Download BIG CREEK OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTER Discovery School

BIG CREEK OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTER
Discovery School
VOCABULARY
Adaptation - any characteristic which helps an organism to survive in its particular environment
Animal - any living thing that gets its food from other animals, living or dead; most animals are mobile
Biome - climate, plants, and animals in a broad region, eg. tundra, desert, deciduous forest.
Carnivore - any animal that feeds on animal matter; a secondary consumer.
Chlorophyll - green coloring matter in plants; essential in process of photosynthesis.
Climate - average of weather conditions over a long period of time in a large geographical area, as
determined by air pressure, heat, wind, and moisture
Community - an interrelated and interdependent group of plants and animals.
Conservation - wise use of the environment
Consumer - in the food chain all organisms other than green plants.
Decay - reduction of the materials of plant or animal bodies to simple compounds through the action of
bacteria or other decomposes.
Decomposes - organisms that break down tissues and excretion of other organisms into simpler forms;
bacteria, yeast, mold, and other fungi, etc
Ecology - study of the relationship of living things, including man, to each other and to their environment.
Energy - the ability to do work.
Environment - all of the biological and physical components of a given place.
Erosion - loss of soil caused by the action of wind and water
Food Chain - transfer of energy through an ecosystem through the action of food producers, food
consumers, and decomposes.
Habitat - the place where a plant or animal can find the right food, shelter, water, temperature, and
other things it needs to live.
Herbivore - a plant-eating animal; a primary consumer.
Humus - organic matter in soil produced by plant and animal decomposition.
Interrelationship - the interaction between plants and animals and their environment.
Mammal - a warm-blooded animal with hair or fur, born alive; suckle their young.
Niche - the “job” a living thing does; its relation to the environment.
Photosynthesis - the process by which green plants, using light energy, combine carbon dioxide and
water to produce basic food substance and oxygen.
Predator - an animal that preys on other animals.
Producer - in the food chain green plants; the only organisms capable of making food.
Respiration - oxidation of food and the release of energy involving the exchange of gases (oxygen in,
carbon dioxide out) between living cells (plant and animal) and the environment.
Transpiration - loss of water from plants into the surrounding atmosphere.
Water Cycle - continuous movement of water, in its various forms, between earth and air.
Weather - condition of the atmosphere, determined by air pressure, heat, wind, and water.
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 Fax (406) 755-7154  www.glacierinstitute.org  [email protected] 