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PSSA Vocab 1-3
Science
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Topographic Map | A map characterized by large-scale detail... usually using contour lines, but historically using a variety of methods |
Hydrology | The branch of science concerned with the properties of the earth's water, especially its movement in relation to land |
Biomes | A large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat like a forest or tundra |
Dichotomous | Divided into two distinct parts |
Ecosystem | Community of living organisms and their interrelated physical and chemical environment |
Environment | Total surroundings (air, water, soil, vegetation, people, wildlife) influencing each living being's existence, including physical, biological and all other factors; the surroundings of a plant or animal, including other plants or animals, climate and loca |
Homeostasis | The tendency for a system by resisting change to remain in a state of equilibrium |
Abiotic | A nonliving factor or element (e.g., light, water, heat, rock, energy, mineral) |
Biotic | An environmental factor related to or produced by living organisms |
Niche | The role played by an organism in an ecosystem; its food preferences, requirements for shelter, special behaviors and the timing of its activities (e.g., nocturnal, diurnal), interaction with other organisms and its habitat |
Consumer | 1) Organisms that obtain energy by feeding on other organisms and their remains 2) a person buying goods or services for personal needs or to use in the production of other goods for resale |
Decomposer | An organism, often microscopic in size, that obtains nutrients by consuming dead organic matter, thereby making nutrients accessible to other organisms; examples of decomposers include fungi, scavengers, rodents and other animals |
Shredder | Through chewing and/or grinding, microorganisms feed on non-woody coarse particulate matter, primarily leaves |
Pest | A label applied to an organism when it is in competition with humans for some resource |
Integrated Pest Management | A variety of pest control methods that include repairs, traps, bait, poison, etc. to eliminate pests |
Acid Deposition | Precipitation with a pH less than 5.6 that forms in the atmosphere when certain pollutants mix with water vapor |
Stream Order | Energy and nutrient flow that increases as water moves toward the oceans (e.g., the smallest stream (primary) that ends when rivers flow into oceans) |
Watershed | The land area from which surface runoff drains into a stream, channel, lake, reservoir or other body of water; also called a drainage basin |
Wetlands | Lands where water saturation is the dominant factor determining the nature of the soil development and the plant and animal communities (e.g., sloughs, estuaries, marshes) |
Groundwater | Water that infiltrates the soil and is located in underground reservoirs called aquifers |
Mitogation | The policy of constructing or creating man-made habitats, such as wetlands, to replace those lost to development |
Lentic | Relating to or living in still water |
Lotic | Relating to or living in actively moving water |