Adaptation	A behavior or characteristic that helps a plant or animal survive.
Carnivore	An animal that primarily eats meat.
Consumer	Organisms that obtain their energy by eating other organisms.
Decomposer	An organism that feeds on dead material, causing its breakdown into simpler forms.
Diurnal	Awake and active during the day (e.g., lizard, hawk, squirrel).
Ecosystem	An environment of any size where living and nonliving things interact.  All components are linked together through energy and nutrient flow.
Erosion	The transport of rock by forces such as wind and running water.
Evergreen	A plant that retains some of its leaves throughout the year.
Geology	The study of the structure of the Earth, its history, and the forces that affect it.
Habitat	The region where a plant or animal naturally lives.   It must include food, water, shelter, and space suitable to the animal's or plant's needs.
Herbivore	An animal that primarily eats plants.
Igneous Rock	Rock formed by the cooling and hardening of molten material.
Interdependence	The concept that everything in an ecosystem is related to everything else.
Metamorphic Rock	Type of rock formed when rocky material experiences intense heat and pressure in the crust of the earth.
Nocturnal	Awake and active during the night (e.g., owl, bobcat).
Photosynthesis	The process by which green plants utilize light energy, carbon dioxide, water, and nutrients to produce their own food.
Plate tectonics	The theory that the Earth's crust is divided into plates that move.
Producer	An organism (usually a green plant) that produces its own food.
Sedimentary Rock	Rock formed from materials transported and deposited in water.
Weathering	The process of breaking down rock by mechanical and chemical forces such as water, ice, and growing plants.