Cycles Vocabulary - Spring Units
Scroll down to find the desired unit.

Galls
gall: an abnormal growth of plant tissue produced by a stimulus outside the plant itself.
insect: a small invertebrate having three distinct body parts, six legs, and usually one or two pairs of wings.
mite: any of numerous small arachnid invertebrates, more closely related to spiders than to insects.
egg: the self-contained reproductive product of insect reproduction; capable of developing into a new individual.
larva: the immature and usually actively feeding form of an animal, often unlike the adult in form.
pupa: the third stage of complete metamorphosis in insects during which a larva transforms into an adult.
pupate: to become a pupa; to pass into the stage of an insect's life between larva and adult.
life cycle: a series of stages through which an insect passes in its life; for example, egg, larva, pupa, adult.

return to Galls page

Winter Twigs
twig: a small shoot or branch of a bush or tree.
bud: a protuberance on a twig from which may grow a leaf, shoot, or flower.
bud scale: the hardened structures making up the surface of a bud.
terminal bud: the bud at the tip of a twig.
bud scale rings: a series of scars left after the bud scales fall off.
leaf scars: scars left behind on a twig after a leaf drops off in the fall.
bundle scars: small scars within a leaf scar that show where the veins that carried food and water between the leaf and twig used to be.
lenticels: small structures on the bark of a shrub or tree, usually in the form of horizontal slits or pores, that permit the exchange of gases.
pith: soft, spongy tissue in the center of twigs and plant stems.
alternate: leaf, bud, or twig arrangement on a plant in which there is only one leaf, bud, or twig at a node so that the twigs or leaves grow on alternating sides of the stem.
opposite: leaf, bud, or twig arrangement on a plant in which two leaves, buds, or twigs arise directly across from each other at a node.
whorled: bud or leaf arrangement on a plant in which three or more buds or leaves arise at a single node and radiate from the stem.
food chain: the transfer of food energy in sequence from plants to herbivores to carnivores.

return to Winter Twigs page

Bird Songs
cycle: a repeating sequence of events, such as the life cycle of animals or the annual migration and return of birds.
reproducing: producing a new generation of young of the same species.
offspring: the young of an animal; nestlings.
passerines: an order of small, mostly land birds that perch; songbirds.
available light: the amount of light at a given time of day; available light triggers when a songbird begins to sing in the morning and ends its singing in the evening.
seedeater: a bird that relies primarily on seeds for food for all or some part of the year.
hole nester: a bird that nests in the cavity of a tree or post, or in the ground.
territory: an area of habitat that usually includes a nesting site and foraging space that is defended by an animal.
syrinx: the vocal structure of birds in which sound is produced by the vibration of a bony ridge and certain membranes.
bird song: a vocal display containing specific repeated patterns, often used for attracting mates or protecting territory; usually learned.
bird call: short, simple bird vocalizations made by either sex, for example, distress calls, feeding calls, flock calls.

return to Bird Songs page

Inside a Flower
life cycle: a progression through a series of differing stages of development; a series of stages through which a plant goes from seed to mature plant.
seed: the fertilized, ripened ovule of a plant capable of germinating to produce a new plant.
flower: the reproductive part of a plant that develops into the fruit and seeds.
pistil: the central organ of a flower that contains the female parts: stigma, style, and ovary.
stigma: the most elevated part of a flower's pistil, often sticky to trap pollen.
style: a slender column of tissue that connects the ovary and the stigma of a flower pistil.
ovary: the enlarged hollow part of the flower pistil that contains the ovules.
ovule: a plant structure that develops into a seed after the contained egg is fertilized.
egg: the part of the ovule that carries the genetic material from which a new individual will develop.
stamen: the pollen-producing male organ of a flower, consisting of the anther and filament.
anther: the upper, pollen-bearing portion of the stamen.
filament: the stalk of a stamen bearing the anther.
petal: the often colorful part of a flower that attracts pollinators.
sepal: leaf-like plant parts that enclose the flower bud.
pollen: fine, yellowish powdery grains that contain the male germ cells of a plant.
pollination: the transfer of pollen from the anther (male) to the stigma (female) of a plant for fertilization.
pollinator: an insect or animal that carries pollen from one flower to another.
fertilization: the combining of the male sperm cell and the female egg to produce an embryo that develops into a seed.
germination: the sprouting of a seed and its beginning to grow into a new plant.

return to Inside a Flower page

Dandelions
composite: one of a family of flowering plants that produce many small flowers closely grouped into compact heads, such as dandelions, goldenrods, and sunflowers.
bracts: a specialized leaf or leaf-like structure on a plant, usually found at the base of the flower.
pollen: fine, yellowish powdery grains that contain the male germ cells of a plant.
stamen: the pollen-producing male organ of a flower, consisting of the anther and filament.
anther: the upper, pollen-bearing portion of the stamen.
pistil: the central organ of a flower that contains the female parts: stigma, style, and ovary.
stigma: the most elevated part of a flower's pistil, often sticky to trap pollen.
ovary: the enlarged hollow part of the flower pistil that contains the ovules.
ovule: plant structure that develops into a seed after the contained egg is fertilized.
flower head: the collection of individual florets in a composite plant.
floret: a single flower of a composite flower head.
strap: the yellow petals of an individual dandelion floret.
pappus: the fluffy white hairs attached to a dandelion seed that help it be carried by the wind.

return to Dandelions page