Activity Books Understanding Water Activity Book | Page 67

LAND: one of the major factors of production that is
supplied by nature and includes all natural resources
in their original state such as mineral deposits, wildlife,
timber, fish, water and the fertility of the soil.
LANDSCAPING: to adorn or improve an area of ground
by contouring the land and planting flowers, shrubs,
trees, etc.
LIQUID: the state of matter in which a substance exhibits
a characteristic readiness to flow.
LIVESTOCK: domestic animals raised for home use or
profit.
MOISTURE: wetness.
MOUNTAINOUS: a region having many mountains.
NATURAL RESOURCES: products and features of Earth
that permit it to support life and satisfy people’s needs;
these include land, water, air, birds, animals, sand, soil,
coal, etc.
NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION (sometimes called
RUNOFF POLLUTION): pollution coming from a wide,
non-specific source (car exhaust, oils, street salt, etc.)
ORGANIC MATTER: plant and animal material in
various states of decomposition that may be part of the
soil.
OXYGEN: colorless, odorless, tasteless gaseous
element; essential for plant and animal respiration
(breathing).
PARTICLES: very small pieces or parts.
PERCENT: per hundred; quantity with relation to a whole.
POINT SOURCE POLLUTION: pollution coming from a
single source such as a factory smokestack or sewer.
POLLUTANT: something that makes land, water and air
dirty and unhealthy.
POLLUTE: doing anything that makes something else
dirty or impure.
POLLUTION: wastes contaminating the soil, water or air.
PRECIPITATION: rain, snow and other forms of water
that fall to Earth.
RAIN: a form of precipitation falling to Earth in the form of
liquid water.
RANCHER: a person who owns or operates a ranch. A
ranch is any large farm on which a particular crop or
kind of animal is raised.
RATIONING: allowing use of a fixed portion or amount.
RELATIVE HUMIDITY: the percentage of moisture
saturation of the air.
RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCES: resources
such as forests, rangeland, soil and water that can be
restored and improved to produce the food, fiber and
other things humans need on a sustained basis.
RESERVOIR: a natural or artificial place to store water;
water storage created by building a dam.
RIVER: a large natural stream of water flowing into an
ocean, lake, or other body of water.
RIVER BASIN: the land area surrounding one river from
its headwaters to its mouth.
RUNOFF: includes rain and snow which is not absorbed
into the ground; instead it flows across the land and
eventually runs into streams and rivers. Runoff can pick
up pollutants from the air and land, carrying them into
the streams and rivers.
SALT WATER: water from oceans; water containing salt.
SEDIMENT: small pieces of matter that settle at the
bottom of liquid; soil, sand and materials washed from
land into