Glossary
Our glossary defines potentially new scientific or other terms to students. Glossary words are appear in bold in our resources.
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a as in ape
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ä as in car
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e as in me
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i as in ice
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o as in go
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ô as in for
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u as in use
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ü as in fur
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oo as in tool
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ng as in sting
L
laboratory
(la b(ə-)rə tȯr ē): A place equipped for making scientific experiments and tests.
land cover
(land kə vər): Data that documents how much of a region is covered by forests, wetlands, impervious surfaces, agriculture, and other land and water types, like wetlands or open water. Definition from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
land management
(land ma nij mǝnt): Decisions and actions involving natural lands to achieve specific purposes.
land manager
(land ma ni jǝr): A person who manages land, specifically its natural resources; in the Forest Service, land managers maintain and improve the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of current and future generations.
land use
(land yüs): How people are using the land.
(land yüs): The types of things an area of land is used for. One example is using land to grow corn. Another example is using land to build a school.
landform
(lan(d) fȯrm): A natural feature of a land surface.
landscape
(lan(d) skāp)
verb: To make changes to improve the appearance of an area of land.
noun: The visual land, such as trees, water, and sky
landscape plan
(lan(d) skāp plan): A plan to change or decorate (a natural landscape) by changing the plant cover.
larva
(lär ve): (plural "larvae") The immature, wingless, and often wormlike feeding form that hatches from the egg of many insects.
larval
(lär vǝl): Characteristic of or relating to the early form of an animal or insect that at birth or hatching is fundamentally unlike its parent and must metamorphose before growing into the adult form.
laterally
(la tə rəl lē): Side to side.
latitude
(la tǝ tüd): Distance north or south from the equator measured in degrees.
leach
(lēch): To dissolve out a substance by the action of a percolating liquid.
leaf litter
(lēf li tər): Dead plant material, like leaves and twigs.
lease
(lēs): Land that someone can use for a set period of time, that usually comes at some cost.
legacy
(le gə sē): Something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past.
legal
(lē gəl): Relating to law.
legally
(lē gǝ lē): From the point of view of law.
legislation
(le jǝ slā shǝn): The laws made by a legislator or legislative body.
lichen
(lī kən): Any of numerous plantlike living things made up of an alga and a fungus growing together on a solid surface (such as a rock or a tree).