Glossary of Terms
This alphabetized glossary provides plain language definitions of all the environmental terms that appear on the Earth Rangers website.
Abiotic: Non-living elements of the environment.
Absorption: The taking up of one substance by another (i.e. when a towel soaks up water.)
Acid rain: Rain, snow, hail and fog that has been polluted by airborne chemicals released into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels.
Acrylic: A synthetic textile fiber made with acrylic acid.
Action: The process a person goes through to accomplish something i.e. teachers, students and other members of society might take action in order to help create a healthy environment. Knowledge and awareness should lead to action!
Action project: A project that enables people to change something about their environment (i.e. Litter-less Lunch Program in schools.)
Adaptation: A change in the appearance or function of an organism over time as a result of a change in its environment. The adaptations occur to better enable the organism to survive under the new conditions.
Aerobic: Requiring oxygen to live. Composting is an aerobic process – requiring oxygen to take place.
Aesthetic: Anything that is beautiful or visually appealing.
Alien species: A plant or animal that is not native to the area.
Anaerobic: Requiring a lack of oxygen to live. Anaerobic decomposition takes place if air is excluded.
Anemometer: An instrument that measures wind speed.
Animal structure: The different things that make-up an animal; an animal’s composition and formation.
Annual (plant): A plant that lives for only one season of the year.
Atmosphere: The gaseous mass or envelope surrounding the Earth.
Anti-idling campaign: A movement toward turning-off the engine of a vehicle when not in use. Some places have a time limit for idling, after which a ticket is issued.
Barometer: An instrument for measuring air-pressure, especially in weather forecasting.
Behaviour: The response of an individual, group, or species to its environment.
Bioaccumulation: The buildup of a substance in a living thing/environment as a result of the intake of contaminated air, water or food and slow metabolism/excretion of these substances.
Biodegradable: Capable of being broken down naturally by tiny bacteria and other living things.
Biodiversity: The variety of living things and their ecosystems.
Biotic: Living organisms
Carpool: When two or more people travel together/share the use of a car, to save operation costs and to create less air pollution.
Carnivore: An animal that only eats meat of other animals to survive.
Characteristics: The features or qualities that make somebody or something recognizable.
Classification: The science of finding patterns among living things.
Clear cutting: A logging process where all of the trees in an area are removed at once.
Climate change: Fluctuations in the global weather patterns caused by changes in greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. It is generally accepted that human activity is the largest influence on climate due to the burning of fossil fuels.
Colour: A shade, tint, dye, paint or pigment.
Community: The interaction of organisms within a habitat.
Competition (between species): When two or more organisms have the potential for using the same resource.
Compost: Decomposed organic matter; the man-made form of humus. The word derives from the Latin componere, to combine. Compost may also refer to a purchased soil mix (potting compost).
Concrete materials: Things that can be handled.
Conductivity: The ability of a substance to transmit energy i.e. heat.
Conserve: To avoid wasteful or destructive use of goods and materials.
Conservation: Preservation and efficient use of natural resources such as water and forests so they will not be unnecessarily damaged or wasted.
Consume: To eat or drink.
Consumer: An animal that relies on producers or other consumers for food.
Consumerism: A preoccupation with and an inclination toward the use of new materials.
Contaminated: Something that has become unfit to use, impure, poisoned or unclean.
Decompose (primary): To break down into component parts.
Decomposer (primary): An organism which converts dead organic material into inorganic materials.
Deforestation: The removal of trees from a forest.
Differences: The qualities that make something or an individual unlike another.
Diversity: A wide variety of traits in individuals from the same population.
Earth friendly: Something that has very little if any, impact on our planet.
Earth’s resources: See Natural Resources.
Ecology: The study of the relationship between living organisms and their environment.
Ecological footprint: A calculation that estimates the area of land and water required to supply the resources that an individual or group demands. It also considers how much land and water is needed to absorb the wastes that the individual or group produces. (the more resources required = larger footprint)
Ecological niche: The role of an organism in a community.
Ecosystem: A community of organisms working together as a cohesive unit.
Emissions: Airborne pollution particles that come from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.
Energy: The ability to do work. It is never created or destroyed but only changed from one form to another.
Environment: The physical, biotic and chemical factors that act upon an organism (i.e. a living thing) or an ecological community and determine its form and survival.
Erosion: The transportation of material by a mobile agent, such as water, wind or ice (i.e. soil erosion by heavy rainfall.)
Erosion prevention: Action taken to secure a material and prevent its transportation by water, wind or ice.
Exploration: The act of making discoveries.
Evaporation: To turn into vapor (i.e. water from liquid to gas)
Exotic species: Foreign plant, or animal that is introduced into a new area.
Extinction: The disappearance of a species of plant or animal from Earth. Many species are becoming endangered or threatened with extinction because of human activities.
Fair trade: Fair trade provides a just, guaranteed price to the farmer for his/her crop and recognizes the true cost of materials and labour while giving him/her the power to break the cycle of poverty.
Food chain: The hierarchy of organisms within an ecological community defining the order of predation i.e. organisms on the top of the food chain feed on those below it etc. If one link in the chain were to disappear/go extinct, the rest of it would collapse.
