English terms: Gardening & Animals

abioticEnglish
Caused by something nonliving, such as weather, too much or too little water, nutrients or chemicals.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 7)

abiotic disorderEnglish
A plant problem from a nonliving cause, such as frost, drought, sunscald, nutrient shortage or chemical injury.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 6)

abomasumEnglish
The fourth compartment, the “true stomach,” which digests food with acid much like a human stomach.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 4)

abscisic acid (ABA)English
A hormone that keeps seeds and buds dormant and closes stomata during drought.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 8)

acidic soilEnglish
Soil with a pH below 7, common in rainy regions such as the eastern United States.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 6)

acornEnglish
The nut of an oak tree. Squirrels love to eat acorns.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade K) · Grade 1 Life Science: Animal Homes and Habits, Lesson 1.1 (grade 1)

actinomycetesEnglish
Bacteria that grow in fine, branching threads like fungi. They break down tough materials and give soil its earthy smell.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 8)

action thresholdEnglish
The level of pests or damage at which action is needed; below it, the pests are tolerated.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 8)

aerateEnglish
To let air in, for example by turning a compost pile with a fork.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 3)

agricultural calendarEnglish
The yearly schedule of farm work (preparing ground, sowing, tending, harvesting, storing) set by the seasons, frost dates and day length of a place.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 8)

agronomyEnglish
The science of growing field crops and managing soil on a farm scale.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 8) · Grade 8 Life Science: Heredity, Design and Origins, Lesson 8.3 (grade 8)

air cellEnglish
The pocket of air between the shell membranes at the large end of an egg. It grows as the egg ages or as a chick develops.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 7)

alkalineEnglish
Having a pH above 7. Baking soda and lime are alkaline (also called basic). Alkaline soils are often called sweet.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 4)

alkaline soilEnglish
Soil with a pH above 7, common in dry regions and in soils formed from limestone.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 6)

alluviumEnglish
Sand, silt and clay laid down by rivers and floods, often forming rich bottomland soils.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 7) · Grade 7 Geography: Regions of the World, Lesson 5.2 (grade 7)

amendmentEnglish
Anything added to soil to improve it, such as compost, lime, sulfur, gypsum or manure.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 6)

ammoniaEnglish
A poison made from fish waste and rotting food. Even a little can make fish sick.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 7)

angle of incidenceEnglish
The angle at which sunlight strikes the ground. Steep, direct light concentrates energy; low, slanting light spreads it out.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 6)

angle of sunlightEnglish
How steeply the sun’s rays strike the ground; steep rays heat the ground more than slanting rays.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 5)

annualEnglish
A plant that grows, flowers, makes seeds and dies in one year, like basil.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 2)

annual weedEnglish
A weed that sprouts, flowers, sets seed and dies in one year, such as lamb’s-quarters, pigweed or crabgrass.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 5) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 8)

antlerEnglish
A branched bone that grows from a male deer’s head each year and falls off in winter.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 3) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 7)

antlersEnglish
Bony branches that grow on a buck’s head. He drops them every winter and grows new ones every spring.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 1) · Grade 1 Life Science: Animal Homes and Habits, Lesson 1.2 (grade 1)

aphidEnglish
A tiny, soft insect that sucks the juice out of plant leaves and stems.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 3) · +2 more

apical dominanceEnglish
The way the main shoot tip, through auxin, holds back the growth of side buds below it.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 7)

apicultureEnglish
The science and practice of keeping honeybees.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 8)

apronEnglish
Wire mesh laid flat on the ground outward from a fence or coop, or buried along it, to stop animals from digging under.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 7)

aquaponicsEnglish
A system that combines fish and plants: bacteria turn fish waste into nitrate that feeds the plants, and the plants clean the water for the fish.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 8)

aquariumEnglish
A glass or plastic tank of water where fish and water plants live.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 1) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 3)

arthropodsEnglish
Small jointed-leg animals of the soil such as mites, springtails, beetles and centipedes.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 6)

asexual propagationEnglish
Making new plants from a piece of a parent plant, so the new plant is genetically identical to it (a clone).
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 8)

aspectEnglish
The direction a slope or wall faces. In the Northern Hemisphere, south-facing sites get the most sun and warm up first.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 7) · Grade 7 Greek, Lesson 4.1 (grade 7)

ATPEnglish
Adenosine triphosphate, the molecule that carries energy within cells.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 8) · Grade 7 Life Science: Cells and Microbes, Lesson 5.3 (grade 7)

auxinEnglish
A plant hormone that makes cells grow longer. It collects on the shady side of a stem, making it bend toward light.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 8)

average last frost dateEnglish
The spring date after which frost becomes unlikely in an area, based on many years of weather records. Frost can still come after it.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 6)

axial tiltEnglish
The lean of Earth’s axis, about 23½ degrees, which always points the same way in space as Earth circles the sun.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 5)

bacterial leaf spotEnglish
A disease of tomatoes and peppers that causes small, dark, greasy-looking spots on leaves and fruit.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 4)

bacterial wiltEnglish
A disease of cucumbers, melons and squash in which bacteria clog the water tubes of the stem so the vines suddenly wilt.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 6)

bacteriumEnglish
A single-celled organism; plant-disease bacteria enter through wounds and natural openings and spread in water, on tools and by insects.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Life Science: Heredity, Design and Origins, Lesson 4.3 (grade 8)

bare-rootEnglish
A dormant tree or shrub sold with no soil around its roots, planted in early spring before it leafs out.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 8)

barnEnglish
A big farm building where animals, hay and tools are kept.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade K)

barrierEnglish
Something that blocks pests from reaching plants, like a net, collar or copper strip.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 4)

base temperatureEnglish
The temperature below which a particular plant or insect hardly develops; 50°F for corn and many warm-season crops.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 6)

basking spotEnglish
A warm place under a heat lamp where a reptile warms up.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 6)

beddingEnglish
Damp shredded paper, cardboard or leaves that worms live in.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 2)

beef cattleEnglish
Cattle raised for meat, such as black Angus and red-and-white Herefords.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 2) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 4)

beneficial bacteriaEnglish
Helpful bacteria that live on the filter, gravel and decorations and change ammonia into nitrate.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 5)

beneficial insectEnglish
A helpful insect that eats pests or pollinates flowers, like a ladybug, lacewing or bee.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 5) · +3 more

biennial weedEnglish
A weed that forms a rosette the first year and flowers and seeds the second, such as wild carrot and burdock.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 8)

bioassayEnglish
A test that uses living organisms, such as bean seedlings, to detect a substance.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 7)

biosecurityEnglish
Habits that keep germs from spreading between flocks or herds, such as washing hands, cleaning boots, and keeping new or show animals apart for a while.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 7) · +1 more

bioticEnglish
Caused by something living, such as insects, animals, fungi or bacteria.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 7)

biotic and abioticEnglish
Biotic problems are caused by living things (pathogens, insects, animals); abiotic problems by non-living causes (drought, frost, nutrient shortage, herbicide drift).
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 8)

blacklegged tickEnglish
A small tick (also called the deer tick) that can carry the bacteria that cause Lyme disease.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 7)

blossomEnglish
A flower on a fruit tree. Each apple begins as a blossom.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 1)

blossom end rotEnglish
A dark, sunken spot on the bottom of tomatoes and peppers caused by a shortage of calcium in the fruit, usually from uneven watering.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 4)

boarEnglish
An adult male pig kept for raising piglets. A young male raised for market is a barrow.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 4)

boltingEnglish
When a leafy crop like lettuce or spinach suddenly sends up a flower stalk, often in long, hot days, and its leaves turn bitter.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 7)

branch collarEnglish
The slightly swollen ring at the base of a branch where it joins the trunk; cutting just outside it lets the wound seal well.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 7)

breed standardEnglish
A written description of the ideal bird or rabbit of a breed; for poultry it is the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 5)

broadcastEnglish
To scatter seed over the surface by hand or machine instead of planting in rows.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 4)

broadcast sowingEnglish
Scattering seed by hand or machine over the surface of a field.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 5)

brooderEnglish
A warm, safe pen where young chicks live until they grow feathers, usually about 6 weeks.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 5)

brownsEnglish
Dry, brown things for compost, like dead leaves, straw and shredded paper.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 3) · +1 more

browseEnglish
To nibble twigs, buds and leaves from bushes and young trees.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 3) · +3 more

browse lineEnglish
A visible line, about 5 to 6 feet off the ground, below which deer have eaten nearly every leaf and twig.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 7)

buckEnglish
A male deer. A female deer is a doe, and a baby is a fawn.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 1) · Grade 1 Life Science: Animal Homes and Habits, Lesson 1.2 (grade 1)

bushelEnglish
A unit for grain; by standard weight, a bushel of corn is 56 pounds and a bushel of wheat or soybeans is 60 pounds.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 8) · +1 more

butterfatEnglish
The fat in milk, which rises as cream and is churned into butter.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 5)

cacheEnglish
(Say it like “cash.”) A hidden store of food.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 1)

calendarEnglish
A chart of the months of the year.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Latin, Lesson 4.2 (grade 3)

callEnglish
A short sound, such as a chip or a scold, that birds use all year to keep in touch or warn of danger.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 5) · Kindergarten Life Science: God Made the Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade K)

calming signalsEnglish
Small signs of stress, such as lip licking, yawning, looking away or showing the whites of the eyes.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 5)

