The Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old and its history is divided into time periods based on the events that took place and the forms of life that were dominant during those periods. The largest graduation of time is the eon and each eon is subdivided into eras, eras into periods, periods into epochs, and epochs into ages.

In the liquid state, molecules flow freely around each other and exist at a higher temperature range than the same substance in a solid state. Liquids maintain a constant volume but their shape depends upon the shape of their container.

The rows of the Periodic Table are called periods and contain elements that have the same number of electron shells ordered from lower to higher atomic number.

A substance undergoes a phase transition when it moves from one state of matter to another, for example, when water freezes or boils.

Producers (autotrophs) serve as a food source for other organisms. Typical producers are plants that can make their own food through photosynthesis and certain bacteria that are capable of converting inorganic substances into food through chemosynthesis