Force: A push or pull exerted by one object on another causing a change in motion.
Fossil fuels: The non-renewable, fossilized remains of plant and animal life that are used to provide energy by combustion i.e. coal, oil and natural gas.
Fossils: The remains or traces of organisms preserved from the geologic past.
Geometric: The use of basic geometric principles of lines and curves in design.
Germination: The sprouting of new life from a seed.
Germ: Something that initiates development (usually referring to bacteria or viruses that develop into illnesses for organisms.)
Green: See Earth Friendly
Greenhouse effect: Warming of the Earth’s atmosphere as a result of increases in CO2, and water vapor within the earth’s atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases: Those gases (such as water vapour and carbon dioxide) that get trapped in the atmosphere and cause the temperature to rise.
Greenland ice sheet: A mass of glacier ice that covers most of the Greenland subcontinent.
Growing zone: A geographic area defined by the highs and lows of both temperature and humidity. It’s important to know this information about the growing zone where you live before choosing which plants to grow in your garden.
Growth: The process of development (i.e. plant growth from seed to production of seeds.)
Habitat: A place where an organism lives which provides all the resources required for survival i.e. space, water, food and shelter.
Habitat loss: Removal/destruction of one or more of the resources required for survival within a defined location making the location uninhabitable to the organisms that live there and threatening their survival.
Hazardous waste: Waste materials that are very dangerous to human health and/or the environment.
Hearing (acute): Hearing is one of the five senses by which sound is perceived by the ears. Acute hearing means having sensitive, powerful or painful hearing.
Herbivore: An animal that eats plants to survive.
Hibernate: To become inactive or dormant.
Hibernaculum: The place occupied by an inactive or dormant animal.
Hydrological cycle (aka water cycle): The cycle of evaporation and condensation that keeps control of the Earth’s water. Water gives off vapour, condenses and finally precipitates and returns to bodies of water.
Igneous: Rock formed from the solidification of magna.
Innovations: The introduction of new ideas, methods.
Input/output: Anything that is put into, or comes out of a system.
Insects: A class (Insecta) of arthropods with well-defined head, thorax, and abdomen, only three pairs of legs, and typically one or two pairs of wings.
Insecticide: A chemical substance used to kill insects.
Investigation: An in-depth study of something in order to answer questions about function, purpose etc.
Junk mail: Mail sent to you, that you have not asked for i.e. advertisements, flyers, and coupons.
Kingdom: The first division in the classification of living things separating plants, animals, fungi, protista and monera.
Landfill site: A place where waste materials are either placed on top of the ground or buried underground.
Landscape: A portion of land that can be viewed at one time from one place.
Litter: Waste that is improperly disposed of on the street, sidewalk, lakes and other bodies of water, and in the general environment.
Lungs: Organs that help us breathe.
Lyme disease: A disease transmitted by ticks, with symptoms including flu, fever, headache and a rash.
Magnifying glass: An instrument that visually enlarges the object it is held over.
Malaria: A disease spread through the bite of an Anopheles mosquito having symptoms of chills and fever.
Mammals: Warm-blooded higher vertebrates that nourish their young with milk secreted by mammary glands and have skin usually covered with hair.
Manipulation: To manage, control or utilize with skill.
Mealworms: The larva of darkling beetles; often raised as food for insectivorous animals.
Megaphone: A device used to amplify the voice.
Metamorphic: Rock formed under heat and pressure from another type of rock.
Microorganisms: Microscopic organisms such as bacteria, protozoa or fungi. Sometimes knows as microbes.
Microphone: An audio device used to create electronic signals out of sound vibrations.
Microscope: An instrument used to view things that are too small to see with the naked eye.
Moisture: Water in the form of liquid or vapor.
Mould: Fungal growth on organic matter, usually found in the presence of dampness or decay.
Movement: A change in position of something.
Mulch: A protective covering left on the ground to reduce evaporation, maintain soil temperature, prevent erosion and enrich soil.
Naturalization: The introduction or re-introduction of animals or plants to places where they flourish but do not currently exist.
Natural resources: Materials produced by nature and its processes i.e. fossil fuels, forests, wildlife)
Neighbourhood: A group of people who live near one another.
Non-renewable energy (re)source: An energy source that can not be used over and over again as there is a fixed amount of it on earth and when its gone it will be gone forever i.e. coal, oil and natural gas. These resources form over such long geologic time spans that they can not be replenished in human time.
Non-toxic: Not harmful or destructive.
Nutrient: A substance or ingredient which provides nourishment and promotes growth in living organisms.
Observation: Careful notice or examination of something.
Obstacle: Something that impedes progress.
Organic: The process of growing, maintaining and yielding food without the employment of chemical fertilizers, antibiotics or pesticides.
Organism: Any living thing that can exist independently.
Old growth forest: A forest well past the age of maturity (often exceeding 250 years old) that has not been affected by human activity. Very few of these forests exist in the world.
Omnivore: An animal that eats both plants and animals to survive.
One-sided paper box: A place to store paper that has only been used on one side and can still be used on the other.
