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Adaptation |
A structure or behavior that helps a living thing live in
its surroundings. |
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Adapted |
Made fit to live under certain conditions. |
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Africa |
One of the three continents where tropical rainforests
exist. |
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Air mass |
A large amount of air with the same temperature and
humidity. |
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Air pressure |
The amount that air presses or pushes on anything. |
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Air resistance |
A force that slows down the movement of objects through the
air. |
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Altitude |
The height above sea level. |
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Appalachians |
Folded mountains near the east coast of the United States. |
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Ash |
The grayish powder that is left after something burns.
After it erupts from volcanoes , it breaks down and gives
nutrients to the soil. |
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Atmosphere |
Earth’s outer covering of air, it provides protection for
living things and gases they need to live. |
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Axis |
An imaginary line starting at the North Pole, passing
through the center the of the earth and ending at the South
Pole. |
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Barometer |
An instrument that measures air pressure. |
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Biosphere |
The sphere of life. |
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Brain |
The main part of the nervous system by which one thinks or
feels. It is the brain that tells us when we are thirsty. |
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Brazil |
A country in South American that has created a rainforest
park. |
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Cactuses |
A desert plant which is adapted to store water when it
rains. |
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Calories |
A specific amount of energy in food. |
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Canopy |
Formed by the leaves and branches at the tops of the trees
in a rainforest. |
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Carbon dioxide |
A gas in air that is taken in by plants, exhaled by animals,
and given off when fuel is burned. |
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Chamber |
A room, a place under the ground that holds magma. |
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Change |
To make or become different in some way. Water
changes the
shape of the land. |
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Chest |
The part of the body where the ribs are located. A bird has
a very powerful chest
to allow it to move its wings up and
down. |
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Children’s Rainforest |
One organization helping to save the rainforests. |
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Clay |
The result when water reacts with feldspar in granite. |
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Climate |
The average weather conditions of an area over many years. |
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Colonizers |
A living thing that comes into an area to eat and live. |
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Computers |
One tool a meteorologist and other scientists use. |
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Condenses |
To change from a gas to a liquid. |
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Conservation |
Protecting from loss or from being used up. |
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Consumer |
A living thing that depends on producers for food. |
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Core |
The center part of the earth. |
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Costa Rica |
A country that has saved at least 20 percent of its
rainforest by creating parks. |
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Crust |
The top layer of the earth. |
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Cycle |
A repeated process. For example, water moves through the
hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere to form the water
cycle. |
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Dark zone |
The ocean waters between 1200 and 4000 meters deep where
sunlight does not reach. |
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Day |
One rotation of the Earth. |
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Deciduous |
One of a group of trees that loses their leaves in the fall. |
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Decomposers |
A consumer that puts materials from dead plants and animals
back into soil, air, and water. |
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Dense |
Having its parts close together. Air becomes more
dense when it
cools. |
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Dissolve |
To spread evenly in a liquid and form a solution. |
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Diversity |
Variety, the diversity
of life on Earth can be seen in the numerous life forms in
all three spheres. |
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Earth |
The third planet from the sun. The only planet with air you
can breathe. |
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Earthquake |
A shaking or sliding of the earth’s crust. |
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Ecosystem |
A community and its nonliving environment. |
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Electricity |
A form of energy, sometimes produced by steam near some
volcanoes. |
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Ellipse |
Not a perfect circle. The shape of the orbit of the earth
around the sun. |
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Energy |
Provided by the sun it causes the different spheres to
interact. |
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Equator |
An imaginary ring around the center of the Earth. The
tropic zone lies directly north and south of the equator. |
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Erosion |
The moving of weathered rocks and soil by wind, water, or
ice. |
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Expands |
To make or grow bigger or wider. Air
expands as it is heated. |
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Extinct |
Something that is no longer found living on earth. |
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Fault-block Mountain |
A mountain that forms when a big block of rock moves up
along a fault. |
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Faults |
A crack in the earth’s crust along which rocks move. |
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Flight |
The act of flying. |
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Float |
The ability of a solid form of water to be held up by the
liquid form of water. |
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Folded Mountain |
A mountain that forms when two plates in the earth’s crust
