12 Power Words
Below you will find definitions and examples of words children will see on standardized tests as identified by Larry Bell. Children need to understand these words to do well on the standardized tests.
1. Trace: To list in steps, outline, follow the path
Example: Trace the energy flow in an ecosystem.
Trace the flow of energy in an ecosystem.
TRACE=List in steps!
To summarize: In the flow of energy and inorganic nutrients through the ecosystem, a few generalizations can be made:
- The ultimate source of energy (for most ecosystems) is the sun
- The ultimate fate of energy in ecosystems is for it to be lost as heat.
- Energy and nutrients are passed from organism to organism through the food chain as one organism eats another.
- Decomposers remove the last energy from the remains of organisms.
- Inorganic nutrients are cycled, energy is not.
2. Analyze: To break apart
Example: Analyze information in math and pictures.
Analysis of parts may be simply adding up numbers and averaging them or comparing information to examine the relationship of one thing to another, or two things together.
Decide how to analyze information
Analysis can also take note of similarities
It can contrast the differences in the information by setting two things in opposition so as to show the differences
It can relate pieces of information to establish relationships between them
3. Infer: Read between the lines.
Example: Infer the meaning in the sentence below.
Sentence: My dog does a lot of tricks, he is always curling up next to me when I go to bed.
Meaning: I spend a lot of time with my dog because I taught him how to do tricks. My dog is special and I enjoy him because he falls asleep with me.
4. Evaluate: Judge
Example: Evaluate a variable expression, given specific values for the variables.
The first flag of the United States had 13 white stars. The flag now has 50 white stars. How many more white stars are on the United States flag today than were on the first flag? Evaluate the difference in the number of stars.
A. 37
B. 47
C. 50
D. 6350-13=37
5. Formulate: Create
Example: Formulate a response to this question:
Create equations with a sum of 12.
Possible Responses: 0+12=12 1+11=12 2+10=12 3+9=12 4+8=12 5+7=12 6+6=12
6. Describe-Tell all about
Example: Read the passage below from a 3rd grade FCAT sample test and answer the question.
When Laurie’s friend, Danny, came over to play, Laurie said, "Hi, Dan—" Hiccup!
"Want to get rid of those hiccups?" asked Danny.
"Sure!" said Laurie. "But how?"
"Stand on your head," Danny said. "That will stop the hiccups every time."
Laurie looked doubtful. "How does it work?" she asked.
"I don’t know," said Danny. "Maybe the hiccups get mixed up and cannot find their way out."
"I will try it," Laurie agreed. She moved over against the bedroom wall so she could lean her feet against it. As she carefully stood on her head, out came another hiccup.
"It is not working," Laurie said.
"Well, it takes a little time," Danny said as he walked over to a chair and sat down. Minutes passed— but the hiccups continued. "It is taking a little longer than I thought," Danny said.
Meanwhile, the hiccups kept coming.
Finally Danny said, "I guess I will go home. Good luck."
After Danny left, Father came in and found his upside-down daughter. "What are you doing?" he asked.
Laurie fell into a heap on the floor. "I am trying to get rid of my hiccups," she told him. "But nothing works." Hiccup!
"Try blowing into a paper bag," Father suggested. "That is supposed to be a good cure."
QUESTION:
Which word describes BOTH Laurie’s father and Danny?
A. curious
B. helpful
C. silly
D. tricky
Answer: B: helpful, both Danny and Laurie's father tried to help her get rid of her hiccups.
7. Support-Back up with details
Example: Read the passage from a 4th grade FCAT sample test and answer the short response question worth 2 points.
In Oregon there is a lake of incredible blue that is hidden from sight until you look over the edge of the wide rocky bowl that holds it. Called Crater Lake, it is one of the natural wonders of North America. Until about a hundred years ago, the lake was known to very few people. The Klamath people who were native to the area did not talk to strangers about the lake because it had a special meaning in their culture.
The story of the lake actually began thousands of years before, when one volcanic eruption after another created a twelve thousand foot mountain called Mount Mazama. Then about seven thousand years ago, Mount Mazama blew up. Rivers of lava flowed, and hot gases and ash were thrown into the air.
Because it was hollow, the top of Mount Mazama fell in on itself. After the volcano exploded, all that was left was a hole, called a
caldera. The Mount Mazama caldera, which was six miles wide and several thousand feet deep, looked like a great bowl with steep sides.It is believed that the bowl remained empty for hundreds of years because water drained through holes in the bottom. However, after a small volcano rose from the floor of the caldera, its lava sealed the drain holes. As rain and snow collected in the huge bowl, Crater Lake came into being.
