Glossary

(flō em): A tissue in plants that contains sieve tubes that carry dissolved food material and that lies mostly outside the cambium.

(fäs f(ə) rəs): A nonmetallic element of the nitrogen family with atomic number 15 that occurs widely in combination especially as phosphates, that is essential for life in all known organisms, and that is used especially in fertilizers and organophosphorus compounds.

(fō tō sin thǝ sǝs): The process by which plants (and some bacteria and protists) that contain chlorophyll make carbohydrates from water and from carbon dioxide in the air in the presence of light.

(fō tō sin(t) thə sīz): To make carbohydrates from water and from carbon dioxide in the air in the presence of light (done by plants and some bacteria and protists that contain chlorophyll).

(fi zi kəl prä pər tē): A property (such as color, hardness, boiling point) of matter not involving in a chemical change.

(fi zē ə lä ji k(-ə)lē): Related to an organism’s healthy or normal functioning.

(fiz ē äl ə jē): A branch of biology dealing with the processes and activities by which life is carried on and which are special features of the functioning of living things, tissues, and cells.

(pēd mänt): An area of land lying at or near the base of a mountain range. In the Eastern United States, the Piedmont area lies between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic coastal plain.

(pig mənt): A coloring matter in animals and plants especially in a cell or tissue.

(pī lǝt prō gram): A trial program designed to test a new program design, often the first version of a program.

(pīn ber ənz): An ecosystem characterized by sandy soil that is low in nutrients, has acidic water, is adapted to fire, and often contains pine trees and shrubs.

(pin yən jü nə pər wu̇d lənd): An area higher in elevation than the Bosque where pinyon pine trees and juniper flourish.

(pī pet): A device for measuring and transferring small volumes of liquid that typically consists of a narrow glass tube into which the liquid is drawn by suction and kept by blocking the upper end.

(pī sə vor): A fish-eating animal.

(plāg): A serious disease that is caused by a bacterium, occurs or has occurred in several forms including bubonic plague, and is usually passed to human beings from infected rodents and especially rats by the bite of a flea or is passed directly from person to person.

(plant kə myü nə tē ): An interacting population of various kinds of plants (such as species) in a common location.

(plät): A measured piece of land.

(plü mij): The feathers of a bird.

(plüm): Something resembling a feather, such as an elongated and usually open and mobile column or band (for example: of smoke, exhaust gases, or blowing snow).

(pä lə sē): A course of action chosen in order to guide people in making decisions.