Acid rain - another term for polluted rain; a type of air pollution from burning coal or oil in electrical power plants
ADEQ - the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
Aquifer - an underground bed of earth, gravel or stone that contains water
Asthma - a condition that makes it difficult to breathe with wheezing, coughing, and a feeling of tightness in the chest
Atmosphere - layers of air that surround the Earth
Climate Change - changes to the Earth's climate that are caused by nature or human activities
Composting - natures way of recycling food scraps and yard trimmings
Conserve/conservation - to use wisely, in other words avoiding waste
Diesel - fuel used in cars, trucks and buses, including school buses
Dumping - in terms of the environment, it is the act of disposing of hazardous materials or bulk items like furniture in an illegal and unsafe manner
Drinking water - water that you drink
Environment - our indoor and outdoor surroundings, for example, the air, water, plants, animals and the Earth
EPA - Environmental Protection Agency
Evaporation - process in which liquid transforms into a gas form, for example when liquid water becomes steam/vapor
Exhaust - the release of fumes from a vehicle's engine
Fuel - material used in making power for your car or heat for your home
Garbage - another word for trash
Global Warming - a term used to describe a gradual warming of the Earth's surface or atmospheric temperatures that are a result of human activities
Hazardous waste - materials that are dangerous and if not disposed of and handled properly can be harmful
Integrated pest management - a way to control/prevent bugs, rats, mice, and other unwanted "pests" from entering your home without the use of harmful pesticides
Landfill - a place where trash or garbage is buried underground
Monitors - Instruments that record information on air or water pollution
Natural resource - materials made by nature that are necessary for life
Ozone - 1. a layer of the Earth's atmosphere that block's the harmful rays of the sun
2. another form of oxygen
Particulate matter - small particles that pollute the air, some can be seen, such as dust but others are too small to be seen
Pesticides - any material used to kill rats, mice, bugs, scorpions, or other unwanted "pests"
Pollution - contamination of the natural environment, usually as a result of human activities
Precipitation - water that falls as rain, snow, hail or sleet
Recycle - process to turn materials/items that would be waste or thrown away into new products
Reduce - cut back what you use
Reuse - using something again instead of throwing it away
Toxic - what something is called that can harm people or the environment if not disposed of properly
Trash - unused items you throw away
Vapor - the gas state of a liquid, for example steam from boiling water
Vehicle emissions - another term for exhaust
Waste - food, scraps, soiled paper and other things you throw away
Wastewater - all used water from homes, communities, farms & businesses that carries bacteria
Water Cycle - journey water takes as it recirculates from the Earth to the sky
Watershed - the area of land where all of the water under it drains to a common waterway such as a stream, lake, river or ocean