Habitats Vocabulary - Spring Units
Scroll down to find desired unit.

Snug in the Snow
winter habitat: the place where an animal usually spends the winter.
subnivean: under the snow.
predator: an animal that hunts, kills, and eats other animals. prey: an animal hunted for food.
weasel: a small, slender, active carnivorous animal of the family Mustelidae.
vole: a small rodent with a stout body, blunt nose and short ears.
shrew: a small, usually nocturnal mammal with a long, pointed snout, very small eyes, and velvety fur.
red squirrel: a small, tree-dwelling, omnivorous rodent.
beaver: a large, semi-aquatic rodent with webbed hind feet and a broad, flat tail.
insulation: any material that slows down or reduces the loss of heat.

return to Snug in the Snow page

White-tailed Deer
white-tailed deer: a medium-sized ruminant mammal with a characteristic white tail, which it raises as an alarm signal.
habitat requirements: those things an animal needs from its surroundings, typically food, water, shelter, and a place to raise young.
vernal pool: a shallow depression in the ground that fills with water in spring due to melt water or a rising water table, but which often dries up by late summer.
swamp: wet, spongy land, sometimes partially covered with water.
thicket: a dense growth of shrubbery or small trees.
forest-field edge: the boundary between an area covered with trees and an open, grassy tract.
meadow: a tract of open grassland.
deer yard: a sheltered area where deer congregate during severe winter weather.
graze: feeding on grass and low-growing plants.
browse: tender shoots, twigs, and bark of shrubs and trees eaten by animals such as deer and rabbits; the act of consuming this kind of food.
vegetarian: eating only plants and plant material; consuming no meat.
evergreens: plants that retain their leaves all year around.
camouflage: coloration, pattern, shape, or behavior designed to hide an animal from its enemies.
hoof: a curved covering of horn that protects the front of the toe of an ungulate mammal.
antler: a large horn-like appendage of deer and moose, but that lacks the outer sheath of keratin found in true horns; antlers are shed and regrown every year.
ruminant: a herbivorous land animal with a compartmentalized stomach that allows progressive digestion as partially digested food (cud) is regurgitated, chewed, and reswallowed; includes cattle, sheep, goats, deer, moose, and caribou.
predator: an animal that hunts, kills, and eats other animals.
prey: an animal hunted for food.
food supply: the total food that is available to an animal and its competitors at any given time.
herd: a large group of mammals, often deer, that live and forage together.

return to White-tailed Deer page

Litterbugs
solid waste: trash that cannot be used for any other purpose.
pollution: the release of contaminants into the environment, usually as a result of human activity.
decompose: to rot and decay causing the complex organic materials in plants and animals to break down into simple elements that can be returned to the atmosphere and soil.
decomposers: animals, including worms, bacteria, and fungi, that break down dead organic matter.
landfill: a place where solid waste is put onto or into the land (buried).
litter: debris and trash that has been carelessly abandoned or scattered about.
natural resource: industrial materials and capacities supplied by nature; for example, mineral deposits or clean water.
reduce: to make choices in one's lifestyle that use less natural resources, and therefore generate less waste.
reuse: to find ways to extend the lifetime of items rather than getting new ones; for example, using cloth napkins instead of paper ones.
recycle: to dispose of things in such a way that they can be broken down and made into new materials again; for example, paper, aluminum, glass can be recycled.
compost: the decomposed remnants of plant and animal materials; the process of making these materials from household or garden wastes.

return to Litterbugs page

Streams
habitat: the place where an animal normally lives; must provide food, water, shelter, and opportunity for reproduction.
stream: a body of flowing water.
current: the swiftest part of a stream.
insect nymph: the immature stage of an insect that undergoes simple, or incomplete, metamorphosis.
insect larva: an immature and usually active feeding stage of an insect; unlike the adult in form.
adaptation: a structural or behavioral characteristic of a species that has evolved over time in response to the changing demands of the environment.

return to Streams page

Ponds
habitat: the place where an animal normally lives; must provide food, water, shelter, and opportunity for reproduction.
pond: a body of still water, smaller and shallower than a lake, with more extensive bottom vegetation.
inhabitants: animals who live in a habitat.
adaptation: a structural or behavioral characteristic of a species that has evolved over time in response to the changing demands of the environment.
surface film: a "skin" created on the surface of a body of water by the surface tension of the water.
open water: the surface of a body of water free from emergent plants.
water's edge: the border where the water in a pond or stream meets the surrounding land.
debris: the remains of broken down matter.
silt: loose, sedimentary material with very fine rock particles. insect larva: (plural larvae)an immature and usually active feeding stage of an insect; unlike the adult in form.
insect nymph: the immature stage of an insect that undergoes simple, or incomplete, metamorphosis.
emergent plants: aquatic plants that are rooted in a pond or stream bottom and have stems and leaves above the surface; includes grasses, sedges, rushes, cattails.

return to Ponds page

Stonewalls
habitat: the place where an animal normally lives; must provide food, water, shelter, and opportunity for reproduction.
stonewall: a wall or fence built of stone, common in New England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
glacier: a large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or spreading out over a land surface.
ecological succession: the change in the types of species in an ecological community over time.
lichen: symbiotic organisms made up of algae and fungi often seen growing on rocks or tree trunks.
moss: small, non-flowering plants growing close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady areas.
erosion: the wearing away and carrying off of rock, soil, sand, or other earth materials.
wolf tree: a name given to the largest tree in a surrounding area.

return to Stonewalls page