrasting Determining how two objects are different.

24. Conventions Spelling, punctuation, and stylistic parts of writing

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 200925. Diagram A drawing or plan that outlines and explains the parts of something

26. Dialogue A conversation between characters

27. Differentiate To change or alter

28. Distinguish To set apart as different or distinctive

29. Dramatic Striking; theatrical

30. Empathy Experiencing the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another

31. Engaging To attract the attention of a person or persons

32. Explicit Fully and clearly expressed

33. Expository Explains or informs

34. Episodes An incident or event that is part of a larger piece

35. Evidence Ground for belief; proof

36. Explicit Clearly developed or formulated

37. Falling Action The central conflict of the story is winding down

38. Figurative Writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally

39. Fluency Spoken or written with ease

40. Folklore The traditional art, literature, knowledge, and practice of a culture that is shared through oral communication and behavioral example.

41. Frequency Rate of occurrence; repetition; regularity

42. Glossary A list of terms in a special subject

43. Graphic A computer-generated image

44. Hierarchy Any system of persons or things ranked one above another

45. Historical Real events, places, or people are incorporated into the writing

46. Hyperbole An exaggerated statement; sometimes meant to be funny

47. Idioms An expression that has a meaning particular to a language or region

48. Implicit Implied, rather than expressly stated

49. Indirect object The noun or pronoun that receives the action of the predicate indirectly. It names the person to whom or for whom something is done

50. Inference A logical guess or assumption based on the details that are given, combined with your own knowledge and experience

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009

51. Integrated To unite or combine

52. Interjections Words that show emotion

53. Literary Pertaining to books or writings

54. Literary response A piece of writing that discusses what is of valley in a book, short story, a play, a poem, an essay, or an article

55. Logical order Placing ideas in a sequence that is clear to readers

56. Major character The most important character in a story, poem, or play

57. Manuscript The original test of an author’s work, handwritten or typed

58. Memories A person, thing, or fact remembered

59. Metaphors A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is compared to someone or something else

60. Minor character One who takes part in the action but is not the focus of attention

61. Mythology A collection of myths

62. Multimedia Combined use of several media

63. Original Authentic, new, fresh

64. Paraphrasing Rewording something that has been read in a different form to make clearer

65. Periodical A magazine or journal that is issued at regularly recurring times

66. Perspective A mental view

67. Persuasive Able to persuade, having the power to move people to action

68. Persuasive text Text written with the intent of convincing someone to do something through reasoning or argument.

69. Possessive Showing ownership

70. Predict To tell the future

71. Purpose The reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.

72. Relevant Connected with life happenings

73. Redundant Unnecessary repetition

74. Reference A direction in a book or writing to some other book

75. Regional Pertaining to a particular district, area, or part

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 200976. Research To investigate

77. Responsibility A thing for which one is responsible, in charge of

78. Rising action Development of the problem in the plot

79. Salutations A word or phrase of greeting used to begin a letter

80. Semi-Colon Sometimes used in place of a period; other times it serves the same function as a comma

81. Sequence The following of one thing after another

82. Sincerity Truth, frankness

83. Strategies A plan or method for getting to a specific goal or result

84. Summarize To state or express in a concise method

85. Summary A brief statement of previously given facts

86. Supporting To argue in favor of

87. Technique The method by which a task is accomplished

88. Thesaurus A book that lists words in groups of synonyms and related concepts

89. Thesis The main idea or subject for an essay

90. Thesis statement A sentence that shares the main idea of the entire writing, normally in the Introduction

91. Tone Quality or character of sound

92. Yarn A long story of adventure or incredible happening

MathKey Concept Definition

93. Absolute value The distance the number is from zero on a number line.

94. Acute triangle A triangle with three acute angles.

95. Adjacent angles Two angles that share a side and a vertex but do not overlap.

96. Average The sum of a set of numbers divided by how many numbers are in theset. It is also called the mean.

100. Base of a power In 24, the base is 2. The base is used as a factor as many times as given by the exponent (4). That is 24= 2 x 2 x 2 x 2.

101. Circumference The perimeter of a circle

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009102. Combination A collection of a set of objects in which order is not

important.

103. Compliments Two angles are compliments if their measures add up to 90 degrees.

104. Composite number A number that has more than two factors.

105. Congruent figures Figures that have exactly the same shape and size.

106. Cone A solid that has a circular base, a vertex, and a lateral surface.

107. Coordinate plane A plane formed by a horizontal number line(x) and a vertical number line

(y).

108. Cube of a number The third power of a number.

109. Cylinder A solid figure that has two circular bases and a curved lateral surface.

110. Dependent events If the probability of one event occurring changes the probability

of a second event occurring, then these are dependent events.

111. Distributive Property If a, b, and c are any number then a(b+c) = ab + ac. You multiply the

number or term on the outside of a parentheses by everything inside the parentheses.

