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Words beginning with A.

abiotic factors : non living things that affect the environment e.g. temperature, light, pH

abundant : plentiful, lots of.

algae : simple plants with no roots, leaves or flowers. Many types are made of just one cell. Some form the dark green "slime" on wet stones near the water's edge. Others float in the water and turn it greenish. (Singular : alga)

ammonia : a chemical made up of nitrogen and hydrogen. It is a colourless gas with a sharp smell that irritates eyes and nose.

angler : a person who fishes with a rod and line

Words beginning with B.

bacteria : tiny living cells which can cause disease or decay (rotting). Some kinds feed on sewage and are essential in sewage treatment. (Singular : bacterium)

biotic factors : effects on the environment caused by living things e.g. predation, competition between animals

bank : the sides of a river or canal

brackish : water that is slightly salty

barge : a large unpowered boat used to carry cargo, e.g. wood or grain, on canals. (See also narrowboat.)

barge man : man who works on a barge

biodiversity : all the different types of living things and their habitats in an ecosystem.

Words beginning with C.

canal : a waterway built by people for transporting goods between places

carnivore : an animal that eats other animals

catchment : the area of land from which a river "catches" its rain. Also called a drainage basin.

chloride : chlorine (which is normally a gas), when it is dissolved in water

classification : a way of grouping things together by their similarities

consumer : an animal that eats plants or other animals

cuts : the name given to canals as they were dug by cutting through the land

Words beginning with D.

deposition : when the river does not have enough energy to carry all the materials e.g. rocks and soil along with it and they fall onto the river bed

Domesday Book : a record of "Doomsday", the count of people and land in 1086 by William the Conqueror, the first ever in England.

drainage basin : the area of land from which water "drains" into a river. More often called a catchment.

Words beginning with E.

ecosystem : a community of plants and animals in a certain area as well as the soil, climate and other non-living materials

ecology : the study of plants and animals in their natural environment

ecological : something which is connected to ecology

effluent : sewage or liquid waste from a factory or other industry

environment : the surroundings in which organisms live

eutrophication : rapid growth of algae and other plants in a water habitat during spring caused by chemicals (e.g. fertilisers) getting into the water. When the plants die, bacteria cause the plants to rot, using up much of the oxygen and killing other wildlife.

Words beginning with F.

flood plain : wide flat land on the lower course (part) of the river which is made flat by continuous flooding of the river

flood relief channel : In the past, it was perfectly normal for the flood plain to flood, especially in winter. Nowadays, this may cause inconvenience and damage, so a flood relief channel may be built to carry away water in periods of heavy rain.

food chain : a chain in which plants are eaten by animals which are in turn eaten by other animals and so on. Energy from each organism passes to the next in the chain.

food web : several food chains linked together showing how different organisms eat and are eaten by others

Words beginning with G.

groundwater : water under the ground. It can be pumped out from boreholes and used by people.

Words beginning with H.

herbivor : an animal that only eats plants

heronry : a place where a group of herons make their nests

Words beginning with I:

interpreting : explaining something so that it can be understood

introduced species : a species brought to this country by people and released, or escaped, to the wild. They might have been brought to this country deliberately (e.g. to use as a garden plant) or accidentally (e.g. as seeds, among ships' cargoes)

invasive : A plant or animal is invasive if it spreads rapidly across a habitat, and results in other living things being "squeezed out".

invertebrates : small animals that have no backbone but are covered with an external skeleton (exoskeleton)

indicator : something that points out or shows information

Words beginning with J.

Words beginning with K.

Words beginning with L.