One-time use item: An item designed to be used only once i.e. single serving pudding cups, juice boxes.
Opaque: Completely blocking light from passing through.
Optical: To do with light.
Organic: Things that have been grown without pesticides or growth hormones.
Ornithology: The scientific study of birds.
Ozone layer: A thin layer in the atmosphere surrounding the Earth that shields us from most of the sun’s UV rays.
Paper products: Things that we use that are made from wood fibers i.e. furniture, paper, cardboard, boxboard, tissue, etc.
Perennial: A plant that grows year after year.
Periscope: A device using mirrors/prisms to see around corners.
Pesticides: Dangerous chemicals used by people to kill unwanted plants and insects.
Physical: Concerned with material things.
Physical characteristics: Visual features of a surface.
Pistil: The female reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of an ovary, style, and stigma.
Polar ice caps: The area around the poles of the Earth that are permanently covered with ice.
Pollen: Dust-like grains from the flower of a plant that contain the male sex cells.
Pollutant: A substance that doesn’t normally belong somewhere and upsets the surroundings.
Pollution: Environmental contamination caused by man-made waste.
Population: All the members of one species in an area.
Pre-packaged: Items that are prepared and wrapped in lots of (usually unnecessary) packaging before it is sold.
Prism: A transparent, triangular piece of glass or plastic that disperses light.
Procedures: A series of steps carried out in an experiment.
Producer: A green plant able to make its own food using energy from the sun.
Qualitative: Referring only to the characteristics of something being described, rather than exact numerical measurement.
Quantitative: Referring to a characteristic of something that can be measured numerically.
Recycled paper: Paper made from old paper from our blue boxes.
Recycling: To use again. To crush, melt down or transform something that has already been used to make a new item instead of throwing the used item away i.e. glass bottles can be melted down and reformed into glass.
Red wiggler worm: The most common worm used in vermi-composters to break down organic material and turn it into nutrient rich soil.
Reforestation: Planting/growing new trees where other trees have been cut down.
Renewable energy: Energy that can be used over and over again (i.e. wind, fast moving water, solar) and is virtually inexhaustible.
Reproduction: The process of creating offspring.
Reptiles: A cold blooded vertebrate that has skin covered in scales or plates. Usually lay eggs but some give birth to live young.
Response: A change produced in an organism by a stimulus.
Restoration: The return of a habitat to its original functioning state i.e. before human intervention occurred.
Reuse: To use again, something that has outgrown its original purpose. (i.e. turning old clothes into rags for cleaning).
Sanctuary: A refuge/shelter from danger or hardship. It is often used to describe a tract of land set aside for preservation, safe from human intervention.
Secondary growth forests: Forests that are less than 250 years old and have been logged before and have regrown.
Sedimentation: Pieces of material carried and deposited by water and wind.
Seeds: An undeveloped plant with stored food sealed in a protective covering and having the potential to develop into a new plant.
Sense organ: A group of nerve cells able translate one of the following stimuli- smell, touch, visual, sound or taste.
Sensory: Pertaining to the senses.
Similarities: The resemblance of two or more objects.
Size: How big or small something is in comparison to something else.
Smog: A mixture of smoke and fog; usually referring to any manner of air pollution.
Soil: Part of the earth’s surface comprised of organic material and broken up rock.
Solid: A form of matter that has a defined shape and takes up a definite amount of space.
Sounds: Vibrations perceived by the sense of hearing.
Species: A taxonomic group of organisms that can interbreed.
Statistics: The science of collecting, organizing and analyzing of data.
Stamen: The male reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of a pollen-bearing anther and a supporting filament.
Stems: The axis of a plant.
Structure: A supporting framework.
Survey: A detailed inspection.
Sustainable: Being able to continue on into the future.
Sustainable energy: Energy which is replenishable within a human lifetime and causes no long-term damage to the environment.
Temperature: The degree to which hotness or coldness is measured.
Texture: The feel or appearance of an object.
Translucent: Letting only some light through so that objects on the other side appear blurry.
Transparent: Letting all light through so that objects on the other side can be seen clearly.
Transpiration: The giving off of water (as a vapor) from plants.
Undulate: To move in waves.
Urban: Relating to a characteristic of the city.
Urban development: Transformation of natural spaces to city landscapes through construction of buildings, roads and urban infrastructures.
Urban sprawl: Slang term for the unplanned/unorganized/wasteful growth of cities into rural surroundings.
Vermicomposting: A form of composting that uses worms. The worms feed on decomposing materials (such as vegetable scraps) in a controlled environment and in turn produce a nutrient-rich soil.
Vibrations: A quick oscillation (back and forth or up and down motion) that appears to be moving in space but is not as it is constantly passing through the wave’s equilibrium i.e. back and forth motion of a slinky being moved at both ends at the same time. Motion is perceived but it is not going anywhere.
Water efficient: Describes a process that conserves water.
Weathervane: A device that shows the direction of the wind.
West Nile virus: A viral disease that is transmitted by mosquitoes and causes flu-like symptoms.
Wetlands: Land where water saturation of the soil is common providing habitat for organisms well adapted to life in such conditions.
Wildlife resources: Refers to animals living off the earth.