Calvin cycleEnglish
The light-independent reactions in the fluid (stroma) of the chloroplast, where the enzyme RuBisCO fixes carbon dioxide into sugar using energy from the light reactions.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 8)

cambiumEnglish
A thin layer of dividing cells just under the bark; in a graft, the cambium of scion and rootstock must touch to grow together.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 8)

candlingEnglish
Shining a bright light through an egg to check its air cell, yolk and shell for grading.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 7)

capped honeyEnglish
Honey that bees have dried to about 18 percent water and sealed in its cell with a wax lid.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 6)

cardinalEnglish
A songbird with a pointed crest on its head. The male is bright red; the female is brown with red edges.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade K)

cation exchange capacity (CEC)English
A measure of how many positively charged nutrients (calcium, magnesium, potassium) a soil can hold; clay and organic matter raise it.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 8)

cattleEnglish
Cows, bulls, steers and calves. A cow is a grown female, a bull is a grown male, and a calf is a baby.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 2)

cavity nestEnglish
A nest inside a hole in a tree, post or birdhouse.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 3)

cavyEnglish
Another name for a guinea pig. 4-H clubs and shows call them cavies.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 2)

cell wallEnglish
The stiff outer layer of a plant cell, made of cellulose, that gives plants their shape.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 6) · Grade 5 Life Science: The Human Body, Lesson 1.1 (grade 5) · +1 more

cellular respirationEnglish
The process by which living cells, in plants and animals, break down sugar with oxygen to release energy, giving off carbon dioxide and water.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 8) · +3 more

central leaderEnglish
A training system with one main upright trunk and tiers of side branches, like a Christmas tree; used for apples and pears.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 7)

central leader and open centerEnglish
Two common ways to prune fruit trees: a central leader keeps one main trunk with tiers of branches (apples), while an open center removes the middle to form a vase shape (peaches).
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 8)

central vacuoleEnglish
A large, water-filled sac in a plant cell; when full, it presses outward and keeps the plant firm.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Life Science: Cells and Microbes, Lesson 2.3 (grade 7)

chalazaeEnglish
Twisted, rope-like strands of white that hold the yolk in the center of the egg.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 7)

cheek pouchEnglish
A stretchy pocket inside a chipmunk’s cheek for carrying food.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 1) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 3)

cheek pouchesEnglish
Stretchy pockets inside a hamster’s cheeks where it carries food to store.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 2)

chick starterEnglish
A feed made for baby chicks, with about 18 to 20 percent protein, ground small enough for them to eat.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 5)

chill hoursEnglish
The number of hours between about 32 and 45 °F that a fruit tree needs in winter to bloom and fruit normally in spring.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 8)

chlorophyllEnglish
The green coloring in leaves that catches sunlight.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 4) · +3 more

chloroplastEnglish
A tiny green part inside a plant cell where photosynthesis happens.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 6) · +3 more

chlorosisEnglish
Yellowing of leaves because they are not making enough chlorophyll.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 6) · +1 more

chronic wasting disease (CWD)English
A fatal brain disease of deer, elk and moose caused by misfolded proteins called prions.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 8)

classical conditioningEnglish
Learning that one thing predicts another, as Pavlov’s dogs learned that a sound meant food was coming.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 7)

claw marksEnglish
Little dots or lines in front of the toes, made by an animal’s claws.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 1)

climacteric fruitEnglish
A fruit that keeps ripening after it is picked, using a natural ripening gas called ethylene (tomatoes, apples, pears, peaches, bananas).
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 7)

cloneEnglish
A plant grown from a piece of another plant, with exactly the same traits as its parent.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 6)

C:N ratioEnglish
The ratio of carbon to nitrogen in a material; a compost pile works best at about 30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 5)

coirEnglish
Fiber from coconut husks that holds water well and is a renewable substitute for peat moss.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 5) · Geography and Commerce: Sea Lanes, Straits and Trade Routes, Lesson 2.2 (grade 9–12)

cold frameEnglish
A bottomless box with a clear, sloping lid, set over soil. It traps the sun’s heat by day and shelters plants from wind and frost.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 7)

cold-blooded (ectotherm)English
An animal that gets its body heat from its surroundings instead of making its own.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Life Science: Classification, Lesson 2.3 (grade 4)

collar and hamesEnglish
The padded collar that fits around a horse’s neck and shoulders, and the metal arms fastened to it, where the pulling force is applied.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 8)

combineEnglish
A harvesting machine that cuts the crop, threshes the grain from the plant, and cleans it in one pass.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 8)

combine harvesterEnglish
A machine that cuts or gathers a crop, threshes the grain from it, separates and cleans it, and stores it in a tank, all in one pass.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 7)

companion plantingEnglish
Growing plants together that help each other.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 3)

compostEnglish
Old plant scraps and leaves that have rotted into dark, crumbly, rich soil.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 3) · +3 more

container gardenEnglish
A garden grown in pots, tubs, buckets, grow bags or boxes instead of in the ground.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 4)

contour farmingEnglish
Plowing and planting across a slope along lines of equal height, so rows act as little dams that slow runoff.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 8)

contour plowingEnglish
Plowing across a slope, following its level lines, so each furrow catches water instead of sending it downhill.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 5) · Grade 4 Geography: The United States: Regions, Rivers and Routes, Lesson 8.4 (grade 4)

cool-season cropEnglish
A crop that grows best in cool spring or fall weather and can handle a light frost, like lettuce, peas, spinach, radishes, carrots and cabbage.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 2) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 4)

coopEnglish
A house where chickens sleep and lay eggs, closed up at night to keep them safe.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 3) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade K)

cost of productionEnglish
Everything it costs to grow and sell a product: seed, compost, water, supplies, packaging, market fees and the value of your time.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 8)

cotyledonEnglish
The big food store inside a bean seed. A bean has two of them, like the two halves of a peanut. (Say it “cot-ee-LEE-dun.”)
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 1) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 3)

cotyledonsEnglish
The first leaves, or seed leaves, that come out of the seed. They look different from the plant’s later leaves.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 4)

cover cropEnglish
A crop grown to protect and improve the soil rather than to eat, such as winter rye, oats or clover.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 7) · +1 more

cow-calf operationEnglish
A farm or ranch that keeps a herd of beef cows and raises their calves on pasture until weaning.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 8)

crepuscularEnglish
Most active at dawn and dusk. Rabbits and many hamsters are crepuscular or nocturnal.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 4)

critical weed-free periodEnglish
The weeks early in a crop’s life when weeds must be controlled to prevent yield loss.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 8)

cropEnglish
A plant people grow for food or other uses.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 2) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade K) · Grade 2 Geography: Our Country, Coast to Coast, Lesson 2.3 (grade 2)

cross-pollinationEnglish
Pollen moving from a flower of one plant to another plant. Squash, corn and many brassicas cross easily between varieties.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 8) · Grade 8 Life Science: Heredity, Design and Origins, Lesson 1.1 (grade 8)

CSAEnglish
Community-supported agriculture: customers pay at the start of the season for a weekly share of the harvest.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 8)

cudEnglish
Food a cow brings back up from its stomach to chew again.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 2) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 6) · +2 more

cultural controlEnglish
Changing how the garden is grown to prevent pests: rotation, timing, resistant varieties, spacing, clean-up.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 6)

cup nestEnglish
A bowl-shaped nest of twigs, grass and sometimes mud, like a robin’s.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 3)

curd and wheyEnglish
When milk is soured or set, it separates into solid curds (which become cheese) and watery whey.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 5)

cuttleboneEnglish
A hard, white, chalky shell that pet birds nibble for calcium and to keep their beaks trim.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 2)

cyclingEnglish
Growing a large enough colony of beneficial bacteria in a new tank before adding many fish, which usually takes several weeks.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 7)

cytokininEnglish
A hormone made mostly in roots that promotes cell division and side shoots and delays leaf aging.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 8)

dairy cattleEnglish
Cattle raised to give milk, such as black-and-white Holsteins and brown Jerseys.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 2) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 4)

damping offEnglish
A disease that makes young seedlings fall over and die at the soil line, often caused by fungi in wet, crowded pots.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 2) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 6) · +1 more

day lengthEnglish
The number of hours between sunrise and sunset.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 3)

day-neutral plantEnglish
A plant whose flowering does not depend on day length, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and day-neutral strawberries.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 7)

days to maturityEnglish
The number printed on a seed packet that tells about how long a plant takes to be ready to harvest.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 2) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 8)

dechlorinatorEnglish
A water conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramine from tap water, which otherwise harm fish and kill helpful bacteria.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 7)

decomposeEnglish
To rot and break down into tiny pieces.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 2) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade K)

decomposerEnglish
A living thing that breaks down dead plants and animals, such as worms, beetles, fungi and bacteria.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 4) · +3 more

deer-resistant plantEnglish
A plant deer usually avoid because of its smell, taste or texture, such as many herbs, daffodils and marigolds.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 4)

denitrificationEnglish
The change of nitrate back into nitrogen gas by bacteria in waterlogged, airless soil.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 8)

dewormer resistanceEnglish
When parasites survive a dewormer because the drug was used too often or at the wrong dose, so it no longer works.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 8)

