🌱 Ecology Curriculum
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Dictionary
Explore and learn new words used throughout our ecology materials.
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abdomen
The back part of an insect's body. In humans, this is our tummy.
adaptation
A special skill or physical change that helps an animal or plant survive in its home.
amphibian
An animal that lives both in water and on land, like a frog or a newt.
antenna
A long, thin feeler on the head of an insect that helps it smell, feel, and taste its surroundings.
biodiversity
The huge variety of all the different plants, animals, and other living things on Earth.
camouflage
When an animal's colours or patterns help it hide and blend in with its surroundings.
carnivore
An animal that eats meat.
caterpillar
The young, crawling stage of a butterfly or moth that spends most of its time eating leaves.
chlorophyll
The green substance in leaves that helps plants make their food from sunlight.
chrysalis
The hard shell a caterpillar makes around itself to stay safe while it transforms into a butterfly.
condensation
When invisible water gas gets cold and turns back into drops of liquid water, like the fog on a chilly window.
deciduous
Trees that lose all their leaves in the autumn and grow new ones in the spring.
decomposer
A living thing, like a fungus or tiny bug, that breaks down dead plants and animals.
diurnal
Animals that are awake and active during the day.
ecosystem
A community where plants, animals, and their environment all work together and rely on each other.
environment
The natural world and everything around us where plants and animals live.
evaporation
When water gets warm and turns into an invisible gas in the air, like a puddle drying up in the sun.
evergreen
Trees or plants that keep their green leaves all year round, even in the cold winter.
exoskeleton
A hard outer shell that protects the bodies of insects, crabs, and spiders like armour.
food chain
A way to show how energy passes from plants to animals when they eat each other.
food web
Lots of different food chains that link together to show what eats what in a habitat.
habitat
The natural home where an animal or plant lives, like a woodland or a pond.
herbivore
An animal that only eats plants.
invertebrate
An animal that does not have a backbone, like an insect, worm, or snail.
larva
The young, worm-like form of an insect, like a caterpillar or a maggot.
mammal
A warm-blooded animal that has hair or fur and feeds its babies milk.
metamorphosis
An amazing change where an animal completely transforms its body as it grows, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.
mollusc
A soft-bodied animal without a backbone, like a snail, slug, or octopus.
nectar
A sweet, sugary liquid made by flowers to attract thirsty insects and birds, sometimes so they pollinate it and sometimes so they protect it from other animals that might eat it.
nocturnal
Animals that are awake and active at night.
omnivore
An animal that eats both meat and plants.
opaque
Something that completely blocks light so you cannot see through it, like a wooden door or a brick wall.
photosynthesis
The way that green plants use sunlight to make their own food.
pollination
When pollen is moved from flower to flower by insects or the wind so the plant can make seeds.
precipitation
Any water falling from the sky to the ground, such as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
predator
An animal that hunts and eats other animals.
prey
An animal that is hunted and eaten by a predator.
proboscis
A long, curly, tube-like straw that insects like butterflies use to drink nectar.
pupa
The resting stage in an insect's life when it is transforming into an adult.
reptile
A cold-blooded animal with scaly skin, like a snake, lizard, or turtle.
scavenger
An animal that searches for and eats dead animals or leftover food.
spawn
Lots of soft, jelly-like eggs laid in water by frogs, toads, and fish.
species
A specific group of animals or plants that are very similar to each other.
terrestrial
An animal or plant that lives on the land, rather than in the water.
thorax
The middle part of an insect's body where the legs and wings are attached.
translucent
Something that lets a little bit of light through, but you can't see clearly through it, like a thin leaf, a snail shell, or the wings of some moths.
transparent
Something you can see perfectly straight through, like clear water, a jellyfish, or the wings of a glasswing butterfly.
vertebrate
An animal that has a backbone, like a human, dog, or fish.