agriculture: The growth of plants, animals or fungi for human needs, including food, fuel, chemicals and medicine.
array: 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. The term can even apply to a range of options or choices.
carbon dioxide: (or CO2) A colorless, odorless gas produced by all animals when the oxygen they inhale reacts with the carbon-rich foods that they’ve eaten. Carbon dioxide also is released when organic matter burns (including fossil fuels like oil or gas). Carbon dioxide acts as a greenhouse gas, trapping heat in Earth’s atmosphere. Plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen during photosynthesis, the process they use to make their own food.
climate: The weather conditions that typically exist in one area, in general, or over a long period.
commercial: An adjective for something that is ready for sale or already being sold. Commercial goods are those caught or produced for others, and not solely for personal consumption.
compost: The end product in the breakdown, or decomposition, of leaves, plants, vegetables, manure and other once-living material. Compost is used to enrich garden soil, and earthworms sometimes aid this process.
crop: (in agriculture) 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.
edible: Something that can be eaten safely.
electric current: A flow of electric charge — electricity — usually from the movement of negatively charged particles, called electrons.
electricity: A flow of charge, usually from the movement of negatively charged particles, called electrons.
engineer: A person who uses science and math to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need.
factor: Something that plays a role in a particular condition or event; a contributor.
focus: (in behavior) To look or concentrate intently on some particular point or thing.
fossil fuel: Any fuel — such as coal, petroleum (crude oil) or natural gas — that has developed within the Earth over millions of years from the decayed remains of bacteria, plants or animals.
fruit: A seed-containing reproductive organ in a plant.
fuel: Any material that will release energy during a controlled chemical or nuclear reaction. Fossil fuels (coal, natural gas and petroleum) are a common type that liberate their energy through chemical reactions that take place when heated (usually to the point of burning).
greenhouse gas: A gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing heat. Carbon dioxide is one example of a greenhouse gas.
grid: (in mathematics or mapping) A network of lines that cross each other at regular intervals, forming boxes or rectangles, or an orderly field of dots that mark where each pair of lines intersect, or cross one another.
humidity: A measure of the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. (Air with a lot of water vapor in it is known as humid.)
livestock: Animals raised for meat or dairy products, including cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens and geese.
maximize: (in psychology) A strategy that some people employ in which they consider every possible option to find the best one. The alternative involves looking at just enough options to find one that is good enough.
microclimate: The climate of a small, specific place within an area as compared with the climate of a broad region.
native: Associated with a particular location; native plants and animals have been found in a particular location since recorded history began. These species also tend to have developed within a region, occurring there naturally (not because they were planted or moved there by people). Most are particularly well adapted to their environment.
nutrient: A vitamin, mineral, fat, carbohydrate or protein that a plant, animal or other organism requires as part of its food in order to survive.
photovoltaic: An adjective that describes the ability of certain technologies to convert sunlight into electricity.
pollinator: Something that carries pollen, a plant’s male reproductive cells, to the female parts of a flower, allowing fertilization. Many pollinators are insects such as bees.
range: The full extent or distribution of something. For instance, a plant or animal’s range is the area over which it naturally exists.
renewable energy: Energy from a source that is not depleted by use, such as hydropower (water), wind power or solar power.
runoff: The rainwater that runs off of land into rivers, lakes and the seas. As that water travels through soils, it picks up bits of dirt and chemicals that it will later deposit as pollutants in streams, lakes and seas.
silicon: A nonmetal, semiconducting element used in making electronic circuits. Pure silicon exists in a shiny, dark-gray crystalline form and as a shapeless powder.
solar: Having to do with the sun or the radiation it emits. It comes from sol, Latin for sun.