diagnoseEnglish
To figure out what is causing a problem by looking at the clues.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 2)

direct registerEnglish
When an animal places its hind foot exactly in the print of its front foot, as foxes, cats, coyotes and deer often do when walking.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 7)

direct sunlightEnglish
Sunlight that shines straight down, which makes the ground warmer.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 3)

disease triangleEnglish
The idea that disease happens only when a susceptible host, a pathogen and a favorable environment come together.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 7) · +1 more

doeEnglish
A female goat. A male is a buck, and a baby is a kid.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 5) · Grade 1 Life Science: Animal Homes and Habits, Lesson 1.2 (grade 1)

doe, buck and kidEnglish
A female goat is a doe (or nanny), a male is a buck (or billy), and a baby is a kid.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 2)

dominant and recessiveEnglish
A dominant allele shows its trait whenever it is present; a recessive allele shows only when an organism has two copies of it.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 6)

drainageEnglish
How well water flows down through soil. Raised beds drain well, so roots do not sit in soggy soil.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 3)

drainage holeEnglish
A hole in the bottom of a pot that lets extra water run out.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 3) · +3 more

dreyEnglish
A squirrel’s round nest of leaves and twigs, high in a tree.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 3)

dry (dehydrate)English
To take most of the water out of food so mold and bacteria cannot grow.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 2)

dry periodEnglish
About two months before her next calf when a cow is not milked, so her udder can rest and rebuild.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 6)

dry-matter basisEnglish
A nutrient’s percent after the water is mathematically removed, which lets you compare dry and canned foods fairly.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 8)

early blightEnglish
A fungus that makes brown spots with rings like a target on the lower leaves of tomatoes.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 3) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 6)

electric nettingEnglish
Portable fencing of plastic mesh with electrified strands that gives a sharp, harmless shock to animals that touch it.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 7)

electrical conductivity (EC)English
A measure of how much dissolved fertilizer salt is in a solution; growers use it to check nutrient strength.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 8)

enrichmentEnglish
Toys, hiding places, foraging and activities that let an animal use its natural behaviors.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 7)

ethyleneEnglish
A gas given off by ripening fruit such as apples. It makes nearby produce ripen, sprout or spoil faster.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 8)

exotic petEnglish
Any pet other than dogs and cats, such as birds, reptiles, small mammals and fish; many need a veterinarian with special training.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 6)

extension agentEnglish
An educator employed through a state university who brings research-based help on crops, livestock, gardening, food and 4-H to the public.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 8) · Grade 8 Life Science: Heredity, Design and Origins, Lesson 8.3 (grade 8)

external parasiteEnglish
A parasite that lives on the skin or hair, such as fleas, ticks, lice and mites.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 8)

extractorEnglish
A drum that spins uncapped frames so that honey is flung out of the comb by centrifugal force.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 7)

F1 hybridEnglish
The first-generation offspring of a deliberate cross between two different pure-line parent lines; uniform and often vigorous, but its seed does not come true.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 8)

fall factorEnglish
Extra days (often about 14) added to days to maturity for crops sown in late summer, because cooler weather and shorter days slow growth.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 8)

FAMACHAEnglish
A chart for scoring the color of a sheep’s or goat’s inner eyelid; pale pink or white suggests anemia from barber pole worms.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 8)

farmerEnglish
A person who grows plants or raises animals for food.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade K)

fawnEnglish
A baby deer. It has white spots on its back to help it hide.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade K) · Grade 1 Life Science: Animal Homes and Habits, Lesson 1.2 (grade 1)

fecal egg countEnglish
A lab test in which parasite eggs in a weighed sample of manure are counted under a microscope to estimate how many worms an animal carries.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 8)

feed conversionEnglish
How many pounds of feed an animal eats to gain one pound of body weight.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 7)

feederEnglish
A tray, tube or hanging holder that offers seed or suet to birds.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 2) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade K) · Kindergarten Life Science: God Made the Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade K)

feeder pigEnglish
A young pig, usually 40–60 pounds, bought to be raised to market weight.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 7)

feedlotEnglish
A farm where cattle are fed a high-energy ration for the last several months before they are marketed for beef.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 8)

fertilizationEnglish
The joining of a cell from the pollen with an egg cell in the ovule, which begins a seed.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 6)

fertilizerEnglish
Plant food that gardeners add to the soil to give plants more nutrients.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 2)

fertilizer analysisEnglish
The three numbers on a fertilizer bag giving the percentage by weight of nitrogen, phosphate and potash, such as 10-10-10.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 7)

field capacityEnglish
The amount of water a soil holds after gravity has drained away the excess, a day or two after a soaking rain.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 7)

field cropEnglish
A crop grown in large fields, such as corn, wheat or soybeans.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 3)

field heatEnglish
The warmth a crop carries from the sunny field; removing it quickly slows spoiling.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 7)

finger testEnglish
Pushing your finger into the soil up to the first knuckle to feel whether it is dry or damp.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 1) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade K)

finsEnglish
The thin, flat parts a fish uses to swim, steer and stop.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade K) · Grade 2 Life Science: Animal Families, Lesson 5.1 (grade 2)

first bloomEnglish
The date the first flower on a plant opens fully.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 5)

first fall frost dateEnglish
The average date of the first frost in fall. It marks the end of the season for tender plants.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 4)

first-year costEnglish
The total cost of a pet’s first year: adoption or purchase, housing and supplies, food, and veterinary care.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 6)

flowerEnglish
The part of a plant that makes seeds. Bees visit flowers.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade K) · Grade 3 Life Science: Plants and Animals Together, Lesson 1.1 (grade 3)

food webEnglish
All the food chains in one place, linked together because most animals eat, and are eaten by, more than one kind of living thing.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 6) · Grade 3 Life Science: Plants and Animals Together, Lesson 4.1 (grade 3)

foot rotEnglish
A painful bacterial infection of the hoof, encouraged by wet, muddy ground and overgrown hooves.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 6)

frassEnglish
Insect droppings, often a sign of caterpillars or borers.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 7)

frost dateEnglish
The average date of the last frost in spring or the first frost in fall where you live.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 7)

frost injuryEnglish
Damage from ice forming in plant tissue; leaves look water-soaked, then turn black or brown and limp.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 7)

frost pocketEnglish
A low spot where cold, heavy air drains and collects on still nights, so frost comes earlier and lasts longer there.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 7)

frost-free seasonEnglish
The number of days between the average last spring frost and the average first fall frost; the main limit on what tender crops can be grown.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 8)

fruit (botanical)English
The ripened ovary of a flower, containing seeds. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and squash are fruits in this sense.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 6)

full sunEnglish
At least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight a day.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 5)

fungiEnglish
Living things like mushrooms and molds. In soil they grow as long, thin threads that break down dead material.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 3) · Grade 3 Life Science: Plants and Animals Together, Lesson 4.4 (grade 3)

fungicideEnglish
A substance that kills or stops fungi. Adults may use mild ones; children never handle them.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 4)

fungusEnglish
A living thing that is not a plant or an animal, such as a mushroom, mold or mildew. More than one are called fungi.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 1) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 3) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade K) · +1 more

fungus (plural: fungi)English
A living thing that is not a plant or an animal. Mushrooms, molds, mildews and yeasts are fungi. They cannot make their own food from sunlight.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 2)

furrowEnglish
The trench left behind as the plow turns over a strip of soil.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 5)

garden bedEnglish
A patch of loose, rich soil set aside for growing plants.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade K)

gatherEnglish
To collect things and bring them together, like a squirrel collecting nuts.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade K)

genotype and phenotypeEnglish
The genotype is the pair of alleles an organism carries (such as Rr); the phenotype is the trait you can see (round).
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 8)

germinal discEnglish
The small pale spot on the yolk where, in a fertile egg, the chick begins to form.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 7)

germinateEnglish
To sprout. When a seed germinates, the baby plant wakes up and begins to grow.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 1) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 4)

germinationEnglish
When a seed wakes up and the baby plant begins to grow out of it.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 3) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 6) · Grade 3 Life Science: Plants and Animals Together, Lesson 2.1 (grade 3)

germination rateEnglish
The percent of seeds in a test that sprout: number sprouted ÷ number tested × 100.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 6)

gibberellinEnglish
A hormone that promotes stem lengthening, seed germination and, in some crops, larger fruit.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 8)

girdlingEnglish
Chewing the bark all the way around a tree trunk, which cuts off the flow of food and can kill the tree.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 7)

glucoseEnglish
A simple sugar (C₆H₁₂O₆) made in photosynthesis and used for energy and building materials.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Life Science: Cells and Microbes, Lesson 5.1 (grade 7)

graft unionEnglish
The swollen place on the trunk where the fruiting variety (scion) was joined to the rootstock. It must stay above the soil.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 7)

grain drillEnglish
A machine that plants small grains and soybeans in many narrow rows; Jethro Tull’s 1701 seed drill was an early version.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 7)

grassed waterwayEnglish
A broad, shallow channel kept in grass where water naturally flows across a field, so it can drain without cutting a gully.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 8)

gratefulEnglish
Feeling and saying thank you for a good gift.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade K)

gravitropismEnglish
Growing in response to gravity. Roots grow down and stems grow up.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 4)

