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: 

B

Bacteria
Single celled Prokaryote organisms and have a wide range of shapes.

Base
A substance with a pH of more than 7.

Bee
Insect of the Apoidea family, which pollinate flowers and make honey.

Beekeeper
A person who keeps bees.

Biodiversity
The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem

Bird
Warm-blooded egg laying vertebrate.

Block
The periodic table is split up into four blocks: s, d, p and f, based on the element's characteristic orbital.

Bread
A staple food, made by baking a dough of flour, water and additional ingredients (e.g. yeast and salt).

Breed
A group of domestic animals or plants that distinguish it from others of the same species.

Bulb
Part of a plant that stores energy during dormant periods.

Bumblebee
A group of social bees. A large bee of the genus Bombus.

Bunsen Burner
A heat source used in laboratories, comprising a gas flame.

Butterfly
An insect of the order Lepidoptera, with four parts to its lifecycle.

C

Carbon Dioxide
A gas found in air used in photosynthesis and breathed out by animals.

Carnivore
An organism that gets its energy from eating animal tissue.

Carpel
The female reproductive organ of plants, typically contains one or more ovules.

Caterpillar
The larval form of a moth.

Cells
The basic structure of all organisms. A membrane bound structure, containing biomolecules.

Centipede
An invertebrate with a flattened long body composed of between 15 and 190 segments. Each segment has a pair of legs

Chlorophyll
The chemical in plants responsible for absorbing sunlight.

Chloroplasts
Small organelles in the cells of plants containing chlorophyll.

Chromosomes
A structure within the cell that carries genetic information.

Classification
A way of distinguishing between organisms.

Cocoon
Protective cases of fibrous material spun by insect larvae for the pupal stage.

Code
A programming pattern found in living organisms' DNA.

Cockroach
A beetle of the order Blattaria.

Competition
When organisms in or between the same species compete for the same resources.

Compost
Decomposed organic matter which is used as fertiliser and soil amendment.

Compound Eye
An eye consisting of repeated units, each acting as a visual receptor.

Conifer
A cone-bearing woody plant. 

Conservation
Preservation, protection, or restoration of the natural environment, natural ecosystems, vegetation and wildlife

Consumer
An organism that can't make its own food supply.

Crustacean
Shelled organisms that are relatives of insects.

D

Diploid
A cell with two sets of chromosomes - 46 in humans, one set from the father and one set from the mother.

Disease
An abnormal condition of an organism which interrupts the normal bodily functions.

DNA
A Nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all living organisms.

Double Helix
Strands of DNA held together by bases to form a ladder pattern.

E

Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a complex set of relationships among living resources, habitats and residents of an area

Egg
Female reproductive body, containing the ovum and albumen. Egg case may be a shell.

Electron
A negatively charged particle. Electrons orbit the atomic nucleus in energy levels. 

Element
A substance which cannot be broken down into any simpler substance by chemical means.

Element
Pure chemical substance made from one atom type.

Ethanol
A simple alcohol

Explosion
A violent release of energy caused by a reaction.

Exoskeleton
An external shell on an invertebrate.

Extinction
When a species ceases to exist

F

Feathers
Forms the plumage of a bird.

Fertiliser
A mixture that is added to soil to help the growth of plants.

Fish
An aquatic vertebrate.

Flower
The part of a plant which produces seeds.

Flowers
The seed bearing part of a plant, consisting of reproductive organs, petals and calyx.

Food Chain
Linear sequence in which organisms feed on one another.

Food Web
A map of the feeding connections in a habitat/ecological community.

Fruit
The plant structure that contains seeds.

Fungi
An organism that breaks down dead material. Kingdom Fungi, seperate from plants, animals and bacteria.

G

Gas
A substance of neither fixed volume nor fixed shape e.g. Steam. 

Gene
A length of DNA which codes for a single protein.

Germinate
Growth of an embryonic plant contained in a seed. Results in a seedling.

Glucose
A common sugar with 6 Carbons, 12 Hydrogens and 6 Oxygen atoms.
Green
The colour of grass and tree leaves!

Group
The elements in a column of the periodic table.

H

Habitat
An area inhabited by a particular species of organisms.

Hair
Roots have hairs which collect water and nutrients.

Halogens
Group 7 of the periodic table.

Haploid
A cell with only half the number of chromosomes (23 in humans) e.g. one set from the mother.

Head
The part of a bee with the eyes and antennae.

Hedgerow
A hedge of wild shrubs and trees, typically bordering a field or road

Herbivore
An organism that gets its energy from eating plant material.

Hive
A place where a group of bees live. 

Honey
A sweet substance made from nectar by bees.

I

Insect
A class within arthropods that have a chitinaus exoskeleton, three body segments, compound eyes, six legs and two antennae.

Inverterbrate
An organism with no backbone.

J

K
L

Ladybird 
Brightly coloured beetle of the family Coccinerllidae.

Leaf
The organ of a plant specialising in photosynthesis.