collide and the edges of the plates crumple. |
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Fresh |
The absence of additives such as minerals. Fresh water
contains no salt, about 3% of the Earth’s water is fresh
water. |
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Front |
The line where two air masses meet. |
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Glaciers |
A large mass of ice that moves very slowly. |
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Glider |
A motorless aircraft that is kept in the air by rising air
currents. |
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Granite |
A very hard rock, it is formed by magma that hardens under
the ground. |
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Grassland Climate |
A major climate zone that gets little rainfall. It has cold
winters and hot summers. |
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Gravity |
A force that pulls any two objects together. |
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Greenhouse effect |
The trapping of heat by air around the earth. |
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Harvested |
Taking an item from the rainforest without harming other
nearby plants or animals. |
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High pressure area |
An area where cool air sinks and pushes down on the earth
with more pressure. |
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Hollow |
Having an empty space on the inside. |
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Hover |
To stay fluttering in the air near one place. |
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Humidity |
The amount of water vapor in the air. |
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Hurricane |
A huge storm that forms over a warm ocean and has strong
winds and heavy rains. |
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Hurricane hunters |
Air force crews that fly into the center of hurricanes to
gather information about them. |
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Hydrosphere |
Oceans, lakes, and rivers |
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Ice |
The solid form of water. Molecules move more slowly and are
farther apart than in liquid. |
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Iguanas |
One animal found in the rainforest. |
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Interaction |
Different parts working together. For example, water
traveling between the hydrosphere, lithosphere, and
atmosphere shows the interaction
of the three spheres. |
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Islands |
A piece of land surrounded by water. Japan and Hawaii are
examples of islands formed by volcanoes. |
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Jaguars |
A cat like animal being raised by farmers in Costa Rica and
released into the rainforest. |
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Jet propulsion |
A forward motion produced by the reaction of an object to
high pressure gas moving in the opposite direction. |
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Jupiter |
The sixth planet from the sun. It is the largest of the
planets and is made mostly of gasses and liquids. |
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Lava |
Hot, melted rock that flows from a volcano. |
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Lift |
An upward movement. |
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Light zone |
The sunlit waters from the ocean surface down to 100 meters. |
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Lithosphere |
Earth’s rocks, soils, and minerals. |
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Low-pressure area |
An area where warm air rises and pushes down on the earth
with less pressure. |
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Magma |
Hot, melted rock deep inside the earth. |
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Mantle |
The earth’s middle layer. |
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Mars |
The fourth planet from the sun. The rusty iron in its
surface makes it appear reddish. |
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Mass |
The amount of matter an object contains. |
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Mercury |
The planet closest to the sun. It is a little larger than
our moon and its surface is similar. |
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Meteor |
Chunks of rock which burn up brightly as they fall through
the Earth’s atmosphere. |
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Meteorites |
Chunks of rock from outer space that reach Earth’s surface. |
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Meteorologist |
A person who studies the weather. |
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Mid-Atlantic Ridge |
The movement of plates under the Atlantic Ocean is causing
magma to rise up and erupt under the ocean forming the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge. |
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Minerals |
Nonliving solid matter from the Earth. |
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Mixture |
When you combine two or more things together. |
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Moon |
Orbits the earth because it has less mass than the Earth. |
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Neptune |
The eighth planet from the sun. It was in fact farther from
the sun than Pluto for a while because of the orbit each of
them takes in revolving around the sun. |
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Nitrogen |
A gas that has no color, taste, or smell, it makes up nearly
80% of our air. |
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Obsidian |
A dark, glassy rock formed from the lava of volcanoes. |
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Oort Cloud |
A set of comets which surround the solar system. |
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Oxygen |
A gas that is given off by plants and used by animals. |
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Particle |
The smallest measurement of water. |
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Partnerships |
Living and/or nonliving things working together. |
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Plankton |
Tiny living things floating on or near the ocean’s surface. |
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Plates |
Twenty sections of solid rock that make up the earth’s
crust. |
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Pluto |
The ninth planet from the sun. It is the only outer planet
made of rock and ice. |
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Pollination |
The movement of pollen from a stamen to a pistil. |
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Pollution |
The addition of harmful substances to land, air, or water. |
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Population |
The number of people in a specific area. The increasing
population is leading to the deforestation of the
rainforests. |
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Precipitation |
Moisture that falls to the ground from clouds. |
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Predict |
To tell what one thinks will happen in the future.