green manureEnglish
A cover crop that is cut down and left on or mixed into the soil so it rots and feeds the soil.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 7)

greensEnglish
Wet, fresh scraps for compost, like fruit and vegetable peels, coffee grounds and grass clippings.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 3) · +1 more

gross revenue and net profitEnglish
Gross revenue is all the money taken in; net profit is what is left after all costs are paid.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 8)

growing degree days (GDD)English
A measure of heat a crop or insect receives. Daily GDD = (high + low) ÷ 2 − base temperature, never less than zero.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 6)

growing seasonEnglish
The number of frost-free days between the last spring frost and the first fall frost.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 6) · +1 more

guaranteed analysisEnglish
The part of a label listing the minimum percent of crude protein and fat and the maximum percent of fiber and moisture.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 8)

guard cellsEnglish
A pair of bean-shaped cells around each stoma that open and close it.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 5)

guide dogEnglish
A dog trained to lead a person who is blind safely around obstacles, across streets and through crowds.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 7)

guinea pigEnglish
A small, gentle rodent from South America, also called a cavy. It is not a pig and does not come from Guinea.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 2)

habituatedEnglish
Describes a wild animal that has lost its natural fear of people, usually because it was fed.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 5)

hard freezeEnglish
A night when the temperature falls to about 28 °F or below for several hours, cold enough to kill most garden plants.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 4)

harden offEnglish
To get indoor seedlings used to the outdoors a little at a time over about a week.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 1)

hardening offEnglish
Slowly getting indoor seedlings used to sun, wind and cooler or hotter outdoor air over about a week or two.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 7)

hardiness zoneEnglish
An area on the USDA map grouped by its average coldest winter temperature. Each zone is 10 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the one below it.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 7)

hardware clothEnglish
Strong wire mesh with small square holes that predators cannot reach or tear through.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 2) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 7)

hardy plantEnglish
A plant that can live through frost and cold, like kale, spinach, garlic or pansies.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 2)

hayEnglish
Dried grass. It is the main food of a pet rabbit.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 3) · +3 more

heartwormEnglish
A dangerous worm spread to dogs and cats by mosquito bites. Monthly medicine prevents it.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 7)

heat gradientEnglish
A range of temperatures from a hot basking spot at one end of an enclosure to a cool side at the other.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 5)

heat matEnglish
A waterproof warming pad placed under seed trays to warm the soil for faster germination.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 7)

heat stressEnglish
Dangerous overheating. Pigs have very few working sweat glands, so they rely on shade, water and mud to stay cool.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 7)

hedgerowEnglish
A row of shrubs and small trees along a field boundary, giving birds and small animals food, nesting places and travel lanes.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 8)

heiferEnglish
A young female cow that has not yet had a calf.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 6)

heirloomEnglish
An open-pollinated variety that has been saved and handed down for many years, often fifty or more.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 8)

henEnglish
A grown-up female chicken. A male is a rooster, and a baby is a chick.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 1) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 3) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade K) · +1 more

herbicide driftEnglish
Weed-killer spray or vapor moving through the air from where it was applied onto other plants.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 7)

herding dogEnglish
A dog bred to move livestock by circling, staring and driving, such as the border collie, Australian shepherd and corgi.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 7)

heredityEnglish
The passing of traits from parents to offspring.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Life Science: Heredity, Design and Origins, Lesson 1.1 (grade 8)

heritage breedEnglish
An older, traditional breed that can live outdoors, forage and raise its own young, such as the Bourbon Red turkey.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 4)

high-acid foodEnglish
A food with a pH of 4.6 or lower (most fruits, pickles, and tomatoes with added lemon juice), safe to process in a boiling-water canner.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 6)

hindgut fermenterEnglish
A single-stomach animal, such as a horse or rabbit, that digests fiber with microbes in a large cecum after the stomach.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 7)

hive toolEnglish
A flat metal bar used to pry apart boxes and frames that bees have glued together.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 5)

homozygous and heterozygousEnglish
Homozygous means both alleles for a gene are the same (BB or bb); heterozygous means they differ (Bb).
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 8)

honeydewEnglish
The sticky, sugary liquid aphids leave on leaves.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 3) · Grade 6 Life Science: Animal Design and Behavior, Lesson 6.4 (grade 6)

hoop houseEnglish
A tunnel of plastic film stretched over metal or plastic hoops; also called a high tunnel when it is tall enough to walk in.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 7)

hornwormEnglish
A large green caterpillar with a little horn on its tail end that eats tomato and pepper leaves.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 3)

hot manureEnglish
Fresh manure high in nitrogen, such as chicken manure, that can burn plants and must be composted or aged before use.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 7)

husbandryEnglish
The skilled, everyday care and management of animals.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 8)

hutchEnglish
A wooden house for a rabbit. A pet rabbit also needs a big pen to run and hop.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 1)

hybridEnglish
A plant made by crossing two different parent varieties. Its seeds usually do not grow true to the parent.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 3) · Grade 8 Life Science: Heredity, Design and Origins, Lesson 3.1 (grade 8)

hybrid (F1)English
The first-generation offspring of a deliberate cross between two different parent lines. F1 plants are uniform and vigorous, but their saved seed produces a mix of types.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 7)

hybrid vigorEnglish
The extra growth, health and fertility often seen in crossbred offspring of two different breeds; also called heterosis.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 8)

hydroponicsEnglish
Growing plants with their roots in a nutrient solution instead of soil, sometimes supported by an inert medium such as perlite or coconut coir.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 8)

hyphaeEnglish
The thin, thread-like strands that make up the body of a fungus.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 7) · +1 more

illustrated talkEnglish
A short talk where you show and explain how to do something step by step with real materials, as 4-H members do (sometimes called a demo).
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 7)

imbibitionEnglish
The first step of germination, when a dry seed soaks up water and swells.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 6)

incisorEnglish
A front cutting tooth; rodents and rabbits have incisors that keep growing all their lives.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 5) · Grade 4 Life Science: Classification, Lesson 5.1 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Life Science: Cells and Microbes, Lesson 8.3 (grade 7)

incomplete dominanceEnglish
When neither allele is fully dominant, so a heterozygous animal shows an in-between trait, as in blue Andalusian chickens.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 8)

insectivoreEnglish
An animal that eats mainly insects, grubs and earthworms. Moles and shrews are insectivores, not rodents.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 7)

integrated pest management (IPM)English
A careful plan for pests: prevent problems, watch closely, and choose the gentlest action that works.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 5) · +3 more

intensive plantingEnglish
Growing plants in wide beds at even, close spacing instead of single rows, so leaves shade out weeds and space is used efficiently.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 8)

intercroppingEnglish
Growing two crops together, such as quick lettuce between young tomatoes, to use space and time.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 8)

internal parasiteEnglish
A parasite that lives inside an animal, such as roundworms, tapeworms, coccidia or the barber pole worm of sheep and goats.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 8)

interveinal chlorosisEnglish
Yellowing between the veins while the veins stay green; typical of magnesium deficiency on old leaves and iron deficiency on new ones.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 7)

invertaseEnglish
An enzyme bees add to nectar that splits sucrose into the simpler sugars glucose and fructose.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 8)

isolation distanceEnglish
The space growers leave between varieties of the same crop so they do not cross. It can be a few feet for tomatoes or a quarter mile or more for corn.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 7)

judging classEnglish
A set of four items that a judge ranks from best to last and explains with reasons.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 3)

Kratky methodEnglish
A passive hydroponic system in which a plant sits above a container of solution; as the plant drinks, the water level drops and leaves an air gap where upper roots get oxygen.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 8)

lactationEnglish
The period when a cow gives milk, beginning when she has a calf and lasting about ten months.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 6)

lacto-fermentationEnglish
Preserving vegetables in salt or brine, where lactic acid bacteria turn natural sugars into lactic acid, which lowers the pH and keeps spoilage microbes out.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 8)

ladybugEnglish
A small round beetle, often red with black spots, that eats aphids. It is also called a lady beetle or ladybird.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 1)