Lammas land : river-side meadow-land which was shared among the villagers by dividing it into long, thin plots, and managed to produce a hay crop

larva : in animals where the young undergo major changes when they become adults (e.g. caterpillars and tadpoles), the larva is the young stage.

left bank : For someone in the middle of a river facing downstream, the left bank is on their left.

lock : part of a canal that allows boats to travel up and down hill

lock gates : gates either side of a stretch of water forming a lock. The gates keep water inside the lock and allow boats to enter

Words beginning with M.

meander : a U-shaped bend in a river caused by erosion of the river bank on one side and deposition of material e.g. silt on the other

microbes : bacteria and protozoa

migrant : a bird or other animal that regularly moves from one place to another, often a long way away (e.g. migrant birds which fly to Africa each autumn)

mini-beasts : small creatures with no backbone (invertebrates)

moored : when a boat is tied up to the side of a river or canal

moult : regular loss of old fur or feathers and replacement with new (e.g. ducks which moult in late summer)

mouth : the name given to the end of a river where it flows into another river, or the sea

Words beginning with N.

narrowboat : a type of boat designed to carry cargoes on canals. They are usually just over two metres wide (so they fit into locks) and around 15 to 20 metres long. See also barge.

navigable : waterway that can be used for boats

navigation : a stretch of water that is built and looked after so that boats are able to travel on it

nitrates : compounds containing oxygen and nitrogen combined with a metal. Some bacteria that
live in the soil make nitrates using the nitrogen from the air. Nitrates are good for plant growth

nutrient : a substance that an organism needs to enable it to grow

Words beginning with O.

organisms : every living thing, plant or animal

Words beginning with P.

pesticide : chemicals for killing pests of crops (mainly minibeasts that eat leaves or roots). In the 1960s, people realised that they were also killing other wildlife, especially top predators such as Grey Heron and Otter. The worst ones are now banned.

pH : a measure of the amount of acidity or alkalinity of a solution

phosphates : compounds of the chemical phosphorous. They occur naturally, but are also used in artificial fertilisers to provide food for plants

piling : a wall made of interlocking steel sheets, made by forcing it into the ground with a pile-driver.

plumage : the whole set of feathers on a bird

pollution : substance in water, air or land in amounts that are harmful to wildlife or humans

predator : an animal that feeds on another, which is called its prey. A top predator is at the top of its food chain : it eats other things, but nothing eats it.

protozoa : tiny living cells (but bigger than bacteria), such as Amoeba. They eat bacteria and are very important in treating sewage. (Singular : protozoan)

producer : an organism that makes its own food and provides energy for the next animal in the food chain

Words beginning with Q.

Words beginning with R.

reedbed : an area of reeds

reservoir : a large waterbody where water is kept ready for human use

right bank : For someone in the middle of a river facing downstream, the right bank is on their right.

runoff : water, chemicals or other liquids which are washed into the river from the land by heavy rain

Words beginning with S.

salinity : the amount of salt in a liquid

sewage : the flushings from toilets, plus industrial waste, that goes into the sewers.

sewerage : the network of sewers

shilling : an old British coin that was worth 12 pence

Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) : an area with exceptional value for wildlife (or sometimes, geology). It is been given the status of SSSI by English Nature (the Government's wildlife agency). This gives the site some protection in law.

sluice gate : the gate under a tidal mill which controls the amount of water let out to turn the waterwheels

source : the name given to the beginning of a river

species : a group of organisms which look similar or behave in a similar way

Words beginning with T.

territorial : describes animals which defend their own "patch" of land, or water (e.g. coots) or airspace (e.g. dragonflies) against others of the same species.

tidal : rivers in which the level of the water rises and falls twice a day, like the sea

top predator : see predator.

towpaths : paths built beside canals for people and horses to walk on. Horses were used to pull the barges along the navigation

tributary : a small river or stream that flows into a bigger river

Words beginning with U.

Words beginning with V.

a variable : something which changes (e.g. temperature)

Words beginning with W.

wader : one of a large group of "wading birds". They usually have long legs (for walking in shallow water) and long bills (to probe soft ground, such as estuary mud) for food.

warbler : one of a group of birds, robin-sized or a bit smaller. In Britain, most of them migrate here from Africa in spring and return in autumn.

watercourse : stream, river, ditch, canal or flood relief channel

weir : a structure to control the level of water in a river or canal

Words beginning with X.

Words beginning with Y.

Words beginning with Z.