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Glossary of Terms (as used in the lessons) S is for . . . |
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| sand | Loose, granular, gritty particles of worn or disintegrated rock that is finer than gravel and coarser than dust. |
| sanitary | Characterized by cleanliness. |
| saturated fat | Fat containing the maximum number of hydrogen atoms, usually solid at room temperature and predominant in animal fats. |
| sausage | Finely chopped and seasoned meat, usually pork, stuffed into prepared animal intestines or other casing and cooked or cured. |
| save | To keep something (money) instead of spending, wasting or losing it. |
| scarecrow | A crude figure of a person set up in a field to scare birds away from growing crops. |
| scythe | An implement consisting of a long, curved, single-edged blade, with a long, bent handle, used for mowing and or reaping. |
| season | One of the four natural divisions of the year, spring, summer, fall, and winter, in the North and South Temperate zones. Each season, beginning astronomically at an equinox or solstice, is characterized by specific meteorological or climatic conditions. |
| seasonal workers | The labor required at a particular season, as at fruit picking, grain harvesting, sheep shearing, etc. |
| security | Something that is deposited or pledged to assure debt repayment. |
| sedimentation | The buildup of sediment at the bottom of a stream or river. |
| seed | A fertilized and ripened plant ovule containing an embryo capable of germinating to produce a new plant. |
| seed coat | The outer protective covering of a seed. |
| seedling | A young plant that has grown from a seed. |
| seine | To catch fish with a large fishing net made to hang vertically in the water by weights at the lower edge and floats at the top. |
| selective breeding | Selecting certain individual animals to be the parents of the next generation, based on desired characteristics. |
| self-service grocery store | Grocery stores, first opened in 1916, in which customers were required to walk through and gather their own pre-packaged groceries instead of having a clerk measure them out. |
| sell | To trade something for money. |
| service | Performance of labor for the benefit of another. |
| Shakers | A Christian group originating in England in 1747, practicing communal living and observing celibacy. |
| shear | To remove fleece or hair by cutting or clipping. |
| shinnery oak | A type of dwarf oak which grows in dense thickets and has the appearance of a shrub. |
| shock | A number of sheaves of grain stacked upright for drying. |
| shovel | A tool with a handle and somewhat flattened scoop for picking up dirt and other material. |
| sickle | An implement having a semicircular blade attached to a short handle, used for cutting grain or tall grass. |
| silage | A crop that has been preserved in a moist succulent condition in a silo. |
| silk | Soft, fine, shiny fiber made from fibers produced by the silkworm. |
| silo | Vertical cylindrical air-tight structure for storing green crops such as corn, grass, and legumes or for storing grains for later use as livestock feed. |
| silt | A sedimentary material consisting of fine mineral particles intermediate in size between sand and clay. |
| sine cera | Without wax. |
| sire |
The male parent of an animal. |
| slaughterhouse | A place where animals are butchered. |
| Smith-Lever Act | Law passed by Congress in 1914 which gave land-grant colleges the money to establish an agricultural extension program in every state. |
| snack | Food eaten between meals. |
| snort | A rough noisy sound made by breathing forcefully through the nostrils, as a horse or pig does. |
| snout | The projecting nose, jaws, or anterior facial part of an animal's head. |
| snow | Frozen precipitation in the form of white or translucent hexagonal ice crystals that fall in soft, white flakes. |
| sod | A section of grass-covered surface soil held together by matted roots; turf. |
| sod house | A house often found on the American prairies during the settlement of the West, made of bricks cut from sod. |
| sodium | A mineral found in table salt which helps regulate water balance in the body and plays a role in maintaining blood pressure. |
| sodium chloride | A colorless crystalline compound used as a food preservative and seasoning. |
| soil | The top layer of the earth's surface. |
| soil erosion | Removal of soil material from a land surface by wind or water. |
| Soil Erosion Service | Emergency agency of the US government created in 1933. Became Soil Conservation Service in 1935 and the Natural Resources Conservation Service in 1993. |
| soluble | Capable of being dissolved. |
| sorghum | An Old World grass, several varieties of which are widely cultivated as grain and forage or as a source of syrup. |
| sow | A mature female swine. |
| soybeans | A leguminous Asiatic plant, widely cultivated for forage and soil improvement and for its nutritious edible seeds. |
| spade | A digging implement adapted for being pushed into the ground with the foot. |
| specialty store | A store that carries only certain goods. For example, a butcher shop carries meats; an Asian food market carries foods used in Asia cuisine, and a health food store carries whole foods, vitamins, herbs and other foods not found in most supermarkets. |
| species | A class of individuals or objects grouped by virtue of their common attributes and assigned a common name. |
| spend | To use up or pay something. |
| spinneret | A plate pierced with holes through which plastic material is pushed to produce synthetic fibers. |
| spinning | Process of twisting and pulling wool or other materials into yarn. |
| spinning wheel | A wheel used for spinning materials into yarn. |
| sporangium | A single-celled or many-celled structure in which spores are produced, as in fungi, algae, mosses, and ferns. Also called spore case. |
| sprout | Young plant growth, such as a bud or shoot. |
| spore | A small, usually single-celled reproductive body that is highly resistant to desiccation and heat and is capable of growing into a new organism, produced especially by certain bacteria, fungi, algae, and nonflowering plants. |
| square | The flower bud of a mature cotton plant. |
| squat | To occupy a given piece of public land in order to acquire title to it. |
| squeal | To utter a high pitched sound; shrill cry. |
| stampede | A sudden headlong rush of startled animals. |
| standard food | A food that is made from ingredients that do not vary, such as jelly, jam and ketchup. |
| starches | A naturally abundant nutrient carbohydrate, found chiefly in the seeds, fruits, tubers, roots, and stem pith of plants, notable in corn, potatoes, wheat, and rice. |
| steak | A slice of meat cut across the muscle grain and usually broiled, grilled or fried. |
| steer | A young bovine animal castrated before sexual maturity and raised for beef. |
| still-born | Born lifeless; dead at birth. |
| stomata | A breathing pore in the epidermis of a plant. |
| stockyard | A large enclosed yard, usually with pens or stables, in which livestock, such as cattle or pigs, are temporarily kept until slaughtered, sold, or shipped elsewhere. |
| stockers | Cattle weighing from 400-600 pounds using available forage to gain weight. |
| subsoil | The layer or bed of earth beneath the surface soil. |
| sucrose | A crystalline carbohydrate found in many plants, mainly sugarcane and sugar beets, and used widely as a sweetener, preservative and in the manufacture of plastics and cellulose. |
| sugar | A sweet crystalline or powdered substance, white when pure, consisting of sucrose obtained mainly from sugar cane and sugar beets and used in many foods, drinks, and medicines to improve their taste. |
| sugar cane | A tall tropical southeast Asian grass having thick, solid, tough stems that are a chief commercial source of sugar. |
| sunflower | Any of several plants having tall, coarse stems and large yellow-rayed flowers that produce edible seeds rich in oil. |
| supermarket | A large self-service food store, usually selling more than $2 million worth of products a year from at least 20,000 square feet of floor area. |
| surplus | An amount or a quantity in excess of what is needed. |
| sustain | To keep something going. |
| swarm | A group of bees surrounding a queen bee in migration to establish a new colony. |
| swine | Any of the family of mammals having short legs, cloven hooves, bristly hair and a hard snout used for digging. |
| synthetic | Produced by the combining of separate elements or substances, especially not of natural origin. |
| synthetic fibers | Fibers made from chemical rather than natural sources. |
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