Langstroth hiveEnglish
The common box hive with movable wooden frames, designed by Lorenzo Langstroth in 1851.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 5)

larder-hoardingEnglish
Storing lots of food together in one place, like a pantry.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 3)

last frost dateEnglish
The average date in spring after which frost usually does not come again. Warm-season crops are planted after it.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 2)

last spring frost dateEnglish
The average date of the last frost in spring for your area. After it, tender plants are usually safe outdoors.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 4)

late blightEnglish
A fast-spreading disease of tomatoes and potatoes caused by a water mold, with greasy gray-green patches and white fuzz in wet weather.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 6)

law of independent assortmentEnglish
Mendel’s finding that alleles for different traits (on different chromosomes) are passed on independently of each other.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 8) · Grade 8 Life Science: Heredity, Design and Origins, Lesson 1.3 (grade 8)

law of segregationEnglish
Mendel’s finding that each parent passes on only one of its two alleles for a trait, chosen by chance.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 8) · Grade 8 Life Science: Heredity, Design and Origins, Lesson 1.3 (grade 8)

layer feedEnglish
Chicken feed made for laying hens, with extra calcium for eggshells.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 3)

leachingEnglish
The washing of dissolved nutrients, especially nitrate, down through the soil and out of reach of roots.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 8)

leafEnglish
The flat green part of a plant that catches light and makes food.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 1) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade K) · Grade 3 Life Science: Plants and Animals Together, Lesson 1.1 (grade 3) · +1 more

leaf scorchEnglish
Browning of leaf edges and tips from drought, heat, wind or salt, when water cannot reach the leaf edges fast enough.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 7)

leashEnglish
A strap that clips to a dog’s collar to keep it safe and close on a walk.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 1)

leggyEnglish
Describes a seedling that has grown tall, thin and weak because it did not get enough light.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 7)

life cycleEnglish
The stages a living thing goes through as it grows up and makes new life.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Life Science: Animal Families, Lesson 8.1 (grade 2)

lifespanEnglish
How many years an animal usually lives. A pet is a commitment for its whole lifespan.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 6)

light intensityEnglish
How bright light is; outdoor sun is many times brighter than a sunny window or a room light.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 5)

limiting factorEnglish
Anything that keeps a population from growing larger, such as food, water, shelter, space, predators, disease or harsh weather.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 6) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 8) · +1 more

linesEnglish
The long reins a teamster uses to guide a team from behind.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 8)

litter boxEnglish
A box of sand-like litter where an indoor cat goes to the bathroom.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 3)

livestockEnglish
Animals raised on a farm, like cows, sheep, pigs, goats and chickens.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade K)

loamEnglish
A mix of sand, silt and clay with plenty of humus. Most plants grow best in loam.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 5)

long-day plantEnglish
A plant that flowers when days grow long, such as spinach, lettuce and radishes.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 3) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 7)

low-acid foodEnglish
A food with a pH above 4.6 (green beans, corn, most vegetables), which must be processed in a pressure canner.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 6)

Lyme diseaseEnglish
An illness caused by bacteria passed by the bite of an infected blacklegged tick, often beginning with a spreading rash, fever and aches.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 8)

market animalEnglish
An animal raised to be sold for meat, judged on muscle, finish (fat cover), structure and balance.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 8)

market gardenEnglish
A small, intensive farm, often under a few acres, that grows a wide range of vegetables, fruit or flowers to sell directly to customers.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 8)

mark-recaptureEnglish
A survey method in which animals are caught and marked, released, and caught again; the share of marked animals in the second catch is used to estimate the whole population.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 8) · Grade 8 Life Science: Heredity, Design and Origins, Lesson 7.2 (grade 8)

mastitisEnglish
An infection of the udder, prevented by clean housing and careful, clean milking.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 6)

matchingEnglish
Alike in size, shape and color.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade K)

matureEnglish
Finished growing. Some crops, like green beans, are best picked before they are fully mature.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 3)

mechanizationEnglish
Replacing human and animal muscle with machines, such as the reaper, the steam engine and the tractor.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 8) · Human Geography, Lesson 6.3 (grade 9–12)

metabolic bone diseaseEnglish
A disease that leaves bones soft and weak, caused by too little UVB, vitamin D3 or calcium.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 6)

microclimateEnglish
A small area whose temperature, light, wind or moisture differs from the area around it, such as the warm foot of a sunny wall.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 7)

micronutrientEnglish
A nutrient plants need in tiny amounts, such as iron, manganese, zinc, copper, boron and molybdenum.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 7)

milk standEnglish
A raised platform with a head gate where a goat stands calmly while being milked.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 3)

mineralizationEnglish
The release of nutrients such as nitrogen from organic matter into plant-available form, as microbes and the creatures that eat them do their work.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 8)

mobile nutrientEnglish
A nutrient the plant can move from old leaves to new growth when short of it, so symptoms appear first on older leaves (N, P, K, Mg).
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 8)

moldboard plowEnglish
A plow with a curved blade that cuts a strip of soil and turns it upside down, burying weeds and stubble.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 5)

molehillEnglish
A little mound of loose soil a mole pushes up from a deep tunnel.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 2)

monogastricEnglish
Having a single, simple stomach, as pigs, chickens, dogs and people do.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 8)

mouseEnglish
A small animal with big ears, big eyes and a long tail. It eats seeds, grains and insects.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 2)

mulchEnglish
A blanket of straw, leaves or wood chips spread on the soil to keep weeds down and water in.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 3)

muleEnglish
The offspring of a male donkey and a female horse; strong, sure-footed, long-lived and usually unable to have offspring of its own.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 8)

myceliumEnglish
A web of thin, white threads that a fungus grows through soil, wood or leaves.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 2) · Grade 7 Life Science: Cells and Microbes, Lesson 6.1 (grade 7)

mycorrhizaeEnglish
Partnerships between fungi and plant roots. The fungus brings the plant water and nutrients, and the plant gives the fungus sugar.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 7) · +1 more

native plantEnglish
A plant that grew naturally in a region before modern times and that local insects and animals are fitted to use.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 8) · Grade 5 Geography: Explorers, Navigators and Missionaries, Lesson 8.3 (grade 5)

negative reinforcementEnglish
Taking away something unpleasant right after a behavior, so the behavior increases; for example, a rider releasing leg pressure the moment a horse moves forward.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 7)

nest boxEnglish
A cozy box with straw where a hen lays her eggs.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade K)

nightcrawlerEnglish
A large earthworm that digs deep vertical burrows and pulls leaves down into them at night.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 4)

nitrateEnglish
A much less harmful chemical that other bacteria make from nitrite; it is removed by water changes and used by plants.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 5)

nitrificationEnglish
The two-step change of ammonium into nitrite and then nitrate by soil bacteria.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 8)

nitrifying bacteriaEnglish
Bacteria that live on filter media, gravel and surfaces and turn ammonia into nitrite and nitrite into nitrate.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 7)

nitriteEnglish
A chemical, also poisonous to fish, that helpful bacteria make from ammonia.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 5)

nitrogen cycleEnglish
In an aquarium, the process by which bacteria turn toxic ammonia from fish waste into nitrite and then into much less harmful nitrate.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 7)

nitrogen fixationEnglish
Changing nitrogen gas from the air into a form plants can use. Bacteria in the root nodules of legumes do this.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 7) · +1 more

nitrogen (N)English
A nutrient that helps plants grow green, leafy and tall.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 3)

nodeEnglish
The place on a stem where a leaf or bud grows; roots form most easily at nodes.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 5) · Grade 8 Geography: Rivers, Ports and Straits, Lesson 8.2 (grade 8)

noduleEnglish
A small bump on the roots of beans, peas and clover where nitrogen-fixing bacteria live.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 4)

non-climacteric fruitEnglish
A fruit that does not ripen further once picked (strawberries, cherries, grapes, citrus, watermelon), so it must be picked ripe.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 6)

Northern HemisphereEnglish
The half of the earth north of the equator, where the United States is.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 3)

no-tillEnglish
Planting directly into the stubble of the last crop without plowing, to protect soil from erosion.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 8)

N-P-KEnglish
The three numbers on a fertilizer label: the percent by weight of nitrogen, phosphate and potash.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 6)

nutrient availabilityEnglish
Whether a nutrient in the soil is in a form plant roots can actually absorb.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 6)

nutrient solutionEnglish
Water with dissolved mineral nutrients (N, P, K, calcium, magnesium and micronutrients) in the right proportions for plants.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 8)

nutritional adequacy statementEnglish
The line on a pet-food label stating whether the food is complete and balanced, and for which life stage (growth, adult maintenance, or all life stages).
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 6)

obligate carnivoreEnglish
An animal, such as a cat, that must eat animal tissue to get certain nutrients its body cannot make.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 7)

one-time costEnglish
Money spent once at the start, such as the adoption fee, cage or tank, and first supplies.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 4)

ongoing costEnglish
Money spent again and again, such as food, bedding, litter and checkups.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 4)

open centerEnglish
A vase-shaped training system with no central trunk, letting light into the middle; used for peaches, nectarines and plums.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 7)

open-pollinatedEnglish
A variety whose seeds grow into plants just like the parent. Old open-pollinated varieties are called heirlooms.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 3) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 8)

oral reasonsEnglish
A short spoken explanation, given to a judge, of why you placed a class of animals in the order you did.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 8)

organic matterEnglish
Anything that was once alive, like leaves, roots, grass and manure.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 2) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 6)

ovaryEnglish
The swollen base of the pistil that holds the ovules. After pollination the ovules become seeds and the ovary becomes the fruit.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 6) · Grade 3 Life Science: Plants and Animals Together, Lesson 3.4 (grade 3)

overwateringEnglish
Giving a plant so much water that its roots cannot get air.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 2) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade K)

paddockEnglish
A small fenced section of pasture used in rotational grazing.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 8)

pappusEnglish
The fluffy parachute on dandelion and thistle seeds that catches the wind.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 4)

parakeet (budgerigar)English
A small, long-tailed parrot from Australia. In America, “parakeet” usually means a budgie.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 2)

parasitic waspEnglish
A tiny wasp, harmless to people, that lays its eggs in or on pest insects.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 3)

part sun (part shade)English
About 3 to 6 hours of direct sun a day.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 3)

pasteurizeEnglish
To heat milk to a set temperature to kill harmful germs.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 3)

pastureEnglish
A field of grass where animals graze.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 2)

pelletsEnglish
Small pressed pieces of rabbit food. Adults need only a small amount.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 3)

