A
| B | C |
D | E | F |
G | H |
I | L | M |
N | O |
P | R | S |
W | X
A
Alive:
a thing that has these characteristics:
-
the
ability to have babies
-
the
ability to grow
-
the
ability to take food from the place where it lives
-
the
ability to change and react to the place where it
lives
-
a
body with many parts
Alligator: a large reptile predator common in the
swamps and wetlands of the Coastal Plain of South Carolina
Animal: a large living thing that receives all of
its food by eating other living things (plants, animals,
fungi).
Aquarium: a building where people can see plants
and animals that live in water
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B
Biodegradable:
able to be easily broken down by natural decomposers
Biodiversity: the variety of life at genetic, species
and community levels
Blackwater Swamp: a habitat found in the Coastal
Plain of South Carolina where trees are partially covered
in water that looks reddish-black in color
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C
Carbohydrate: basic sugars that are produced by
plants in photosynthesis as food energy
Carnivore: an animal that consumes other animals
for food
Chlorophyll: a green pigment in plants that absorbs
energy from sunlight for photosynthesis
Chloroplast: the structure in a plant that contains
chlorophyll and is where photosynthesis occurs
Coast: the land region of South Carolina that is
right next to the ocean and is affected by the waves
and tides
Coastal Plain: the land region of South Carolina
that is between the Coast and the Sandhills that is
very flat and contains many swamps and wetlands
Cohesion: the property of water that makes water
molecules adhere to each other; caused by the attraction
of opposite electrical charges on either side of a water
molecule
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D
Deep Ocean: A saltwater habitat found in offshore
ocean waters.
Development: The changes that occur in an organism
as it grows that allow it to perform its life functions
Dolphin: a large mammal that lives in saltwater,
breathes air and eats squid and fish; common in the
coastal areas of South Carolina
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E
Ecoregion: a distinct area of land in which the
wildlife communities and physical features are consistent
throughout the area
Environment: All the living and non-living things
found in an area
Exhibit: A display at a museum or aquarium that
teaches people about a subject using live animals, artifacts
or representations
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F
Food chain: a series of organisms linked together
according to who eats whom, illustrating the movement
of energy from one organism to another
Freshwater: water found in inland rivers, streams,
wetlands and most lakes that has very little dissolved
salt in it.
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G
Glucose: a simple sugar, the most common type of
carbohydrate, that is produced by plants
Groundwater: the water beneath the Earth's surface that
collects in the spaces between soils and rocks
Growth: the changes an organism goes through as
it increases in size
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H
Habitat: the place where an organism lives and is
able to attain the things it needs to survive
Herbivore: an animal that consumes only plants
Hydrogen bonds: the weak bond that forms between
a hydrogen atom with a partial positive charge and another
atom, such as oxygen, with a partial negative charge;
the opposite charges attract and hold each other
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I
Impermeable surface: a surface that does not allow
liquid to flow through it
Intertidal zone: the area of land on the shore between
the high tide line of the ocean and the low tide line
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L
Living: a thing that has these characteristics:
-
the
ability to have babies
-
the
ability to grow
-
the
ability to take food from the place where it lives
-
the
ability to move around and change the place where
it lives
-
a
body with many parts
Top
M
Mountains: the land region in South Carolina that
is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains and is characterized
by cooler climates and major changes in elevation
Mountain Stream: a habitat found in the Mountain
region of South Carolina; mountain streams tend to be
fast-moving, shallow and cool in temperature
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N
Niche: a description of the roles and interactions
an organism has with the other things in its environment
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O
Ocean: the region in South Carolina that is part
of the Atlantic Ocean
Omnivore: an animal that eats both plant and
animal matter
Organism: a living object, such as a plant or
animal
Osmosis: the movement of water across a permeable
surface from areas of high concentration to areas of
low concentration
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P
Piedmont: the land region in South Carolina that
is adjacent to the Mountains and is characterized by
rolling hills and clay soils
Piedmont river: a habitat found in the Piedmont region
of South Carolina; Piedmont rivers tend to be large in size,
and can have areas both where water moves rapidly and where
water collects in slow-moving pools; because of erosion, these
rivers also carry large amounts of sediment and tend to be
yellowish-red in coloration
Photosynthesis: the process by which plants use
sunlight to make food (starch) and oxygen from carbon
dioxide and water
Plant: A living thing that makes its own food from
sunlight, water air and nutrients in the soil
Polarity: the electrical charge of a molecule caused by
having too many electrons (a negative charge) or too few electrons
(a positive charge)
Polar molecule: a molecule with a negative or positive
charge
Precipitation: water and ice particles that fall
from the sky to the ground such as rain, snow, sleet,
etc
Producer: any organism that produces its own
food through the process of photosynthesis or chemical
reactions
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R
Respiration: the process by which animals bring
oxygen into their bodies for use in chemical reactions
that will release energy from the compounds in their
body for use by the animal for its life processes
River otter: a mammal related to the weasel that
lives near freshwater habitats and feeds primarily on
fish
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S
Salamander: An amphibian with a long body that lives
in water or in moist soils
Saltmarsh: a habitat found in the Coast region of South
Carolina that is flooded twice daily by the ocean tides; the
habitat is dominated by the salt tolerant plant, spartina
grass
Saltwater: water with a high concentration of dissolved
salt; the ocean averages about 35 parts of salt per
1000 parts of water
Sandhills: the land region in South Carolina that
is the remnants of ancient sand dunes of the former coastline
mark the boundary between the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont
Shelter: Something used by an animal to protect
it from the elements (temperature, bad weather, etc.)
and predators
Stimulus: something that causes a reaction in
a living organism
Stomata: tiny openings in the leaves of plants that
allow carbon dioxide to enter the plant and water vapor
and carbon dioxide to leave the plant
Surface tension: the property of water in which
the surface will sometimes have the properties of a
solid because of the cohesion of water molecules
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W
Water: a chemical compound that can be found in
liquid, gas and solid states on earth (water, water
vapor and ice); water is necessary for all living things
and covers the majority of the earth's surface
Water cycle: the process by which water is constantly
recycled as it turns from liquid to a gas through evaporation
and then returns again to a liquid through condensation
Watershed: a delineated area of land in which all of the
rain that falls in the area will eventually drain into the
same body of water
Water vapor: water molecules in their gaseous form
in the atmosphere
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X
Xylem: tubes in plants that transport water from
the roots to the leaves