112. Double bar graph A graph that uses two colors of bars to show how quantities

compare to each other.

113. Equation A mathematical statement which contains an equal sign.

114. Equilateral triangle A triangle with equal sides and equal angles.

115. Exponent The number of times a base is used as a factor. For example, a base with

an exponent of 4 will be multiplied 4 times.

116. Expression A collection of numbers, variables, and symbols such as +, -, ( )

117. Factor A number that is multiplied in an expression. In the example 2 x 4 = 8, 2

and 4 are factors of 8.

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009118. Function A rule that tells you how to perform one or more

operations on a numbercalled the input to produce a result called the output.

119. Histogram A bar graph that represents data in a frequency table. There is a bar (or

space for a bar) for each interval of the frequency table.

120. Hypotenuse The side of a right triangle that is opposite the right angle.

121. Independent Event An event that is does not depend on any other event

122. Inequalities Math statements that are not equal

123. Integers The set of whole numbers and their opposites.

124. Intersecting lines Two lines in a plane that meet at a common point

125. Inverse operations An operation the “undoes” another operation. For example,

addition is the inverse of subtraction.

126. Least common multiple The smallest common multiple of two or more numbers.

127. Linear equation An equation of a line

128. Mean The sum of a set of numbers divided by how many numbers are in the

set. This is also called the average.

129. Measure of central tendency A single number that is used to represent a set of data. The

mean, median, and mode are such numbers.

130. Median The middle number of a set of numbers written in numerical order.

131. Mode The number that occurs most often in a set of data.

132. Negative integers An integer that is less than 0.

133. Obtuse angle An angle whose measure is greater than 90 degrees.

134. Ordered pair A pair of numbers (x, y) that locate a single point in a coordinate plane

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009135. Parallel lines Two lines in a plane that are the same distance apart at all

points.

136. Perpendicular lines Two line in a plane that intersect at right angles.

137. Percent Per hundred, a fraction whose denominator is 100.

138. Permutation An arrangement or listing of objects in which order is important.

139. Pi The number that is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to itsdiameter.

140. Polyhedron A solid figure that has polygons as sides.

141. Power An expression that has a base and an exponent.

142. Prime factorization A number written as the product of prime numbers.

143. Prism A polyhedron with two sets of congruent and parallel sides.

144. Proportion An equation that has two equal ratios.

145. Pyramid A polyhedron whose base is a polygon and whose other faces are

triangles that share a common vertex.

146. Range The difference between the greatest and least numbers in a set of

numbers.

147. Reciprocals Two numbers whose product is 1.

148. Scatter plot A collection of points in a coordinate plane that represent a relationship

between two quantities.

149. Square of a number The second power of a number

150. Square root A number that when multiplied by itself equals the given number.

151. Stem-and-leaf plot A graphical display of data that resembles a T-chart. It is used to show

how a list of numbers is grouped, or clustered together.

152. Trapezoid A quadrilateral that has two opposite sides that are parallel and two that

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009are not.

153. Variable A letter in an equation that can be replaced by a number.

154. Venn diagram A drawing that uses geometric shapes to show relationships among sets

of objects.

155. Vertical Angle Two pairs of vertical angles that are formed by two intersecting lines.

156. x-axis The horizontal axis in a coordinate plane.

157. y-axis The vertical axis in a coordinate plane.

ScienceKey Concept Definition

158. Abiotic Non-living.

159. Adaptation Any trait of an organism that increases its chances of surviving and

reproducing

160. Alternative fuel The choice of any fuel other than the traditional selections, gasoline and

diesel

161. Analysis An investigation of the parts of a whole and their relationships to each

other and the whole

162. Aquatic Of the water

163. Astronomy

164. Atmosphere The mass of air surrounding Earth or other planets

165. Autotroph Organisms that make their own food

166. Axis

167. Biodiversity Number and variety of organisms found within a specified geographic

region

168. Biomass The total organic matter in an ecosystem

169. Biosphere A life supporting zone extending from the earth’s crust into the

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009 atmosphere

170. Biotic Living organisms and products of organisms

171. Carrying capacity The maximum size of a population that can be supported by a given

environment

172. Classify To arrange or organize according to class or category

173. Community All the interacting populations in a specified area

174. Consumer An organism that eats other organisms

175. Continental drift

176. Convection The movement caused when cool, dense material sinks and replaces

warmer, less dense material. Convection cells form within Earth's mantle when cool material near the crust sinks. It becomes heated by the core and is replaced by cooler, denser material.

