Glossary
- Adaptation: A change
in response to the environment.
- Air pressure: The weight
of the atmosphere
- Aquifer: A rock capable
of bearing water.
- Artery: Large blood vessel
with thick muscular walls, leading away from the heart.
- Atmosphere: The layer
of gases that surrounds the Earth. It is mostly nitrogen and oxygen, together
with a little carbon dioxide and water vapour.
- Atom: The smallest particles,
or 'building blocks', that make up all matter.
- Blood: A thick, sticky
liquid flowing in blood vessels, consisting of cells suspended in plasma.
- Condenses: Changes to
a denser form, as from vapor to liquid water.
- Cyclone: A tropical storm
that occurs in the Indian Ocean. It is also a wind circulation turning anti-clockwise
in the northern hemisphere.
- Crystal: Solids with
smooth, flat surfaces that are made up of atoms arranged in a pattern.
- Dam: A barrier that blocks
the flow of a river.
- Deforestation: Cutting
down most of the forest area.
- Deposition: The act of
changing from a vapor directly to a solid without first becoming a liquid.
- Desalination: The removal
of salt from sea water.
- Dew: Moisture that condenses
on surfaces as a result of cool air temperatures.
- Dew point: The temperatureat
which the air is saturated and a vapor begins to condense.
- Diffusion: The movement
of molecules from an area where they are in high concentration to one where
they are in lower concentration.
- Dike: A wall made of
earth, sand and stones to hold back water.
- Drought: A disaster caused
by a lack of rainfall over a long period of time.
- El Nino: A change in
equatorial Pacific Ocean temperatures which affects the world's climatic patterns.
- Equatorial: Refers to
areas near the equator (the imaginary line that passes round the middle of
the globe, halfway between the North and South poles).
- Evaporation: The process
of liquid water changing to vapor.
- Excretion: The removal
of toxic waste products from a living organism.
- Famine: A disaster in
which many people starve because of lack of food.
- Fertile land: Land that
has all the elements that plants need in order to grow well.
- Filtration: The separation
of particles of one size from other, larger particles.
- Floodplains: Flat areas
of land along a river that are at times covered by floodwaters.
- Geyser: A spring which
throws up hot water from time to time, with explosive force.
- Global warming: A gradual
increase in average global temperature. Global warming is possibly caused
by a build-up of 'greenhouse gases' (mainly carbon dioxide), which trap more
of the Sun's heat in the atmosphere.
- Gravity: A force of attraction
which exists in all particles of matter, pulling them together. It keeps all
things, including the atmosphere, attached to the Earth.
- Groundwater: Water flowing
beneath the earth's surface.
- Heat capacity: The amount
of heat energy required to raise a certain amount of water by one degree Celsius.
- Hormone: A chemical messenger
found in living organisms.
- Humid: The quality of
the air when it contains a lot of moisture.
- Hurricane: The name for
a severe tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean.
- Hydraulic system: A system
of transmitting forces from one place to another, through a liquid.
- Hydroelectric power:
Electricity made by using water pressure in a turbine to drive an electric
generator.
- Irrigation: Watering
of crops by channels from a river or reservoir.
- Molecule: A group of
atoms bonded together.
- Monsoon: An wind in Asia
that changes with the seasons. It can bring heavy rainfall.
- Osmoregulation: The control
of the amount of water in a living organism.
- Osmosis: The movement
of water molecules from a place where they are in high concentration to one
where they are lower in concentration through a semi-permeable membrane.
- Purification: The cleansing
of a substance of impurities
- Reservoir: A lake used
for storing water.
- Saturation: The point
at which no more of a substance will dissolve in a solvent.
- Sea defences: High walls
or concrete blocks on a coast that stop sea water flooding the land.
- Silt: Fine-grained sand
or mud which settles in.
- Solute: A substance that
will dissolve in a solvent.
- Solvent: A substance
such as water in which another substance will dissolve.
- Submersible: Small craft,
similar to a submarine, that can travel to great depths underwater.
- Surface tension: A molecular
force that pulls the surface of a liquid into the minimum area possible.
- Sweating: The production
of liquid (sweat-consisting of water, urea and salts) that can evaporate from
the surface of the skin, cooling the body.
- Terracing: Steps dug
into land on slopes to prevent soil being washed downhill.
- Tissue: A group of similar
cells with a particular, for example liver or muscle tissue.
- Transpiration: The evaporation
of water from a plant, mostly from the leaves.
- Trench: A deep valley
on the sea floor.
- Tsunami: A huge wave
caused by movement of the seabed after an earthquake or underwater volcano.
- Typhoon: The name for
severe tropical storms that occurs in the China seas and West Pacific area.
- Volcano: An opening in
the Earth's surface, either on land or underwater, through which gases and
molten rock from inside the Earth erupt.
- Vortex: A swirling mass
of air or water.
- Water cycle: The recycling
of water from the seas, into the air as clouds, and back into the rivers as
rain.
- Xerophyte: A plant that
is adapted to growing in dry conditions, for example a cactus.
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© team C0126220(ThinkQuest 2001). All rights reserved.