| A | B |
|---|
| ecosystem | plants and animals that interact with each other and their environment to survive |
| ecology | study of ecosystems |
| photosynthesis | plants use sunlight to create energy and produce their own food |
| producers | plants make food for themselves and other organisms |
| consumers | eat plants and other consumers |
| food chain | path of energy and nutrients through a community |
| pollutant | addition of harmful substances to the environment |
| point source pollution | comes from specific source, such as pipes, smoke stacks, etc. |
| nonpoint source pollution | comes from many different sources, such as road salt, manure in fields, pet wastes, etc. |
| watershed | all of the land area which drains into a particular body of water |
| water resources | ponds, lakes, oceans, streams, wetlands, etc. |
| stormwater runoff | rain water washes over land, picking up nonpoint source pollution and carries it into streams, rivers, and lakes |
| hydrologic cycle | water cycle…process by which water in environment is constantly recycled and purified…evaporation, condensation, transpiration, precipitation |
| macroinvertebrate | organism without a backbone and can be seen without microscope |
| riffle | shallow part of stream that flows more rapidly over rocks or large stones |
| riperian buffer | plants along sides of stream or other body of water…they help keep soil and pollution from washing into the water |
| flood plain | strips of land next to a stream or other body of water where extra water goes during heavy rain storms |
| erosion | soil is taken away from the surface of the ground by glaciers, water, or wind |
| sediment | surface of ground; it is pollutant when it makes its way into a body of water |
| turbid | measure of suspended sediment and algae in rivers, streams, and lakes. A cloudy or muddy stream is turbid. |
| water filtration | method of cleaning water |
| conservation | careful use of resources so they will last longer |
| pollutant | harmful substance in the environment |
| scrubber | device attached to smokestack to remove sulfur dioxide |
| recycle | to reuse a resource |
| acid rain | rain that has acid in it |
| alternative energy source | energy source other than a fossil fuel |
| renewable resource | resource that can be replaced within a reasonably short period of time |
| nonrenewable resource | resource that cannot be replaced easily |