In 1853 a group of miners reported seeing the lake.
Twenty years later Peter Britt, a pioneering photographer, took the first photograph of the lake. Later, the picture was widely printed in magazines, and the beautiful Crater Lake we know today became famous.
QUESTION:
What result of the first Mount Mazama explosion was most important to the formation of Crater Lake? Use details and information from the article to support your answer.
Top-Score Response: A top-score response cites BOTH the most important result of the Mount Mazama explosion AND a correct explanation of its importance, using information stated or implied in the text.
Example of a Top-Score Response: The mountain falling in on itself and creating a huge hole/caldera/bowl was the most important result of the explosion. It was that bowl that later collected the rain and snow that formed Crater Lake.
8. Explain- Tell how
Example: Read the sample problem from the 5th grade FCAT test, and answer the question.
In central Florida, most of the ground is sand and limestone, so the machine drills at a constant rate. The table above shows the amount of time it takes the machine to drill to different depths.
| Number of Hours | Number of Meters Drilled |
| 2 | 2 2/3 |
| 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 5 1/3 |
| 5 | |
| 6 | 8 |
Question: According to the table, what is the number of meters drilled in 5 hours?
___________meters
Explain how the number of meters drilled changes as the number of hours changes. Use numbers from your work to support your explanation.
Explain how the number of meters drilled changes as the number of hours changes. Use numbers from your work to support your explanation.
Top-Score Response
6
2 /3 metersExplanation: For every hour, the machine digs 1
1 / 3 meters, so5
1/3 + 1 1/3= 6 2/3 meters.
9. Summarize- Give me the short version
Example: Read the passage, Spacewalk, (from a 4th grade sample FCAT test) and answer the sample question below.
S P A C E W A L K
by Doug Murray
FIVE . . . FOUR . . . All systems on internal . . .
Tommy squirmed against the straps holding him. They were so tight! He felt trapped, something he’d always hated. Maybe if he shifted his body, twisted to the left a little—maybe then the straps would loosen just the least little bit . . .
Three . . . Two . . . Main engine ignition sequence started . . .
Tommy felt the straps give slightly. Good! He shifted back the other way, trying to gain a little leverage.
1 One . . . Solid boosters fire . . .The world exploded in sound! Tommy felt himself forced down into his cushions, his whole body suddenly weighing a ton. He tried to take a deep breath—but he couldn’t even get enough air into his lungs to cry out.
Tommy lay quietly on the cushions. He was miserable and he had to work just to breathe. His head was so heavy he couldn’t even lift it. The roaring sound filled his head, hurt his ears. If only it would stop!
(1 leverage:
power )It was getting worse, he was getting heavier and heavier, the sound louder and louder . . .
Then it stopped.
"Through the sound barrier. Engines nominal at 110 percent," said Jack Dodds, the mission pilot.
"Roger." Commander Stacy Mayberry glanced back into the cabin, neck aching as she set her muscles against the three
Gs2 still pressing against her. "Everyone O.K. back there? How’s Tommy doing?""Tommy’s doing fine, Skipper! Says he wants to know when these Gs drop off," said mission specialist Mike Mize.
"So do we all!" added Alice Norton, the second mission specialist on the flight.
Mayberry glanced at the mission clock, then placed her hands carefully on the manual overrides. "Thirty seconds! Jack, get ready on those manuals!"
"Right, Skipper!" "Five . . . Four . . . Three . . . Two . . . Engine cutoff . . . Now!"
Tommy’s body suddenly stopped aching. He blinked, his vision clearing. Opening his eyes wide, he tried to see all around him at once. He felt so different, like . . .
He was falling! Instinctively,3 he fought against the straps still holding him in place. He twisted his legs trying desperately to get free . . .
"All right, everyone. We’re in stable orbit." Mayberry grinned as she looked at the green faces on the crew deck. "And we’re weightless."
(2 Gs: the force of gravity) (3 instinctively:
something done naturally)
Time passed. The straps were no longer necessary, and Tommy soon found that weightlessness was fun! Sure, he made a few mistakes at first, but he had a good teacher, and by the third day, he felt almost normal again.
One afternoon the whole crew assembled in the afterdeck to watch the experiment. Tommy was at one end of the deck next to Alice, his safety harness clipped to one of the deck lines.