Lifecycle
For example, the stages that an insect goes through in its life.

Liquid
A substance of fixed volume but not of fixed shape e.g. Water.

Locus
The position of an allele within the chromosome.

M

Membrane
The lipid bilayer surrounding a cell.

Mendeleev
Dmitri Mendeleev is generally noted as the creator of the modern periodic table. His theory was to leave room for elements not yet discovered.

Micro - Organism
A microscopic organism such as a bacterium, virus, or fungus

Microscope
An instrument used to look closely at small items.

Millipede
An arthropod that have a cylindrical body of 20 to 100 or more segments, most with 2 pairs of legs

Molecules
A group of two or more atoms bonded together. In biology, also refers to proteins, carbohydrates etc.

Mollusc
A phylum (subset) of invertebrates.

Mosquito
A small insect of the family Culicidae whose mouthparts are adapted for piercing skin.

Moth
Of the order Lepidoptera. Nocturnal insect with feathery antennae.

Mushroom
The fruiting body of a fungus.

N

Nectar
A sweet liquid made by flowers.

Neutron
A neutral (uncharged) particle in the atomic nucleus. It's mass is approximately 1 atomic unit.

Nitrogen
The most abundant gas in air, essential in fertilisers.

Noble Gases
Group 8 (or 0) of the periodic table, low reactivity.

Nutrients
Chemical substances essential to the growth and health of organisms.

O

Omnivore
An organism that eats both plants and animals.

Orbital
The region in an atom where an electron is most likely to be found.

Organism
A living thing.

Oxygen
The gas essential to animal life made by plants and produced by plants in photosynthesis.

P

Palisade
Large cells found in leaves containing chloroplasts.

Period
A horizontal row of the periodic table.

Periodic Table
A table arranging every element in order of atomic number.

Pest
General term for organisms which may cause illness or damage materials those are important to humans, e.g. locusts eating crops.

Petal
Brightly coloured modified leaves, used to attract pollinators.

Phloem
The tube in a plant which carries sugar and nutrients.

Phosphorous
An element which is essential to photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis
The process by which plants convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen.

Plant
An organism which doesn't move, and produces its own food supply. Belongs to kingdom Plantae.

Pollen
Powdery grains that contain the male reproductive cells of plants.

Pollen Sac 
A pouch on a bee that holds pollen.

Pollination
The transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma in plants, enabling fertilisation and sexual reproduction.

Pollinator
A biotic agent, e.g. a bee that carried pollen from the anthers to the stigmas.

Potassium
A metal element which is essential in fertilisers.

Predator
An organism that eats other organisms.

Prey
An organism which is eaten by a predator.

Proboscis
The long tongue-like organ of an insect.

Protein
A linear polymer built from small amino acids.

Proton
A positively charged particle in the atomic nucleus. It's mass is approximately 1 atomic unit.

Pupa
The non-feeding stage between larvae and adult in the metamorphosis insects.

Q
R

Reaction
When one or more substances are transformed into others.

Reptile
Scaly, cold-blooded vertebrates.

Root
The organ of a plant that takes in water and nutrients from the soil or air.

Royal Jelly
A honey bee secretion used to feed larvae and queen bees

.

S

Salt
Produced with water when an acid reacts with a base.

Seed
The part of a plant that can grow into a new plant.

Seedling
Young plant that develops out of a plant embryo from a seed.

Shoot
A small stem.

Slug
A snail-like invertebrate, of the class Gastropoda, with one foot and no shell.

Snail
Mollusc of the class Gastropoda with a spiral shell and retractile foot, with a distinct head.

Soil
A combination of minerals and organic matter. Composed of broken rock altered by chemical and environmental processes.

Solid
A substance of definite shape and volume e.g. Ice.

Solution
When a solid (solute) is dissolved in a liquid (solvent).

Species
A group of organisms able to interbreed.

Spider
An invertebrate with eight legs and two body segements of the order Araneae.

Spore
The way that fungi and some plants reproduce.

Stamen
The male reproductive organ, that produces pollen in plants.

Stem
The above ground structure in a plant that supports leaves and flowers. Has vascular tissue.

Stigma
In flowers, part of the female reproductive organs that take in pollen.

Sting
A defence mechanism in bees.

Sunlight
The total frequency spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the sun.

Sustainable Farming
A method of farming that makes sure the farm makes money whilst looking after the environment

Synthetic
An element too unstable to occur naturally on Earth.

T

U

V

W

Waggle Dance
The dance by bees used to communicate what food they have found.

Wasp
Flying stinging insects related to bees and ants of the order Hymenoptera

Wings
The organs on an insect designed to aid flight.

Wildlife
Wild animals and vegetation, especially animals living in the wild

Woodland
An area of forest, which can be a habitat.

Woodlice
A small terrestrial isopod that have a flat body. They can be found in damp habitats

X

Xylem
The tube in a plant which carries water and minerals.

Y

Yeast
A micro-organism used in bread-making and alcoholic beverages.

Z