This glossary area contains definitions of most of the words you will come across in the Learning Zone resources. Please use the letters below to skip to the first letter of the word you are looking for: 

Bacteria
A simple single-celled organism.

Bee 
An insect that pollinates plants and makes honey.

Beekeeper
Someone who houses bees and collects honey from them.

Bird
The animal that can fly by channelling air over its agile body.  

Bread
A food made of flour, water and yeast. 

Breed
A type of one species (e.g. a breed of dog) 

Bulb

The large casing in which the seed of a plant is housed.
Bumblebee

A breed of bee, known to be very social and found in hives.

Butterfly
 A symmetrical insect that started life as caterpillar.

Carnivore
An organism that only eats meat (for example- a lion)

Carpel
Part of the plant that is the female.

Caterpillar
An insect that will become a butterfly in later life.

Chlorophyll
The green colour in leaves where plants make food.

Classification
Animals and plants can be put into groups, like families. 

Cockroach
An insect that can live in extremely radioactive conditions, also considered a pest.

Cocoon
The protective layer filled with nutrients in which some insects grow (e.g. butterflies) 

Conifer
A pine cone tree. 

Competition
When two or more animals or plants are fighting over the same resource.

Compost
The decaying organic matter that forms a very nutritious top soil. 

Compound Eye
A series of small but many eyes used on arthropods so as to be observant of predators.

Consumer
The top of the food chain normally a carnivore.

Crustacean
An aquatic animal with joined legs and an exoskeleton (e.g. a crab).

Disease
An illness that can be caused by bacteria, virus and/or fungus. 
 

Egg
The hard shelled oval object where embryos develop into animals.   

Exoskeleton
An external skeleton that offers protection, like a suit of armour.   

Extinction
When there are no more of a plant/animal left. 

Feathers
They keep birds warm, waterproof and helps them communicate with other birds.

Fish
The class of animals that have scaly skin and live only in water. 

Flower
The part of the plant that attracts animals such as bees to pollinate.

Food Chain
An order of which organisms eat each other.

Food Web
A more complex food chain which includes all animals and plants in a habitat.

Fruit
The name given to the edible part of the plant with seeds inside, such as apples and oranges.

Fungi
Commonly known as mushrooms and has around 100,000 different species. 

G

Habitat
Where the organism lives.

Head
Where the brain is located and where food is eaten in most animals.

Herbivore 
An organism that only eats plants.

Hive
The home of bees.

Honey
The sweet substance made by bees.

Insect
A small animal with six or more legs e.g. cockroaches.

Invertebrate
An animal with no backbone but has an exoskeleton.

Ladybird
A black and red insect capable of flying.

Leaf
Where the food for the plant is made by photosynthesis.

Lifecycle
The separate stages of life, such as, birth and death.

Microscope
The instrument used for seeing things that are too small to see with a human eye.

Mollusc
Invertebrates that live in water.

Mosquito
Small, flying insect that feeds off blood.

Moth
Small butterfly looking insects that have been known to eat clothes.

Mushroom
A type of fungi that grows on forest floors and may be poisonous.

Nectar
Liquid made by plants and consumed by insects.

Nutrients
The name given to the chemicals that allows organisms to live and grow.

Omnivore
An organism that eats both meats and plants.

Organism
A living thing, such as animals, plants and fungus.

Pest
An unwanted organism e.g. cockroaches or mosquitos  

Petal
The coloured part of the flower that attracts pollinators

Photosynthesis
The chemical reaction, in which energy is created for the plant to live and grow.

Carbon Dioxide + Water --> Glucose + Oxygen.

Plant
An organism that produces oxygen for humans to breathe.

Pollen
The part of a flower that pollinators move from one plant to another.

Pollen Sac
A pouch on a bee that holds pollen.

Pollination
When a pollinator transports pollen from one plant to another to help with reproduction.

Pollinator
The animal that transfers pollen.

Pupae
The stage in the life cycle in which the insect transforms in to another.

Predator
An animal that eats other animals.

Prey
The animals that get eaten by the predators.

Proboscis
A straw like section of the mouth which the insect uses to get its nutrition, such as a mosquito sucking up the blood out of a human’s skin.

Reptile
A land and water animal with scaly skin that are cold blooded and lay eggs.
Royal Jelly
An important food source for growing queen bees.

Slug
A slimy amphibian that is an herbivore.

Snail
A slimy amphibian that has a hard outer shell.

Soil
The organic matter that is filled with the nutrients needed for plants to grow and live.

Species
The classified family of a certain organism.

Spider
An insect that eats flies and is part of the arachnid family.

Stamen
The male part of the flower

Stem
The rigid mast of the plant on which the leaves, flower and roots are attached to.

Stigma
Where the pollen enters the plant before fertilizing the plant in the ovaries.

Sting
An injection of posion used in defence by some animals, such as a bee.

Sunlight
Light from the sun.

Thorax
The part of the animal that lies in between the neck and diaphragm.

Vertebrate
An animal with a backbone.

Virus
Smallest life form that can be infectious and only reproduce in another living organisms.

Waggle Dance
Through a figure of eight movement bees can talk to each other. They talk about where their home is and where nectar is.

Wasp
Similar to a honey bee, it is a black and yellow insect that stings 

Wings
The part of the insect or bird that helps it to fly.

Woodland
Collection of trees.

Yeast
The fungus that is responsible for the rising of bread and the fermentation of sugar into alcohol.