"All right, folks," Alice said, motioning to Mike that she was ready," let's give it a try."
Mike’s hand disappeared into one of the lockers mounted on the wall. "As you know," he began, "one of the things we’ve been looking at to relieve the boredom of long-term interplanetary4 missions is the introduction of pets into the spacecraft environment."
Alice gave Tommy a quick scratch behind the ears, and he instantly rewarded her with a purr. "One of the reasons we haven’t brought any of the higher animals—cats, dogs, whatever—," she continued, "was because of the problem of weightlessness. Experts believed that animals just couldn’t cope with that feeling of constant falling."
(4 interplanetary:
among planets)She picked Tommy up, releasing his collar from the safety line. "Tommy is going to show that they’re wrong—aren’t you, boy?" He purred again, louder this time. "And to prove it . . ." She gestured to Mike, who produced a catnip mouse. Moving with exaggerated care, he released it in the middle of the room, where it hung, drifting and motionless.
"Now, Tommy!" But Tommy had already smelled the catnip, its aroma spread through the cabin by the air-circulating system. He settled himself against the rear wall, his claws hooked tightly into the cloth of the safety straps. Then, blinking his eyes, he pushed off toward the mouse gently, so gently.
"Note his control of the leap," Alice said quietly as Tommy moved toward the center of the room. "Now, any second . . ."
Tommy twisted his rear right leg, forcing his body to swing around, even as his mouth closed—gently, always gently—on the little mouse.
"Note how he turns, using only slight muscular effort . . ."
Holding the mouse in his teeth, Tommy finished his turn, now twisting his left front leg to stop his tumble. He stayed in position, watching the wall grow in front of him until . . .
"Now, as he reaches the wall . . ."
He let his four legs hit together, grabbing the nearest strap with his claws and holding on as he rebounded slightly.
Alice’s smile lit up the whole room. "Did you see that? And he’s only had three days to practice!"
Commander Mayberry shook her head in wonder. "This is my eighth flight, and I can’t do it that smoothly!"
Alice worked her way over to Tommy. "Cats are the answer," she said, reaching into her coverall for a piece of cheese. Tommy accepted it politely from her hand. "Cats can adapt to conditions here—and cats will help make the long planetary missions more bearable to human astronauts."
Mayberry leaned forward, petting Tommy gently. "Works for me!"
Tommy began purring again as he savored the piece of cheese. It worked for him, too!
Abridgement of "Spacewalk" by Doug Murray, text reprinted by permission of Cricket Magazine, October 1995, Vol. 24, No. 2, text © 1995 by Doug Murray, art copyright © 1995 by Ron Chironna and reprinted by permission
QUESTION:
Summarize the main idea of "Spacewalk".
A. People need pets to live in space.
B. Cats can adjust to traveling in space.
C. Animals need help to move in space.
D. Astronauts can train animals in space.
ANSWER: B. Cats can adjust to traveling in space.
10. and 11. Compare-All the ways they are alike
Contrast-All the ways they are different
Example: Read the passage from number 9, Spacewalk, and answer the question that makes you compare and contrast.
Question:
How are Tommy and Commander Mayberry ALIKE and how are they DIFFERENT? Use information and details from the story to explain your answer.
Top-Score Response: A top-score response compares AND contrasts the two characters accurately and completely, using information stated or implied in the story.
Example of a Top-Score Response: Both Tommy and Mayberry are on a spacecraft in space. They both have pain during the takeoff. Later, they are both weightless and both learn to move in weightlessness. They are different because Tommy is a (male) cat and Mayberry is a (female) human. Tommy is a pet and a traveler on the spacecraft, while Mayberry is the commander of the spacecraft. Tommy moves more smoothly and learns how to adapt more quickly to weightlessness than Mayberry does.
12. Predict- What will happen next?
Example: Read the passage from number 9, Spacewalk and answer the question that makes you predict what will happen next.
Question: If Tommy smells catnip, predict what he will do next?
a. Tommy will stay strapped into his seat on the spacecraft.
b. Tommy will not want to eat it because it made him sick.
c. Tommy will float around the spacecraft until he catches the catnip and eats it.
d. Tommy will purr loudly until Mayberry brings the catnip to him.
Answer: C. Tommy will float around the spacecraft until he catches the catnip and eats it. This answer is correct because in the story, Tommy pushed off gently and floated inside the spacecraft and caught the catnip and ate it.