177. Core The densest, central layer of Earth, composed mostly of iron and nickel.

The outer core is thought to be liquid, while the inner core is thought to be solid

178. Crust The outer layer of Earth, composed of relatively low-density rocks

179. Data Factual information, from observations, organized for analysis

180. Decomposer An organism that consumes parts of dead organisms and transfers all the

biomass into simple chemicals

181. Deposition The settling out of sediments carried by water, wind or ice to form

sedimentary rocks182. Eclipse

183. Ecology The study of the relationships between organisms and their environments

184. Ecosystem A system of interacting organisms and nonliving factors in a specified

area

185. Environment The surroundings of an organism including the living and nonliving

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009 factors

186. Erosion The removal and transportation of weathered materials by mass wasting

and the action of water, wind, and ice.

187. Extinct No longer in existence

188. Extrusive Describes igneous rock that erupted onto Earth's surface; formed from

lava

189. Fault A break or fracture in rock along which the two sections have moved

relative to each other

190. Food chain A sequence of organisms that eat one another in an ecosystem

191. Food pyramid A kind of trophic-level diagram in the shape of a pyramid in which the

largest layer at the base is the producers with the first-level, second level, and third-level consumers in the layers above

192. Food web All the feeding relationships in an ecosystem

193. Fossil Any remains, trace, or imprint of an organism preserved in rock; any

evidence of past life

194. Friction Force that resists relative motion between two bodies in contact

195. Herbivore An organism that eats only plants

196. Galaxy A very large cluster of stars (tens of millions to trillions of stars), bound together by gravity

197. Geology The study of planet Earth

198. Greenhouse gas Atmospheric gas such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane that

allows incoming sunlight to pass through but absorbs infrared radiation radiated back from the Earth’s surface, leading to the phenomenon whereby the Earth’s atmosphere traps solar radiation

199. Habitat Place or environment where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives and grows

200. Heterotroph An organism that cannot make its own food and must eat other organisms

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009

201. Igneous rock Rock formed from molten or partially molten material

202. Interdependence State of organisms depending on each other and the environment for

survival

203. Interpretation An explanation of the meaning or significance of something

204. Intrusive Describes igneous rock that cooled below Earth's surface; formed from

magma

205. Lava Molten rock that comes to Earth's surface through a volcano or other

crack in Earth's crust

206. Limiting factor Any biotic or abiotic component of the ecosystem that controls the size

of the population

207. Magma Molten rock that forms naturally below Earth's surface

208. Mantle The layer of Earth below the crust and above the core

209. Metamorphic rock A rock that has changed from another rock because of heat, pressure, or a chemical reaction

210. Natural selection The process by which the individuals best adapted to their environment

tend to survive and pass their traits to subsequent generations

211. Niche The particular area within a habitat occupied by an organism.

212. Omnivore A consumer that eat both plants and animals

213. Orbit The path that a celestial body, such as a planet, moon, or satellitefollows around a larger celestial body

214. Phase The changing appearance of a celestial body as different amounts of its

disk are seen to be illuminated by the Sun

215. Photosynthesis The process by which producers make energy-rich molecules (food)

from water and carbon dioxide in the presence of light

216. Plate tectonics A theory supported by evidence that Earth's crust and upper mantle are

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009composed of several thin, relatively rigid plates that move relative to one another, causing earthquakes and volcanism

217. Population All the individuals of one kind (one species) in a specified area at one

time.

218. Predator Any organism that exists by preying upon other organisms.

219. Prey An animal hunted or seized for food, especially by a carnivorous animal

220. Producer An organism that is able to produce its own food through photosynthesis

221. Rock cycle The transformation of rocks from one type to another by melting, weathering, erosion, deposition, heat, pressure, or deformation

222. Rotate

223. Sedimentary rock A rock made from particles, such as sand, silt, and pebbles, or by precipitation of minerals from a solution, such as calcium carbonate

224. Solar energy Energy from the sun

225. Species A kind of organism; members of a species are all the same kind of

organism and are different from all other kinds of organisms

226. Stimulus Object or event that causes a response

227. Tide

228. Trait The specific way a feature is expressed in an individual organism

229. Weathering The breaking apart of rocks by physical or chemical methods

Social StudiesKey Concept Definition

230. Evidence Information that can be used to prove a statement or support aconclusion

231. Primary source A document or other record of past events created by someone who was

present during the events or the time period in which they occurred

232. Secondary source A document or other record of past events created by someone who was

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009 not present during the events or the time period in which they occurred

233. Point of view A person’s way of thinking about or approaching a subject, as shaped by

his or her character, experience, culture and history

234. Historical interpretation The process of finding the meaning or significance of an event

235. Equality The state of having the same privileges, rights, status and opportunities

as others

236. Opportunity The chance for advancement or progress

237. Ideal A principle or standard of perfection that a person or group consistently

tries to achieve

238. Social class A group of people within a society who possess similar socioeconomic

status

239. Globalization The integration of cultures, economics and policies of nations around the

world

240. Chief executive The president and the head of the executive branch

241. Manifest destiny The belief, held by many Americans in the 1840s, that the United States

was destined to spread across the North American continent and beyond

242. Spoils system The practice of giving appointed positions in government to people loyal

to the party in power

243. Factory system A manufacturing system in which products are created on a large scale

by using machines in factories, rather than by individuals

244. Democratic Party One of the two major U.S. political parties; founded in 1828 by Andrew

Jackson to support a decentralized government and states’ rights; extremists tend to be liberal

