Click here to go back to the Junior Snow Ranger home page  
     

               GLOSSARY: Junior Snow Ranger Booklet and Website

Adaptations:
 Special features that help animals and plants survive harsh conditions. For example, fish have gills that help them adapt to living underwater. Animals that live in cold places have special features that help them survive during winter.
Antifreeze:
 Something that helps prevent freezing. Some plants and animals use natural antifreezes during the winter.
Artifacts:
 Evidence that ancient people (before written history) used to live in a location. Examples of artifacts include: rock art, arrowheads, pottery, and burial mounds.
Avalanche:
 When a large amount of snow or ice suddenly slides or falls downhill. A loose avalanche starts in a small area and grows as it goes down a mountain as a snow mass. A slab avalanche starts when a large piece of snow begins to slide all at once - like a magazine sliding off a table
Camouflage:
 Hiding by blending into the surroundings. Animals that are hard to see because their color is similar to the color of things around them are camouflaged. Camouflage can be an advantage for both a predator and a prey.
Condensation:
 The condensation of water is when water changes from a water vapor; the gaseous form of water, to a water droplet, the liquid form of water.
Depth:
 How deep something is. The depth of the ocean …
Dormant:
 Something alive which is not active during a season to save energy. Some plants in the winter go dormant in the winter and wait until spring for their leaves to come out.
Ecosystem:
 All plants and animals in an area plus the non-living things they need to survive, such as water and minerals. Forests, deserts, and prairies are all different types of ecosystems.
Environment:
 The total of all the surrounding natural conditions that affect living organisms on earth, including air, water, soil, minerals, climate, and the organisms themselves.
Evaporation:
 When the sun or heat source causes the water to a change from the liquid state to a gaseous state called water vapor.
Frostbite:
 What happens when parts of your body get so cold they can freeze. If your fingers get frostbite they will usually change color and feel numb. Serious frostbite can do permanent damage to your body.
Groundwater:
 Water that is stored underground. It is the source of water found in wells and is an important part of the earth's water cycle.
Habitat:
 The place where an organism normally lives.
Hardness:
 How hard something is.
Hazard:
 A dangerous situation or object.
Hibernation:
 A sleeplike state that some animals go into during the winter to save energy.
Humidity:
 A measure of the amount of water in the air. High humidity means there is a lot of water in the air while low humidity means there is very little water in the air.
Hypothermia:
 The condition when you are losing heat from your body faster that your body can produce it. If your body gets too cold important parts like your heart might not work properly.
Insulation:
 A material that prevents movement of heat or cold. In winter, the snow acts like a insulating blanket and can protect animals under the snow.
Mammal:
 Warm blooded animals that have fur, and babies are born live and feed from milk glands.
Migration:
 The movement of a group of animals from one place to another. Animals that do not have adaptations to survive the cold of winter may migrate to warmer places during winter and return again in the spring when it gets warm. (example: some birds and butterflies)
Naturalist:
 A person that studies nature: the physical world and living things.
Organism:
 A living thing, such as an animal, plant, bacteria or fungus.
Precipitation:
 In the earth's water cycle, precipitation is when water droplets group together and fall from a cloud in the form of rain, hail, sleet or snow.
Predator:
 An animal that hunts and kills another animals for food.
Prey:
 An animal that is hunted by and killed by another animal for food.
Range:
 Large areas of open land that are grazed by livestock (usually cows, sheep and horses)
Recreationist:
 A person who is doing something fun.
Responsible:
 Being able to tell right from wrong and acting on this.
Runoff:
 When it rains, the water that moves across the land instead of soaking into the ground is called runoff. It can carry soil and chemicals as it moves.
Snow crystal:
 A snow crystal is water in a frozen crystalline form. Snow crystals are six-sided hexagons.
Snowflake:
 A snowflake is a group of ice crystals that stick together.
Snow pack:
 The layer of snow on the ground.
Snow Ranger:
 A snow ranger is a woman or man that promotes safety in the mountains where people like to have fun skiing, hiking, climbing, and snowboarding. Snow Rangers help people protect themselves and the land from harm.
Snow Ski Patrol:
 The women and men who work to make sure the ski areas follow all the rules and laws that are meant to protect people. They also assist the Snow Rangers in search and rescue when needed.
Strategy:
 A plan or action. An animals may have a strategy, or plan, to escape a predator, or a strategy to survive the cold and snow of winter.
Terrain:
 Another word for land to describe its characteristics.
Toboggan:
 A long, narrow wooden sled without runners used by American Indians to help them carry things such as supplies and hunting gear over the snow.
Track (animal):
 A footprint left in the snow or mud by an animal.
Undercoat:
 An extra layer of fur that animals, such as wolves an coyotes, grow during winter to help keep them warm.
Watershed:
 An area of land where all the rain/sleet/snow that falls on it drains downhill to a larger body of water like a stream, lake, or ocean.
Water vapor:
 Water in a gaseous form.
Wildlife:
 All the naturally occurring plants and animals in an area.
Wind-chill factor:
 The effect of wind on how cold it feels. Wind-chill factor increases with the speed of the wind. A windy winter day will feel colder than a calm winter day even if the temperature is the same.