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46
Glossary
ADAPtAtIon/ADAPt The way in which an animal or plant is suited to where it lives. If something is well adapted to where it lives, it will be more likely to survive.
AlgA (AlgAE) Tiny, plant-like living things, usually freely floating. Algae have a green colouring and get energy from sunlight.
AlPInE The name given to a group of plants that can survive the harsh conditions of high mountains, where there is prolonged snowfall, frequent frost, stony soil, high wind and intense Sun.
AnnuAl Plants that complete their life cycle in one year.
bulb The resting stage of some flowering plants. It consists of a short stem which is surrounded
by leaves. The stem is swollen with stored food
from the last season’s growth. When the correct conditions (such as the warmth of spring) stimulate the plant to start using the stored food, it grows rapidly, pushing out leaves and stalks from the
top of the bulb. Lilies, hyacinths and onions are examples of plants with bulbs.
cAmouflAgE The pattern of colours and the shape of some animals that allow them to blend in with their surroundings. For example, some moths are coloured and shaped like dead leaves or bark.
cAnoPy The high branches of a forest that form a thick layer of leaves. Many insects live in the canopy and never come down to the ground.
cArnIvorE An animal that eats meat.
communIty The range of living things that occur in the same habitat. For example, different communities of plants and animals will exist in a meadow, an oak wood or a pond.
conE The equivalent of a flower for conifers. It is a cone-shaped mass of papery scales. Coniferous trees have male cones, which carry pollen, and female cones, which develop seeds.
DEcomPoSEr Animals that eat dead material such as dead leaves or dead animals. Scavenging animals, such as magpies, will eat rotting meat. Rotting meat is called carrion. This is a vital role in making sure that the environment stays clean and that the nourishment in dead material is recycled.
Drought An unusually long period without significant rainfall.
Egg A tiny cell that develops in a female animal and that contains half of the instructions needed to make a new life, together with nourishment. Also an immature animal in a shell.
EnErgy The ‘power-pack’ that makes it possible for living things to grow, move, and so on.
EnvIronmEnt The surroundings in which a living thing finds itself. This will include the type of soil, the shape of the land, the amount of warmth and rain, the amount of shelter and the other plants and animals that share the same space.
fErtIlISAtIon/fErtIlISE The joining of male and female sex cells to create a complete set of instructions for a new life.
fooD chAIn A group of plants and animals that depend on each other for food. In general, plants need animals to help spread their pollen and seeds. Some animals need plants for food, while other animals need the plant eaters for their food.
gErmInAtIon/gErmInAtE The process in which a seed takes in water and its seed case breaks open to release the root.
hAbItAt The place where an animal or plant normally lives. A habitat can be very small (for example, under a leaf) or it may be very large (for example, a tropical rainforest).
hErbIvorE An animal that eats plants for its food.
hIbErnAtE To go into a state of very little activity. Hibernating animals sleep for much of
the time they are hibernating, but some also wake up and feed from time to time. Hibernation is an adaptation to allow animals to get through a part of the year when there is little food.
lArvA (lArvAE) An early stage of the life cycle of an insect. A caterpillar is an example of a larva.
lIfE cyclE The series of stages in the growth of a living thing, from fertilisation until death.
mAmmAl A warm-blooded animal that provides milk for its young.