Word | Your Moms Definition :) |
Natural Resource | Anything naturally occurring in the environment that humans use. (pg. 88) |
Pollution | Contamination of Earth's land, water or air. (pg. 89) |
Point Source | A specific source of pollution that can be identified. (pg. 89, 143) |
Nonpoint Source | A widely spread source of pollution that is difficult to link to a specific point of origin. (pg. 89, 143) |
Environmental Science | The study of the natural processes that occur in the environment and how humans can affect them. (pg. 90) |
Renewable Resource | A resource that is either always available or is naturally replaced in a relatively short time. (pg. 93-94) |
Nonrenewable Resource | A natural resource that is not replaced in a useful time frame (pg. 94) |
Sustainable use | The use of a resource in ways that maintain the resource at a certain quality for a certain period of time. (pg. 96) |
Ecological footprint | The amount of land and water that individuals use to meet their resource needs and to absorb the wastes that they produce. (pg. 96) |
Conservation | The practice of using less of a resource so that it can last longer. (pg (s). 102-105, 128-133, 97) |
Exponential Growth | Growth pattern in which individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate, so that the larger a population gets, the faster it grows. (pg. 99) |
Clear Cutting | The process of cutting down all the trees in an area at once. (pg. 104) |
Selective Cutting | The process of cutting down only some tree species in an area. (pg. 104) |
Sustainable yield | An amount of renewable resource that can be harvested regularly without reducing the future supply. (pg. 105) |
fishery | An area with a large population of valuable ocean organisms. (pg. 106) |
aquaculture | The practice of raising fish and other water-dwelling organisms ot food. (pg. (s) 107, 162) |
Biodiversity | The total number if different species on Earth, including those on land, in the water, and in the air. (pg.108-117) |
Keystone species | A species that influences the survival of many other species in an ecosystem. (pg. 109) |
Gene | A sequence of DNA that determines a trait and is passed from parent to offspring. (pg.112) |
Extinction | The disappearance of all members of a species from Earth. (pg(s).19, 74, 113, 116) |
Endangered Species | A species in danger of becoming extinct in the near future. (pg.113) |
Threatened species | A species that could become endangered in the near future. (pg. 113) |
Habitat Destruction | The loss of a natural habitat. (pg.114) |
Habitat fragmentation | The breaking of a habitat into smaller, isolated pieces. (pg.114) |
Poaching | Illegal killing or removal of wildlife from their habitats. (pg. 114) |
Captive Breeding | The mating of animals in zoos or wildlife preserves. (pg. 115) |