Across
- 3. Animals raised for meat or dairy products, including cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens and geese. In some cases, farmed insects are referred to as mini-livestock.
- 9. A compound made by combining one or more elements with oxygen. Rust is an oxide; so is water.
- 11. A digital audio or video series that can be downloaded from the Internet to your computer or smartphone. Some podcasts also are shows that are broadcast on radio, television or other media.
- 12. Conditions in the atmosphere at a localized place and a particular time. It is usually described in terms of particular features, such as air pressure, humidity, moisture, any precipitation (rain, snow or ice), temperature and wind speed. Weather constitutes the actual conditions that occur at any time and place. It’s different from climate, which is a description of the conditions that tend to occur in some general region during a particular month or season.
- 16. Short for microorganism. A living thing that is too small to see with the unaided eye, including bacteria, some fungi and many other organisms such as amoebas. Most consist of a single cell.
- 18. A type of worm that lives in the soil. As it moves through soil, an earthworm creates burrows. These allow air and water to move more readily through the soil. The worms feed on decaying organic matter, which helps improve soil fertility.
- 19. The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to produce foods from carbon dioxide and water.
- 21. An analysis, often made using a computer, of some conditions, functions or appearance of a physical system. A computer program would do this by using mathematical operations that can describe the system and how it might change over time or in response to different anticipated situations.
- 25. A type of plant grown intentionally grown and nurtured by farmers, such as corn, coffee or tomatoes. Or the term could apply to the part of the plant harvested and sold by farmers.
- 27. The mathematical instructions that direct a computer’s hardware, including its processor, to perform certain operations.
- 28. The weather conditions that typically exist in one area, in general, or over a long period.
- 30. A minute amount of something.
- 33. The growth of plants, animals or fungi for human needs, including food, fuel, chemicals and medicine.
- 34. To remember.
- 36. A broad and organized group of objects. Sometimes they are instruments placed in a systematic fashion to collect information in a coordinated way. Other times, an array can refer to things that are laid out or displayed in a way that can make a broad range of related things, such as colors, visible at once.
- 37. Something that occurs haphazardly or without reason, based on no intention or purpose. Or an adjective that describes something that found itself selected for no particular reason, or even chaotically.
- 38. Something — usually round-shaped — in the center of an object.
- 39. Crystal-forming substances that make up rock, such as quartz, apatite or various carbonates. Most rocks contain several different minerals mish-mashed together.
- 40. A scientist who works in a branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.
- 41. A plant growing wild in, around — and sometimes smothering over — valued plants, such as crops or landscape species (including lawn grasses, flowers and shrubs). Often a plant becomes such a botanical bully when it enters a new environment with no natural predators or controlling conditions, such as hard frosts. (in biology, generally) Any organism may be referred to as a “weed” if it enters an environment and begins to overwhelm the local ecosystem.
Down
- 1. gas A gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing heat. Carbon dioxide is one example of a greenhouse gas.
- 2. Any materials that are left over from biological or other systems that have no value, so they can be disposed of as trash or recycled for some new use.
- 4. An adjective to describe the use of resources in a such a way that they will continue to be available long into the future.
- 5. A type of charcoal often used in agriculture to improve soil for plant growth. It can help plants take up nutrients, improve soil drainage and increase crop yields.
- 6. Matter that contains carbon and can be used as a fuel, especially in a power station for the generation of electricity. Plants are a kind of biomass.
- 7. A vitamin, mineral, fat, carbohydrate or protein that a plant, animal or other organism requires as part of its food in order to survive.
- 8. The process by which compounds in once-living things are broken down and returned to the environment; the process by which something decays or rots. Organisms that break down once-living things in this way are called decomposers.
- 10. A chemical element that is the physical basis of all life on Earth. The term carbon sometimes will be used almost interchangeably with carbon dioxide to connote the potential impacts that some action, product, policy or process may have on long-term atmospheric warming.
- 13. Gradual removal of soil or stone, caused by the flow of water or the movement of winds.
- 14. To be able to recover fairly quickly from obstacles or difficult conditions. (in materials) The ability of something to spring back or recover to its original shape after bending or otherwise contorting the material.
- 15. This relatively long-legged member of the dog family (Canis latrans) is sometimes referred to as the prairie wolf. It is, however, notably smaller and its build more scrawny than a true wolf.
- 17. An extended period of abnormally low rainfall; a shortage of water resulting from this.
- 20. A group of interacting living organisms — including microorganisms, plants and animals — and their physical environment within a particular climate. Examples include tropical reefs, rainforests, alpine meadows and polar tundra. The term can also be applied to elements that make up some an artificial environment, such as a company, classroom or the internet.
- 22. Not easily convinced; having doubts or reservations.
- 23. The act of providing a home or environment for something. A website, for instance, could host photos, news or other types of information.
- 24. A common practice by growers of turning over the soil on croplands or in gardens to remove weeds and/or cultivate the land.
- 26. The envelope of gases surrounding Earth, another planet or a moon.
- 28. A substance formed from two or more atoms that unite (bond) in a fixed proportion and structure. For example, water is a chemical made when two hydrogen atoms bond to one oxygen atom.
- 29. Feces, or dung, from farm animals. Manure can be used to fertilize land.
- 31. An adjective that indicates something is carbon-containing; also a term that relates to the basic chemicals that make up living organisms.
- 32. Nitrogen, phosphorus and other plant nutrients added to soil, water or foliage to boost crop growth or to replenish nutrients that were lost earlier as they were used by plant roots or leaves.
- 35. Fine-grained particles of soil that stick together and can be molded when wet. When fired under intense heat, clay can become hard and brittle. That’s why it’s used to fashion pottery and bricks.