perchEnglish
A bar or branch where a bird stands and sleeps.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 2)

perennialEnglish
A plant that lives for many years, like mint, chives, thyme and oregano.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 2) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 2)

perennial cropEnglish
A food plant that lives and produces for many years, such as fruit trees, berries, asparagus and rhubarb.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 8)

perennial weedEnglish
A weed that lives for years and spreads by roots, rhizomes or runners as well as seed, such as dandelion, bindweed or quackgrass.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 5) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 8)

perliteEnglish
Tiny white puffed bits of volcanic rock added to potting mix to make air spaces.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 5)

persistent herbicideEnglish
A weed killer that stays active for months or years in hay, manure and compost and can damage sensitive garden plants.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 7)

pestEnglish
A creature that harms garden plants.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 3) · +1 more

petEnglish
An animal that lives with a family and is cared for by them.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 1) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade K)

phenologyEnglish
The study of when seasonal events happen in living things, such as budding, flowering, fruiting, leaf fall, migration and hatching.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Life Science: Animal Design and Behavior, Lesson 2.4 (grade 6) · Grade 6 Life Science: Animal Design and Behavior, Lesson 9.1 (grade 6) · +2 more

phenophaseEnglish
One stage in a plant’s or animal’s yearly cycle, such as “first leaf,” “full bloom” or “ripe fruit.”
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 5)

phloemEnglish
Living tubes that carry sugar from the leaves to other parts of the plant.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 7)

phosphorus (P)English
A nutrient that helps plants grow strong roots, flowers and fruit.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 3)

photoperiodEnglish
The length of daylight (and darkness) in a 24-hour day, which tells many plants when to flower.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 8) · +1 more

photosynthesisEnglish
The way green plants use sunlight to make food (sugar) from air and water. It means “putting together with light.”
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 4) · +3 more

phototropismEnglish
Growing toward light. Stems and leaves bend toward a window or the sun.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 7) · +1 more

phytochromeEnglish
A light-sensitive pigment in leaves that changes form in red and far-red light and lets the plant measure the length of the night.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 7)

pinchEnglish
To snip off the top tip of a stem so the plant grows bushier.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 2)

pistilEnglish
The seed-making part in the center of a flower: the sticky stigma, the style and the ovary.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 6) · Grade 1 Life Science: Animal Homes and Habits, Lesson 6.2 (grade 1) · +1 more

placing cardEnglish
A card on which a livestock judge marks the order of a class of four animals, such as 2-1-4-3.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 8)

plant diagnostic clinicEnglish
A laboratory, usually run by a state university extension service, that identifies plant diseases and pests from samples.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 7)

plant familyEnglish
A group of plants that are related and share features, such as flower shape and seed type.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 5) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 8)

plant hormoneEnglish
A chemical made in small amounts in one part of a plant that controls growth or development elsewhere; also called a plant growth regulator.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 8)

plant pathologyEnglish
The science of plant diseases: their causes, how they spread, and how to manage them.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 8)

plant populationEnglish
The number of plants per acre; for corn, often about 30,000 to 35,000.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 8)

planterEnglish
A machine that places seeds at a set depth and spacing in many rows at once; modern planters can sow 16–48 rows in one pass.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 8)

plug trayEnglish
A tray of many small cells (for example 72 or 128) used by greenhouses to grow uniform young seedlings called plugs.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 7)

pollination serviceEnglish
Renting honeybee colonies to farmers to pollinate crops such as almonds, apples, blueberries and cucumbers.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 8)

pollinizerEnglish
A different, compatible variety planted nearby to provide pollen, needed by most apples, pears and sweet cherries.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 7)

populationEnglish
All the members of one species living in one area at the same time.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 8) · Grade 6 Life Science: Animal Design and Behavior, Lesson 4.4 (grade 6) · +3 more

pore spaceEnglish
The spaces between soil particles and aggregates that hold air and water; a healthy soil is about half pore space.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 8)

positive reinforcementEnglish
Giving a reward right after a behavior so the animal does it more often.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 5) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 7)

potassium (K)English
A nutrient that keeps the whole plant strong and healthy, with sturdy stems.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 3)

potting mixEnglish
A light, fluffy soil made for pots. It holds water but also lets air reach the roots.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 3) · +3 more

potting upEnglish
Moving a seedling into a larger container before it becomes root-bound.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 7)

poultEnglish
A baby turkey.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 4)

poultryEnglish
Birds raised for eggs or meat, such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 4)

pounceEnglish
To leap up and land on prey from above. Foxes pounce on mice hidden in grass or snow.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 4)

powdery mildewEnglish
A white, dusty-looking fungus that grows on leaves.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 3) · +2 more

predator guardEnglish
A cone, tube or baffle on a nest-box pole that keeps snakes, raccoons and cats from climbing to the nest.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 6)

predator insectEnglish
An insect that hunts and eats other insects.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 2)

predator–prey cycleEnglish
The repeating rise and fall of predator and prey populations, with the predator’s numbers following a little behind the prey’s.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 6)

preen glandEnglish
A gland near a bird’s tail that makes oil. Ducks spread this oil over their feathers to waterproof them.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 4)

pressure canningEnglish
Processing jars in steam under pressure, which reaches about 240 °F and destroys botulism spores; required for low-acid vegetables, beans and meats.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 8)

preventive careEnglish
Regular checkups, shots, parasite control and dental care that keep an animal healthy and find problems early.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 6)

prey speciesEnglish
Animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs and birds that instinctively hide signs of illness to avoid looking weak.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 6)

propagationEnglish
Making new plants, either from seeds or from parts of a plant.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 5)

protozoa and nematodesEnglish
Single-celled organisms and tiny roundworms that eat bacteria and fungi and release extra nutrients near plant roots.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 6)

PTOEnglish
Power take-off: a spinning shaft that carries power from a tractor to a machine; one of the most dangerous parts of a farm.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 7)

Punnett squareEnglish
A grid used to predict the possible allele combinations in the offspring of a cross.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Life Science: Heredity, Design and Origins, Lesson 1.3 (grade 8)

pupaEnglish
The resting stage when a caterpillar changes into a butterfly or moth, inside a chrysalis or cocoon.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Life Science: Plants and Animals Together, Lesson 3.2 (grade 3)

pure lineEnglish
A line of plants always producing offspring like the parent when self-pollinated, because the plant is homozygous for its traits.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 8)

queen beeEnglish
The one mother bee in the hive. She lays all the eggs.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 2)

queen cellEnglish
A large, peanut-shaped cell hanging from a comb in which workers raise a new queen.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 7)

rabiesEnglish
A serious sickness some wild animals can carry and spread by biting. It is why we never touch wild animals.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 2) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 5) · +3 more

radiational coolingEnglish
The loss of heat from the ground and plants into the sky at night, strongest when the sky is clear and the air is still.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 6)

raised bedEnglish
A garden bed built up above the ground, often with wooden or metal sides, and filled with good soil.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 3)

record bookEnglish
The written record of a 4-H or FFA project: goals, inventory, daily log, expenses, income, hours, skills learned and a project story.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 8)

recruitmentEnglish
The number of young that survive to join the adult population in a year.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 8)

recyclerEnglish
A living thing that breaks down dead plants and animals so they become part of the soil again.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 1)

red wigglerEnglish
A small red worm that lives in rotting leaves and compost. It is the best worm for a worm bin.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 2) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 4)

refractometerEnglish
An instrument that measures how light bends through a liquid, used to find the water content of honey.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 8)

reinforcementEnglish
Anything that follows a behavior and makes that behavior more likely to happen again.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 7) · Fabrics & Sewing II, Lesson 4.4 (grade 6–8) · Textile Science & Clothing Construction, Lesson 10.3 (grade 9–12)

relay plantingEnglish
Sowing or transplanting a new crop among an older crop before the older one is finished, so the new one is already growing when the bed is cleared.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 8)

repellentEnglish
A spray or substance with a smell or taste that animals dislike, used to keep them away from plants.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 4)

replacement animalEnglish
An animal kept to become a parent, judged on structure, soundness, femininity or masculinity, and how well it will produce.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 8)

repotEnglish
To move a plant into a new, usually bigger pot with fresh soil.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 3)

resistant varietyEnglish
A plant variety bred to fight off a particular disease.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 7) · +1 more

respirationEnglish
The slow “breathing” of living vegetables after harvest. They use up stored sugars and give off heat and moisture.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 7)

responsibilityEnglish
A job that someone counts on you to do, every time.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 1) · Geography and History: Why Borders Fall Where They Do, Lesson 1.5 (grade 9–12)

responsibleEnglish
Doing your job faithfully, even when no one reminds you.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade K)

rhizosphereEnglish
The thin zone of soil, a few millimeters thick, directly around living roots, where root exudates support far more microbes than in the rest of the soil.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 8)

rindEnglish
The tough outer skin of a squash or melon.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 3)

riparian bufferEnglish
A strip of trees, shrubs and grasses along a stream that shades the water, holds the bank and filters runoff.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 8)

roly-polyEnglish
A small gray creature with a hard, curved back and fourteen legs that rolls into a ball. It is also called a pill bug.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 1)

root ballEnglish
The clump of roots and soil that comes out of the pot together.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 1) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 4) · +1 more

