Relating to the ocean and the animals and plants that live there

An area of water where freshwater and saltwater combine. Estuaries are the nursery of many aquatic animals.

Containing a mixture of seawater and fresh water

The line where the land and the water meet

Surroundings and conditions in which an organism lives

The non-living components of an ecosystem

The living components of an ecosystem

An invertebrate that live mostly in water and has a hard shell, a segmented body, and jointed appendages

Situated or located outside of something

Situated within or inside of something

A representation, usually on a smaller or much larger scale, used to study something difficult to see when it is actual sized

A measure of the amount of salt

The strength of a solution

How closely packed the particles of a substance are

Impure or unsuitable by contact or mixture with something unclean or bad

A region or area that drains ultimately to a particular river, lake, or stream

A process by which water, wind, and ice wear down rocks and other exposed surfaces

Breaking up of rock by physical forces, such as the action of wind and moving water

Wearing away of rocks by chemical processes, such as oxidation or dissolving

Small pieces of material that have broken off of rocks and have been deposited by water, wind, or ice

Water that collects in cracks and spaces in the rocks and sediments beneath Earth’s surface

Water on the surface of the planet such as in a stream, river, lake, wetland, or ocean.

An area defined by its environmental conditions, especially climate, land forms, and soil characteristics

Movement of sediment by wind, water, ice, or gravity

A process by which wind, water, and gravity leave eroded sediments in new location

Allowing the passage of gas or liquid through openings or pores

A widespread disastrous event

A temporary rise of the water level, as in a river or lake or along a seacoast, resulting in its spilling over and out of its natural or artificial boundaries onto land that is normally dry

A period of dry weather

A severe, rotating tropical storm with heavy rains and cyclonic winds exceeding 74 mi (119 km) per hour.

A violently rotating column of air extending from a cumulonimbus cloud to the Earth.

An extremely large ocean wave caused by an underwater shift of plates (earthquake)

The place in an ecosystem where an organism lives

An extremely localized, small-scale environment

A large region of land with a distinct climate and certain types of plant and animal life

Members of the same species but with distinctly different traits, such as size and color

An activity or action that generally helps an organism survive in its environment

Seasonal movement of animals from one place to another

A deep sleep in which body systems reduce to minimal levels

An acquired characteristic or trait that enables an organism to better survive in an environment

Group of organisms that can mate and produce offspring that in turn can produce more offspring

All organisms of the same species that live in the same place at the same time

The variety of organisms in a specific environment

Managing resources so they don’t run out

Energy in the form of waves, especially electromagnetic waves. Radio waves, x-rays, and visible light are all forms of radiant energy.

Energy that is generated and measured by heat of any kind

The potential of a chemical substance to undergo a transformation through a chemical reaction to transform other chemical substances

The chemical process by which plants use light energy to make sugar from water and carbon dioxide

he formation of organic compounds using the energy released from chemical reactions instead of the energy of sunlight