Scientists gather research to help them
predict when and where
earthquakes will occur. |
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Prescription medicines |
Medicines a doctor prescribes, one fourth of them are made
from ingredients found in the rainforests. |
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Pressure |
The force exerted on a certain area, a condition of strain. |
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Rainforests |
A forest which receives at least 200 cm of rain a year. |
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Recycling |
To change something so it can be reused. |
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Reefs |
Narrow ridge of rocks, sand, or coral at or near the surface
of the water. |
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Resources |
Those things we have available to us. The earth has a
limited amount of resources. |
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Revolution |
One full orbit of one object around another. |
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Richter scale |
A tool used to measure the strength of earthquakes. |
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Rises |
To move upward. |
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Rocks |
Broken pieces of stone, when frozen in the bottom of
glaciers they scrape the soil from valley floors. |
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Rotation |
One full spin of an object around its axis. |
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Sand |
Tiny loose grains worn away from rocks. Ocean waves often
help to break up the rocks. |
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Saturated air |
Air that contains all of the water vapor it can possibly
hold. |
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Saturn |
The sixth planet from the sun. The rings, which were first
discovered in the 1600’s, are caused by dust and ice that
spin around the equator of the planet. |
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Season |
One of the four periods of the year – winter, spring,
summer, and fall. |
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Seismograph |
An instrument for recording the direction, strength, and
time of earthquakes or other movements of the earth’s crust. |
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Sierras |
Fault-Block mountains near the west coast of the United
states. |
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Sinks |
To move downward. |
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Slides |
The process of two plates of the earth passing each other. |
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Soft |
Not hard or firm. The part of rock that is eroded first
when water rushes over a cliff. |
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Solar eclipse |
When the moon moves between the sun and Earth, blocking
sunlight from reaching Earth. |
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Solstice |
Either of the two times in the year when the sun is at the
greatest distance from the equator and appears to be
farthest north or south in the sky. |
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Solution |
When the molecules of a dissolved substance spread out
evenly. |
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Sonic boom |
A loud noise caused by an airplane crossing through the
sound barrier when it travels faster than the speed of
sound. |
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Species |
A group of organisms that have the same traits and can
produce offspring that can also produce offspring. |
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Stratosphere |
The next layer above the troposphere. This is where
airplanes fly and the ozone layer exists. |
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Subduction |
The sliding of one of earth’s plates under another. |
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Subsonic |
Having to do with speed less than the speed of sound. |
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Supersonic |
Capable of moving faster than sound. |
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Surface Tension |
Molecules are attracted to each other so strongly they have
“links” between them. They cling tightly together and form
a sort of “skin”. |
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System |
All parts working together and affecting each other. |
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Temperate Climate |
A major climate zone that receives indirect sunlight in the
winter and more direct sunlight in the summer. |
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Thrust |
A forward push. |
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Tropical Climate |
A major climate zone that receives direct sunlight and has
warm temperatures all year. |
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Troposhpere |
The lowest and heaviest layer of air. This is where we live
and weather takes place. |
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Venus |
The second planet from the sun. Its rotation is so slow a
day is longer than a year on this planet. |
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Volcano |
A mountain with an opening through which lava, ashes, rocks,
and other materials come out. |
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Water |
The colorless liquid found in springs, rivers, oceans, or
lakes. It can cause damage to rocks by freezing in the
cracks and causing the rocks to split. Living things are
made mostly of this substance. |
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Water vapor |
Water in the form of gas. |
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Weathering |
Wearing down or breaking apart rocks. |
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Wind |
Air that is moving from an area of high pressure to an area
of low pressure. |
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Wind speed |
A measurement which is taken with the help of an anemometer. |
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Wind vane |
A tool that shows what direction the wind is blowing. |
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Wings |
A pair of feathered parts a bird spreads out from its sides
for flying. |
