Question | Answer |
Acid | Substance that dissolves rock |
Adaptation | Changes that help an organism survive and reproduce |
Agricultural | Having to do with farming |
Aquatic | Having to do with water |
Aquifer | Underground water storage |
Asexual Reproduction | Reproduction by one parent |
Beach | Area along the shore covered with weathered rock bits |
Biodiversity | A variety of living things |
Biomass | Living or once living matter |
Biome | Specific location with specific climate, plants, and animals |
Canyon | Area carved into the earth's surface by river erosion |
Catastrophe | Any misfortune, in this case, a sudden disaster |
Chemical Weathering | Acid rain or oxidation |
Chromosomes | Structures that hold the DNA (genes) |
Climax Community | Final, stable stage of ecological succession |
Compost | Decaying matter (Temp. increases during process) |
Condensation | Water turning from vapor to liquid |
Consumer | An organism that eats other things for energy |
Contraction | Shortening |
Delta | Area of deposition caused by the slowing of water |
Deposition | Drops off eroding material |
Dichotomous key | Used to identify items with paired statements |
Dissolution | Break apart-usually in liquid |
Dominant Trait | Feature that is seen in organism (phenotype). Represented by a capital letter |
Downstream | Further in the direction the water flows |
Dune | Build up of sand or other material due to the wind |
Earthquake | Movement caused by plate tectonic |
Ecological Succession | Gradual changes to an ecosystem over time |
Ecoregion | A specific region with specific plants, animals, and climate |
Ecosystem | All the biotic and abiotic features in a particular area |
Energy Pyramid | Model showing energy movement in an ecosystem |
Erosion | Moving of weathered material |
Evacuated | Moved to another area |
Evaporation | Change of state from liquid to gas |
Excessive | Too much |
Expansion | Increase in amount or size |
Exposed | Showing, visible |
Extensions | Parts that stick out past the body |
External | Outside |
Extremely | A lot |
Fertilizer | Chemicals used to increase plant growth |
Flood | Too much water with nowhere to go to |
Food Chain | A chain showing the food source to a consumer |
Food Web | Shows overlapping food chains |
Formation | Something created e.g. cliff or canyon |
Gene | DNA, determines traits of an offspring |
Geoligist | Scientist who studies rocks and minerals |
Geotropism | Plant growth in response to gravity |
Germinate | Begin to grow |
Glacier | Huge mass of ice |
Gradient | Scale that goes up |
Habitat | Where a particular organism lives |
Heredity | Passing on of traits from parents to offspring |
Hurricane | Huge area of low pressure, giant storm |
Impact | Hit |
Ingesting | Take in |
Intensity | How strong or weak something is |
Internal | Inside |
Mechanical Weathering | Ice wedging, heating and contracting, plant roots, mass wasting |
Mountain | Built up pile of rocks |
Mudslide | Self-Explanatory |
Natural Selection | Breeding without human interference |
Negative | Opposite of; not good |
Nucleus | Structure in cell the holds chromosomes (like the brains!) |
Nutrient | Organic matter that provides needed materials for an organisms |
Percolation | Movement of water down through soil and rock |
Phenomenom | Event |
Photosynthesis | Process by which plants make sugar |
Phototropism | Plant growth in response to light |
Pioneer Organism | First organism in an area |
Pollutant | Something bad for the environment |
Positive | Good |
Precipitation | Water falling from the sky in any form |
Primary Succession | The first stage of succession. It's basically rock |
Producer | Plant |
Recessive trait | Not expressed trait. Represented by a lowercase letter |
Response | Reaction to a stimulus |
Run-off | Water moving downhill |
Saffir-Simpson scale | Rates the intensity of Hurricanes |
Saturation | Completely full |
Secondary Succession | The second stage of succession. It begins with soil |
Sediment | Broken down substances that have settled somewhere |
Selective Breeding | Human interference in the breeding process |
Sexual Reproduction | Reproduction that requires two parents |
Stimulus | An action that causes a response |
Sustainability | Continues on and on |
Tornado | Vortex of wind |
Tributaries | Smaller streams that feed into larger streams |
Turgor Pressure | Water pressure that help keep the plant upright |
Volcano | Location where molten rock emerges from the earth |
Water Table | Water level underground |
Watershed | Land area that provides run-off for a river |
Weathering | Breaking down of rocks by mechanical or chemical means |
3 examples of Mechanical Weathering | Freezing, Thawing, Wind Erosion, Wave Erosion, Heating and Contraction, Plant Roots, Gravity |
1 type of Chemical Weathering | Acid Rain, Oxidation |
Why are adaptations necessary? | Survival and Reproduction |
Which carries more sediment, Fast Streams, or Slow Streams | Fast Streams |
What is the correct scientific term for downward movement of water through pores and spaces in the ground | Percolation |
What is the function of roots? | Store Water, Absorb Nutrients and Water |
What is the function of leaves? | Make food |
Which way should the arrows point in a food chain or food web? | Toward the organism getting the energy (toward the eater) |
3 ways humans affect the environment | Water Pollution, Air Pollution, Land Pollution |