Definitions

In order to understand the content of the Summer Learning Institute, you will need to be able to use and understand some important vocabulary. Each of these words appear in the pre-test that you take at the beginning of the SLI, and in the post-test that you will take near the end. How many do you already know? What words are you less confident about?

Endangered:

any type of plant or animal that is in danger of disappearing forever

When talking about animals who's population is very small, they are called endangered species. Each of the animals on this website is known as an endangered species

Species:

a group of closely related organisms that are very similar to each other

Species is a scientific word used to refer to specific animals. Since there are so many different kinds of an a animal, each one is given its own name. For example, there are a lot of different kinds of dogs - Poodle, German Shepherd, Husky... and so on. Each one of those is it's own species.

Habitat:

a habitat is the home of an animal or a plant

Every animal has a habitat, a certain place where they can live without human support. A habitat is the specific conditions in which an animal lives. Some animals live in warmer habitats, some prefer colder habitats, some can only survive in an underwater habitat. A habitat is also home to all the plants and animals that the animal needs to survive.

Public Service Announcement:

Also known as a PSA

A public service announcement (PSA), or public service ad, is a message in the on television, the internet, radio, newspapers, and posters. The purpose of a PSA is to raise awareness and change public attitudes or behavior towards a social issue, political issue or environmental issue.

Persuasive Text:

A form of writing that is intended to change the opinion of the reader

Decline:

it is decreasing

Population:

the number of people or animals living in a certain place

Threat:

wildlife are under threat from many different kinds of human activities

Extinct:

when there are so few of a species left that scientists fear they might disappear