| A | B |
|---|
| applied science | study and activity that uses information provided by pure science to solve problems; ex. are engineering and medicine |
| pure science | study and activity that seek answers to questions about how the world works; ex. are biology and physics |
| natural resources | any natural substance that humans use, such as sunlight, soil, water, plants, and animals |
| pollution | the contamination of the air, water, or soil |
| extinction | the irreversible disapperance of a population or a species |
| biosphere | the layer around the earth in which life occurs naturally, extending from about 8km above the earth to the deepest part of the ocean, which is about 8 km. deep |
| observation | use of our senses to report the characteristics of properties and phenomena |
| hypothesis | a testable explanation for a specific problem or question, based on what has already been learned |
| renewable resource | abundant natural resources that are continually produced, such as trees and sunlight |
| environmental science | study of how humans interact with the environment |
| coevolution | two or more species evoling in response to each other |
| population | a group of individuals of the same species living in a particular place |
| niche | an organism's way of life |
| parasite | organism that lives in or on another organism and feeds on it with out immediately killing it |
| adaptation | an inherited trait that increases an organisms chance of survival and reproduction in a certain environment |
| species | a group of organisms that are able to produce fertile offsprings and that resemble each other in apperance, behavior, and internal structure |
| abiotic factor | non livind parts of an ecosystem |
| habitat | place where an organisms lives |
| ecosystem | all living organisms in a certain area as well as their physical environment |
| natural selection | term used to describe the unequal survival and reproduction of organisms that results from the presence or absence of particular inherited traits |
| competition | the relationship between species that attempt to use the same limited source |
| evolution | change in the genetic characteristics of a population from one generations to the next |
| biotice factor | living parts of an ecosystem |
| decomposers | consumer that gets its food by breaking down dead organisms, causing them to rot |
| fossil fuels | organic substances such as coal,oil,and natural gas that is used as an energy source and is formed from the remains of organisms that lived millions of years ago |
| primary succession | succession that occurs in areas where no ecosystem has existed previously |
| consumer | organism that gets it energy by eating other organisms; heterotroph |
| producer | organism that makes its own food; autotroph |
| carnivore | consumer that eats only other consumers |
| omnivore | consumer that eats both plants and animals |
| herbivore | consumer that eats only producers |
| cellular respiration | process of breaking down food to yield energy |
| climax community | final, stable community that forms when land is left undisturbed |
| biomes | regions that have distinctive climates and organisms and that contain many separate but similar ecoysystems |
| estuary | aquatic ecosystem in which fresh water from rivers mixes w/ salt water from the ocean, forming a nutrient trap |
| marshes | land covered w/ water; contains non woody plants |
| swamps | land covered with water; contains woody plants or shurbs |
| canopy | in a forest, the covering of tall trees whose interwinig branches absorb a great amount of sunlight and shade the area beneath |
| littoral zone | the shallow water area near the shores of lakes and ponds where sunlight reaches the bottom |
| point pollution | pollution discharged from a single source, such as from a factory or wastewater treatment plant |
| nonpoint pollution | pollution that comes from many sources rather than from a single specific site; an example is pollution that reaches a body of water from streets and storm sewers |
| ozone | form of oxygen w/ molecules made of 3 oxygen atoms |
| radon | gas produced naturally in the earth by the decay of uranium |
| aquifer | an underground rock formation that contains water |
| eutrophication | process that increases the amounts of nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, in a marine or aquatic ecosystem |
| pathogen | disease causing organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites |
| surface water | freshwater found above ground in lakes, pondds, rivers, and streams |
| bioaccumulation | accumulation of increasingly large amounts of a toxin w/in the tissues of organisms at each successive trophic level |
| watershed | entire area of land that is drained by a river |
| reservoir | artificial lake used to store water, control drainage, and provide recreation |
| recharge zone | area of land on the earth's surfacce from which ground wateer originates |
| desalinization | process in which salt is removed from saltwater, as from the oceans, making the water fit for drinking and cooking |
| asbestos | mineral that separates into long,threadlike fibers; frequently used for insulation |
| acid rain | highly acidic rain, sleet, os snow that results from the releasse of oxides of sulfur and nitrogen intoo the air from burning fossil fuels |
| VOC's | (volatile organic compounds) chemical compounds that form toxic fumes |
| smog | air pollution over urban areas that reduces visibilty, combination of the words smoke and fog |
| sick buliding syndrome | condition of building with particulary poor air quality, frequently caused by sealed windows and poor air circulation |
| thermal inversion | atmospheric condition in which the air above is warmer than the air below, sometimes trapping pollutants near the earths surface |
| secondary pollutants | pollutant that forms when a primary pollutant or a naturally occuring substance, such as water,comes into contact w/ other primary pollutants and a chemical reaction takes place |
| primary pollutants | pollutant put directly into the air by humann activity, such as soot from smoke |