root cellarEnglish
A cool, dark room, often underground, where potatoes, apples and other crops keep for months.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 2) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 4) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 8)

root exudatesEnglish
Sugars, amino acids and other compounds that roots release into the soil, feeding microbes that in turn help the plant.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 8)

root flareEnglish
The place at the bottom of a tree trunk where it widens into roots. It should sit at or just above the soil line.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 2)

root hairsEnglish
Tiny, fuzzy hairs on roots that soak up water like a sponge.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 1) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 5)

root noduleEnglish
A small swelling on a legume root where Rhizobium bacteria live and fix nitrogen.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 6) · Grade 3 Life Science: Plants and Animals Together, Lesson 1.4 (grade 3)

root pruningEnglish
Trimming the outer roots of a container plant so it can go back into the same pot with fresh mix, keeping it at a manageable size.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 7)

root rotEnglish
Decay of roots, usually caused by water molds and fungi in soggy, airless soil.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 6)

root vegetableEnglish
A vegetable whose part we eat grows under the ground, like a carrot, a beet or a radish.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 1)

root-boundEnglish
When roots fill the whole pot and grow around and around in circles because they have no more room.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 5) · +2 more

rootingEnglish
Digging in the ground with the snout to find roots, grubs and other food.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 4)

rooting hormoneEnglish
A powder or gel containing auxin, a natural plant hormone that encourages roots to form.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 6)

rootstockEnglish
The lower part of a graft, which supplies the roots and often controls the tree’s size.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 8)

rotational grazingEnglish
Moving animals through a series of small pastures (paddocks) so each one is grazed briefly and then rested to regrow.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 8)

row coverEnglish
A light, see-through fabric laid over plants that lets in sun and rain but keeps insects out.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 7)

row cropEnglish
A crop such as corn or soybeans planted in rows wide enough to cultivate between.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 4)

row-crop planterEnglish
A machine with many row units that open a furrow, drop single seeds at a set spacing and depth, and close the soil over them.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 7)

rumenEnglish
The first and largest stomach compartment, where billions of microbes break down grass.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 6)

ruminantEnglish
An animal with a stomach of four parts that chews its food twice, like goats, sheep and cows.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 2) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 5) · +3 more

SalmonellaEnglish
A germ that many reptiles carry without being sick. It can make people very sick, so we wash our hands.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 5) · +1 more

samaraEnglish
A winged seed, like a maple “helicopter,” that spins as it falls and drifts on the wind.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 4) · Grade 3 Life Science: Plants and Animals Together, Lesson 2.2 (grade 3)

scatEnglish
Animal droppings. Their size, shape and contents help identify the animal and show what it has been eating.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 7)

scatter-hoardingEnglish
Hiding food one piece at a time in many different places.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.3 (grade 3)

scent houndEnglish
A dog bred to follow smells, such as the beagle and bloodhound; used today to find lost people and detect forbidden foods at airports.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 7)

scionEnglish
A short piece of stem from the desired variety, grafted onto a rootstock.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 8)

scratchingEnglish
A normal cat behavior that sharpens claws, stretches muscles and leaves scent marks from glands in the paws.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 7)

season extensionEnglish
Any method that lets crops grow earlier in spring or later in fall than the open garden allows.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 7)

seed bankEnglish
The supply of weed seeds lying in the soil, waiting for the right conditions to sprout.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 5)

seed coatEnglish
The tough outer skin of a seed that protects it, like a jacket.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 1) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade K) · Grade 3 Life Science: Plants and Animals Together, Lesson 2.1 (grade 3) · +1 more

seed dispersalEnglish
The ways seeds are carried away from the parent plant.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 4) · Grade 3 Life Science: Plants and Animals Together, Lesson 2.2 (grade 3) · Grade 6 Life Science: Animal Design and Behavior, Lesson 8.1 (grade 6)

seed drillEnglish
A machine that cuts small furrows, drops seed at an even depth and spacing, and covers it.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 5) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 8)

seed headEnglish
The part of a flower that holds the seeds after the petals fall, like the middle of a sunflower.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 1)

seed savingEnglish
Collecting, drying and storing seeds from your own plants to plant next year.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 3)

seed trayEnglish
A tray of small cells or pots for starting many seeds at once.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 1)

seedbedEnglish
Soil that has been loosened and smoothed so seeds can be planted evenly and sprout well.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 4)

seeding rateEnglish
How much seed is planted per area, such as pounds per acre.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 5)

seedlingEnglish
A young plant just grown from a seed.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 1) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade K) · Grade 2 Life Science: Animal Families, Lesson 8.4 (grade 2) · +2 more

seed-starting mixEnglish
A fine, light, clean growing mix made for seeds, usually peat or coir with perlite or vermiculite. It holds moisture but drains well.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 4)

segmentEnglish
One of the many little rings that make up a worm’s body.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade K) · Geometry, Lesson 2.1 (grade 9–10) · Grade 7 Life Science: Cells and Microbes, Lesson 8.1 (grade 7)

segmentsEnglish
The ring-shaped sections that make up an earthworm’s body.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 4)

self-pollinatingEnglish
A plant whose flowers usually pollinate themselves, such as beans, peas, lettuce and most tomatoes, so seed is easy to keep true.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 7)

setaeEnglish
Tiny bristles on each segment of an earthworm that grip the soil as it moves.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Life Science: Animal Design and Behavior, Lesson 8.3 (grade 6)

shapingEnglish
Teaching a complex behavior by rewarding small steps that come closer and closer to the final goal.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 7)

shootEnglish
The new stem and leaves that grow up toward the light.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 1) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade K) · Kindergarten Life Science: God Made the Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade K)

short-day plantEnglish
A plant that flowers when nights grow long, such as chrysanthemums and poinsettias.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 3) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 7)

show stickEnglish
A cane or light whip used to guide a pig in the show ring by gently tapping its side or shoulder.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 7)

showmanshipEnglish
A contest in which young exhibitors are judged on how well they handle, present and know about their animal.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade 7) · +1 more

siltEnglish
Middle-sized bits of rock, as fine as flour. Silt feels smooth and silky.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 5) · +3 more

skillathonEnglish
A 4-H or FFA contest of hands-on stations, such as identifying plants, seeds, insects or tools.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 6)

skirtingEnglish
Removing the dirty, matted or short wool from the edges of a fleece before it is sold or spun.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 6) · Textile Science & Clothing Construction, Lesson 2.2 (grade 9–12)

slow blinkEnglish
A cat’s relaxed, half-closed blink toward a person or cat it trusts; a sign of comfort.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 7)

slugEnglish
A soft, slimy animal with no shell that eats leaves at night and leaves a shiny trail.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 2) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade K)

smokerEnglish
A can with a bellows that puffs cool smoke to calm bees by masking their alarm scent.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 5)

snailEnglish
An animal like a slug, but with a coiled shell on its back.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.2 (grade 2)

snoodEnglish
The fleshy flap that hangs over a turkey’s beak. It grows long and red when a tom is excited.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 4)

social animalEnglish
An animal that is happiest living with others of its kind, such as guinea pigs, gerbils and rabbits.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 4)

softwood cuttingEnglish
A cutting taken from new, green, flexible spring or early-summer growth; it roots quickly.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 5)

soil aggregateEnglish
A small crumb of soil in which particles are glued together by humus, roots and microbes.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 5)

soil food webEnglish
The community of organisms living in soil and the feeding relationships that link them, from bacteria to earthworms.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 8)

soil horizonEnglish
A layer of soil, roughly parallel to the surface, that differs from the layers above and below in color, texture or structure.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 7) · High School Geology, Lesson 3.1 (grade 9–12)

soil structureEnglish
The way soil particles are grouped into clumps called aggregates or peds, and the spaces between them. Structure can be built up or destroyed.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.2 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 8)

solitaryEnglish
Living alone. Syrian hamsters are solitary and fight if kept together.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 4)

songEnglish
A longer, musical sound, usually made by males in spring to claim territory.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 5) · Kindergarten Life Science: God Made the Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade K)

square footEnglish
A square 12 inches long on every side.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 1)

squashEnglish
A family of big vegetables that grow on vines, like pumpkins, zucchini and acorn squash.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade K)

stamenEnglish
The pollen-making part of a flower, made of a thin filament topped by an anther.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 4) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 6) · Grade 4 Life Science: Classification, Lesson 6.3 (grade 4)

stemEnglish
The part of a plant that holds it up and carries water up and food down.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 2) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade K) · Human Geography, Lesson 10.3 (grade 9–12) · +3 more

stethoscopeEnglish
A tool a doctor uses to listen to the heart and lungs.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 4) · Grade 1 Physical Education & Health, Lesson 5.1 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Physical Education & Health, Lesson 5.1 (grade 2) · +2 more

stocking rateEnglish
The number of animals kept on an area of land over the grazing season, such as one cow-calf pair per two acres.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 8)

stomataEnglish
Tiny openings, mostly on the underside of leaves, that let air in and water vapor out.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 5) · +3 more

straddleEnglish
The width of a trail from the outside of the left prints to the outside of the right prints.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 7)

subsistence and market farmingEnglish
Subsistence farming grows food mainly for the family; market farming grows food mainly to sell.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.1 (grade 8)

subsoilEnglish
The B horizon under the topsoil, usually lighter or redder, with more clay and minerals and less organic matter.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 4)

