3-D: Short for three-dimensional. This term is an adjective for something that has features that can be described in three dimensions — height, width and length.
algorithm: A group of rules or procedures for solving a problem in a series of steps. Algorithms are used in mathematics and in computer programs for figuring out solutions.
archipelago: A group of islands, many times forming in an arc across a broad expanse of the oceans. Examples include the Hawaiian islands, the Aleutian islands and the more than 300 islands in the Republic of Fiji.
broadcast: To cast — or send out — something over a relatively large distance. A loudspeaker may send sounds out over a great distance. An electronic transmitter may emit electromagnetic signals over the air to a distant radio, television or other receiving device. And a newscaster can broadcast details of events to listeners across a large area, even the world.
computer science: The scientific study of the principles and use of computers. Scientists who work in this field are known as computer scientists.
coral: Marine animals that often produce a hard and stony exoskeleton and tend to live on reefs (the exoskeletons of dead ancestor corals).
engineering: The field of research that uses math and science to solve practical problems. Someone who works in this field is known as an engineer.
environment: The sum of all of the things that exist around some organism or the process and the condition those things create. Environment may refer to the weather and ecosystem in which some animal lives, or, perhaps, the temperature and humidity (or even the placement of things in the vicinity of an item of interest).
habitat: The area or natural environment in which an animal or plant normally lives, such as a desert, coral reef or freshwater lake. A habitat can be home to thousands of different species.
hexagon: A geometric shape that has six equal sides. It takes its name from the Greek word for six.
internet: An electronic communications network. It allows computers anywhere in the world to link into other networks to find information, download files and share data (including pictures).
larvae: Immature insects that have a distinctly different form (body shape) than when they are adults. For instance, caterpillars are larval butterflies and maggots are larval flies. (Sometimes this term also is used to describe such a stage in the development of fish, frogs and other animals.)
link: A connection between two people or things.
Mariana trench: A deep, crescent-shaped canyon running along the Pacific Ocean floor east of the Philippines. It’s massive, some 2,550 kilometers (1,500 miles) long and 70 kilometers (43 miles) wide, on average. The trench marks where two of Earth’s tectonic plates are colliding, forcing one to dive beneath the other.
middle school: A designation for grades six through eight in the U.S. educational system. It comes immediately prior to high school. Some school systems break their age groups slightly different, including sixth grade as part of elementary school and then referring to grades seven and eight as “junior” high school.
monitor: To test, sample or watch something, especially on a regular or ongoing basis.
motor: A device that converts electricity into mechanical motion. (in biology) A term referring to movement.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: (or NOAA) A science agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Initially established in 1807 under another name (The Survey of the Coast), this agency focuses on understanding and preserving ocean resources, including fisheries, protecting marine mammals (from seals to whales), studying the seafloor and probing the upper atmosphere.
programming: (in computing) To use a computer language to write or revise a set of instructions that makes a computer do something. The set of instructions that does this is known as a computer program. The term is also used, in an analogy to computer programming, to describe the way something — such as cells — have been designed to function. A person who writes or revises software is a known as a programmer.
recall: To remember.
reef: A ridge of rock, coral or sand. It rises up from the seafloor and may come to just above or just under the water’s surface.
Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair: (Regeneron ISEF) Initially launched in 1950, this competition is one of three created (and still run) by the Society for Science. Each year now, approximately 2,000 high school students from up to 70 countries, regions, and territories are awarded the opportunity to showcase their independent research at Regeneron ISEF and to compete for an average of $9 million in prizes.
robot: A machine that can sense its environment, process information and respond with specific actions. Some robots can act without any human input, while others are guided by a human.
simulation: (v. simulate) An analysis, often made using a computer, of some conditions, functions or appearance of a physical system. A computer program would do this by using mathematical operations that can describe the system and how it might change over time or in response to different anticipated situations.
solar energy: The energy in sunlight that can be captured as heat or converted into heat or electrical energy. Some people refer to wind power as a form of solar energy. The reason: Winds are driven by the variations in temperatures and the density of the air, both of which are affected by the solar heating of the air, ground and surface waters.
system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body’s circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation’s railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.
technology: The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry — or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.
tether: A tie or cord that loosely anchors some object to a semi-fixed position. Or the process of tying some object to a cord that will keep it loosely affixed to that position. (Consider the child’s game tether ball, whereby a cord it attached to a ball on one end and an anchoring pole on the other end.)
transplant: (in medicine) The replacement of organs, tissues or cells with those from another organism. It is also a term for the material that will be moved.
turbulent: (n. turbulence) An adjective for the unpredictable fluctuation of a fluid (including air) in which its velocity varies irregularly instead of maintaining a steady or calm flow.
typhoon: A tropical cyclone that occurs in the Pacific or Indian oceans and has winds of 119 kilometers (74 miles) per hour or greater. In the Atlantic Ocean, such storm are referred to as hurricanes.
wave: A disturbance or variation that travels through space and matter in a regular, oscillating fashion.