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Below is a list of special words used in this Library Resource Guide. The glossary tells you what the words mean in this context. They may have other meanings too, but these are the meanings for this purpose.
The difference between a glossary and a dictionary is that a dictionary aims to tell you all the meanings of all the words in English. A glossary only tells the meaning of important words in one context. A glossary is a good place to look for keywords when thinking about an information search.
Do you need to know the meaning of a word that is not here? Try using this widget from Cambridge Dictionary:
biome
a community of plants and vegetation in an area of land. eg tropical rainforest, grassland, temperate forest
climate
the usual types of weather in a place over a long time
compare
find ways in which two or more things are similar and different
ecosystem
the community living things in an area together with their environment
environment
the air, water, minerals, living and non-living things in and affecting a place at any one time
feature
a part of something that is a important to describing it
First Nations
the people who first lived in Australia. Also known as indigenous or Aboriginal, there are hundreds of groups, each with their own distinct languages, histories and cultures that make up the First Nations of Australia
humidity
how much water is in the air. Places that have a lot of rainfall tend to have more humid air.
image
a picture that tells you information
inquiry/inquirer
a process of looking for information/ a person who is looking for information
keyword
an important or memorable word that often appears when reading about a topic
landform
a feature on the surface of the Earth. eg mountain, river, lake, plateau, plain, valley, beach
legend
a code on the side of a map that explains symbols used on the map
map
a 2D picture of a place drawn to scale. Often maps include labels and symbols to give information about the place.
native
originally coming from a place. eg. Koalas are native to Australia. Even though they may live in other places, they originally come from Australia.
natural
made by nature, not made by people
physical
things you can see and touch
place
a certain area or location
precipitation
forms of water that fall to the Earth eg rain, snow, hail
search engine
a program that searches the internet for sites that have specified keywords
soil
the top layer of the Earth's surface, made up of broken down rock and organic material
source
a place to get information. eg. book, website, photograph, document
temperature
how hot or cold something is
vegetation
the plants and fungi living in an area
zone
a continuous area that is all the same in some way, or is used for a specific purpose
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