245. Republican Party One of the two major U.S. political parties; founded in 1854 byantislavery opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act; extremists tend to be conservative

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009246. Sectionalism Strong concerns for local interests

247. Secession Formal withdrawal from a group; in U.S. history, the formal withdrawal

of 11 Southern states from the Union in 1860-1861, leading to the Civil War

248. Emancipation The act of freeing slaves from bondage

249. Total war A military policy in which one side in a conflict decides it is willing to

make any sacrifice necessary to completely defeat the opposing side

250. Habeas corpus The right of a person being detained to appear in court so that a judge may determine whether the person has been imprisoned unlawfully

251. Embargo A government order that restricts or prohibits trade of a particular good

or with a particular nation

252. Black codes Law enacted in 1855 and 1856 in the former Confederate states to

restrict freedom and opportunities for African Americans

253. Segregation The forced separation of races in public places

254. Tenant farming A system of agriculture in which landowners rent plots of land toworkers, who pay for the use of the land in cash, with a share of the crop raised, or both

255. Sharecropping A form of tenant farming in which the land owner provides a tenant notonly with land but also with the money needed to purchase equipment and supplies and possibly also food, clothing and supervision

256. Amnesty A general pardon for a crime, usually a political one, issued by a government to a specific group of people

257. Grandfather clause A provision in a law that exempts anyone already involved in a certain

activity from any new restriction on the activity that are established by the law

258. Populist Party A political party founded in 1892 calling for policies to help working

people, such as government ownership of the railroads and coinage of silver

259. Lobbyist A person who tries to persuade legislators to pass laws favorable to a

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009 particular group

260. Assimilation The absorption of people into the dominant culture

261. Populism A political philosophy that favors the common person’s interest over

those of the wealthy people or business interests

262. Monetary policy Government policy aimed at controlling the supply and value of a country’s currency

263. Laissez-faire The idea that the free market, through supply and demand, will regulate

itself if government does not interfere

264. Social Darwinism An idea, based on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, that the best-run

businesses led by the most capable people will survive and prosper

265. Capitalism An economic system in which factories, equipment and other means of

production are privately owned rather than controlled by the government

266. Capital Any financial asset – including money, machines and buildings – used in production

267. Monopoly A company that completely dominates a particular industry

268. Entrepreneur A bold, ambitious person who establishes a new business

269. Working class People who work for wages in factories, mills, mines and other businesses, usually performing manual labor

270. Labor union A group of workers organized to protect the interests of its members

271. Socialism A political theory that advocates ownership of the means of production,

such as factories and farms, by the people rather than by capitalists and landowners

272. Collective bargaining Negotiations between employers and employees concerning wages,

working conditions and other terms of employment

273. Anarchist A person who rejects all forms of government

274. Push factor A problem that causes people to immigrate to another place

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009275. Pull factor An attraction that draws immigrants to another place

276. Americanization The assimilation of immigrants into American society, a goal of some

patriotic groups who feared that increased immigration threatened American society and values

277. Muckraker A journalist who wrote about social, environmental and political problems Americans faced in the early 1900s

278. Infrastructure The facilities or equipment required for an organization or community to

function, including roads, sewage and power systems, and transportation

279. Political machine An organization consisting of full-time politicians whose main goal was

to retain political power and the money and influence that went with it

280. Patronage The practice of politicians giving jobs to friends and supporters

281. Progressives A member of a social and political movement of the early 1900s committed to improving conditions in American life

282. Prohibition A ban on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages

283. Imperialism The way in which a rich or powerful country’s way oflife/culture/business influences or changes a poorer country’s way of life/culture/business.

284. Foreign policy The set of guidelines and practices that a nation follows in its relations with other nations

285. Diplomacy The art of conducting negotiations with other nations

286. Cede To give up or grant land to another country, typically by treaty

287. Nationalism A strong feeling of pride in and loyalty to one’s nation

288. Militarism The glorification of military power and values

289. Alliance An agreement to cooperate

290. Bureaucracy A network of appointed government officials throughout the

body

291. Migration Movement of groups of people from one place to another

292. Nation-state A region with a single government and a unified group of people

293. Popular sovereignty A political practice, common in the U.S. before the Civil War in which the

7th Grade Vocabulary List 2008 - 2009people living in a newly organized territory has the right to vote on whether to allow slavery in the territory.