succession plantingEnglish
Planting a new crop as soon as one is harvested, or sowing small batches every few weeks.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 5) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 8)

sun mapEnglish
A drawing of a garden space that shows where and how long the sun shines during the day.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 5)

sunscaldEnglish
Sun damage to tissue suddenly exposed to strong light: white, papery patches on fruit, or cracked bark on the southwest side of young tree trunks in winter.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 7)

superEnglish
A box placed on top of the hive where bees store extra honey for the beekeeper to harvest.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 7)

supervised agricultural experience (SAE)English
A hands-on project in FFA and agricultural education, such as raising animals, working on a farm or doing research, in which students keep records and build skills.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 8) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 8)

swineEnglish
Another word for pigs and hogs.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 4)

symptomEnglish
A sign that something is wrong, like yellow leaves, holes, spots or wilting.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 2) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 4) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 5) · +2 more

symptom and signEnglish
A symptom is the plant’s response (yellowing, wilting, spots); a sign is the pathogen itself (fungal threads, spores, bacterial ooze).
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 8)

talonsEnglish
The long, sharp, curved claws of a bird of prey.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 4) · Grade 1 Life Science: Animal Homes and Habits, Lesson 1.3 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Life Science: Animal Families, Lesson 2.2 (grade 2) · +1 more

taprootEnglish
One long, thick root that goes straight down, like a dandelion’s or a carrot’s.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 1)

tender plantEnglish
A plant that is hurt or killed by frost, like a tomato, pepper or basil.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 2)

terminateEnglish
To end a cover crop’s growth by mowing, crimping, smothering with a tarp or (on farms) other means, before it sets seed.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 7)

texture triangleEnglish
A chart used to name a soil’s texture class (such as loam or silty clay loam) from its percentages of sand, silt and clay.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.1 (grade 8)

thermal gradientEnglish
A range of temperatures from a warm end to a cool end of an enclosure, letting the animal move to the temperature it needs.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 6)

thermal massEnglish
Heavy material such as water, stone or soil that stores heat by day and releases it slowly at night.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 7)

thermophilicEnglish
Heat-loving; describes the microbes that work in the hot middle stage of composting, about 113 to 160 °F.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.3 (grade 5)

thigmotropismEnglish
Growing in response to touch, like a pea tendril curling around a string.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 4)

thinningEnglish
Removing extra seedlings so only the strongest one grows in each cell or spot.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 4) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade K)

threshingEnglish
Knocking or rubbing the kernels loose from the heads of grain.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 4) · Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 7)

tillageEnglish
Working the soil with tools such as plows, disks and harrows to prepare it for planting.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 4)

top-dressingEnglish
Replacing the top inch or two of old potting mix with fresh mix or compost when a plant is too big to repot.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 7)

tracesEnglish
The straps or chains that run from the hames back to the load or doubletree.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 8)

trailEnglish
A line of tracks that shows where an animal went.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 1) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.1 (grade 3) · Grade 1 Geography: Maps and Journeys, Lesson 8.4 (grade 1)

trainingEnglish
Teaching a dog what we want it to do, with patience and rewards.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 1)

transplantEnglish
To move a plant from one place to another, like from a seed tray to the garden.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 1) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 4)

transplant shockEnglish
Wilting or slowed growth after a plant is moved, while its roots recover.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade 4)

trophic levelEnglish
A feeding level in a food chain: producers (plants), herbivores, and the carnivores that eat them.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 6)

tropismEnglish
A plant’s growth toward or away from something, such as light, gravity or touch.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 4)

true leavesEnglish
The leaves that grow after the seed leaves and have the plant’s real leaf shape.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 4)

true to typeEnglish
Looking the way that variety should look in size, shape and color.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 4) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 8)

tubes (xylem)English
Tiny pipes inside the stem that carry water from the roots to the leaves.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 2)

turgorEnglish
The pressure of water inside plant cells that keeps soft stems and leaves firm; when it is lost, the plant wilts.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 7)

turgor pressureEnglish
The pressure of water inside plant cells pushing against the cell walls, which keeps leaves and stems stiff.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 6) · Grade 7 Life Science: Cells and Microbes, Lesson 2.3 (grade 7)

udderEnglish
The bag under a doe’s belly where milk is made, with two teats.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 3)

underwateringEnglish
Not giving enough water, so the plant wilts and leaves turn crispy.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 2)

uniformEnglish
All alike. In a vegetable plate, every piece should match in size, shape, color and ripeness.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 4)

urinary blockageEnglish
A life-threatening emergency, most common in male cats, in which the cat strains in the litter box but cannot pass urine.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 7)

UVBEnglish
A kind of invisible ultraviolet light from the sun that lets reptiles make vitamin D3 in their skin.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 6)

UVB lightEnglish
A special lamp that gives off a kind of sunlight reptiles need to make vitamin D and build strong bones.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.2 (grade 3) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.3 (grade 4)

varroa miteEnglish
A tiny parasitic mite that feeds on bees and spreads viruses; the most serious pest of honeybees today.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 7) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 8)

vegetative propagationEnglish
Growing new plants from a piece of a parent plant (a cutting, graft, division or runner), so the new plant is an exact copy.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.3 (grade 6)

velvetEnglish
Soft, fuzzy skin full of blood vessels that covers and feeds growing antlers.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 3)

ventingEnglish
Opening a cold frame or greenhouse on sunny days so it does not overheat and cook the plants.
Grade 7 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 7)

vermicompostEnglish
Compost made by worms.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 2)

veterinarianEnglish
An animal doctor. People often say “vet” for short.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 1) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 4) · Grade 8 Life Science: Heredity, Design and Origins, Lesson 8.1 (grade 8)

veterinarian (DVM)English
A doctor of veterinary medicine, who completes college plus four years of veterinary school and passes a national licensing exam.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 8)

veterinary technicianEnglish
A trained professional, usually with a two-year degree and a credentialing exam, who assists veterinarians with nursing, lab work, anesthesia and imaging.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 8)

viabilityEnglish
Whether a seed is alive and able to germinate; it declines as seeds age.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 6)

vineEnglish
A long, creeping stem that spreads along the ground or climbs.
Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade K)

vital signsEnglish
Basic measures of health: temperature, heart rate and breathing rate.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Life Science: Heredity, Design and Origins, Lesson 8.1 (grade 8)

voleEnglish
A small, chunky rodent with a short tail, small eyes and ears, that eats grass, roots, bulbs and bark.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.4 (grade 5)

wallowEnglish
To roll around in mud or water to cool off.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.3 (grade 1) · Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 4)

warm-season cropEnglish
A crop that needs warm soil and hot days and is killed by frost, like tomatoes, peppers, beans, corn, cucumbers, squash and melons.
Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.2 (grade 2)

water changeEnglish
Taking out part of the old tank water and replacing it with clean, conditioned water.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 3)

water conditionerEnglish
Drops added to tap water to remove chlorine, which harms fish.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.1 (grade 3)

water-bath canningEnglish
Processing sealed jars in boiling water (212 °F at sea level); safe only for high-acid foods such as fruit, jams, pickles and acidified tomatoes.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 8)

waterloggedEnglish
So full of water that there is no air left for roots.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 3)

weedEnglish
A plant growing where the gardener does not want it.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 1) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.4 (grade 5) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 8)

weed seed bankEnglish
The store of weed seeds in the soil, which can stay alive for years and sprout whenever conditions are right.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.3 (grade 8)

wellness examEnglish
A regular checkup when an animal is healthy, to catch problems early.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 4)

wiltEnglish
To droop and go limp because the plant does not have enough water.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.4 (grade 1) · Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 8.1 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 2) · +1 more

wiltingEnglish
Drooping when a plant loses water faster than it can take it in.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 3) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.2 (grade K)

windbreakEnglish
A row of trees or shrubs planted to slow the wind across a field; also called a shelterbelt.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 3.4 (grade 5)

winnowingEnglish
Using moving air to blow away the light chaff and leave the heavier grain.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.4 (grade 4)

winter clusterEnglish
A tight ball of bees around the queen that keeps the colony warm through winter.
Grade 4 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 4)

winter wheatEnglish
Wheat sown in the fall that sprouts, rests through winter and is harvested early the next summer.
Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 1.3 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.4 (grade 6)

woolEnglish
The thick, curly hair that grows on a sheep.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.2 (grade 1) · Kindergarten Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.1 (grade K) · Threads & Weaving, Lesson 1.1 (grade 9–12)

worker beeEnglish
A female bee that does all the work of the hive: cleaning, feeding, building, guarding and gathering food.
Grade 1 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 1) · Grade 2 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 2) · Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 6.4 (grade 3) · +1 more

xylemEnglish
Tiny tubes in roots, stems and leaves that carry water upward.
Grade 3 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.3 (grade 3) · Grade 5 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.2 (grade 5) · Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 5.1 (grade 6) · +2 more

yield per square footEnglish
The amount of harvest from each square foot of bed, used to plan how much space a crop needs.
Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 7.1 (grade 8)

zoonotic diseaseEnglish
A disease that can pass between animals and people, such as rabies, ringworm or salmonella.
Grade 6 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 4.4 (grade 6) · Grade 8 Gardening & Animals, Lesson 2.2 (grade 8)