Glossary
Planet A large, round object
that orbits a star.
Population All the people
or animals living in an area
or country.
Predator An animal that kills
other animals for food.
Reef A ridge of coral or rock just
above or below the sea’s surface.
Reflex action An automatic
movement of your body that you
can’t control.
Religion The belief in, and
worship of, a God or gods; a set of
beliefs and way of doing things.
Reproduction The process
by which animals and plants
produce young.
Reptile A cold-blooded animal
that usually lays eggs. Reptiles
have tough, scaly skin.
Reservoir A man-made or
natural lake where water is
stored for use.
Runes Viking symbols used
for writing.Samurai An ancient
Japanese warrior.Saurischian Lizard-hipped
dinosaur.Savanna Tropical grassland
with a few trees, found in east
Africa and northern South
America.Scavenger An animal that
rarely kills for food, but eats
animals that have already died
or been killed.Space The large, almost
empty, places beyond the
Earth’s atmosphere.Spectator A person who
watches an event.Synthetic Made from man-
made materials.Transpiration The release of
water vapour from a plant through
small holes in the leaves.Transplant When an organ
is removed from someone’s body
because it is not working very well,
and a new one is put in its place.Tropical The area of land and
sea on either side of the Equator.Universe Everything! The Earth,
moon, Sun, all the planets and
all the galaxies – even those we
haven’t discovered yet.Vaccination An injection that
contains a very weak form of the
virus or bacterium that you are
being vaccinated against.Vertebrate An animal with
a backbone.Virus A very tiny infectious
agent that contains DNA and
grows on living cells. Viruses cause
disease in plants and animals.X-ray A photograph that shows
the inside of your body.297