Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom

Glossary of Terms (as used in the lessons)

P is for . . .
packing plant Place where animals are killed and made ready for the supermarket.
parasitic An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.
parlor A room in a private home set apart for the entertainment of visitors.
parsley A cultivated herb, having much-divided, curled leaves that are used as a garnish and for seasoning.
particles A very small piece or part; speck.
pasteurize The process used to destroy harmful organisms in milk.
pasture A field of grass where animals live and eat.
patent A grant made by a government that confers upon the creator of an invention the sole right to make, use, and sell that invention for a set period of time.
pea A climbing annual vine, cultivated in all temperate zones, and having compound leaves, small white flowers and edible seeds in a green, elongated pod.
peanut A vine native to tropical America and widely cultivated in semitropical regions, having yellow flowers on stalks that bend over so the seed pods can ripen underground. Cultivated for its edible seeds.
peat Partially carbonized vegetable matter, usually mosses, found in bogs and used as fertilizer and fuel.
pecan A tree of the southern United States, having deeply furrowed bark and edible nuts.
peduncle The stalk of a flower cluster, or the flowering part of a solitary flower.
peg The flower stalk of a peanut plant on which peanuts are formed. Although the flower grows above ground, the peg is pulled underground by gravity.
pen A fenced enclosure for animals.
perimeter The outer limits of an area.
pest An injurious plant or animal; one that is harmful.
pesticides A substance used to control insect, plant, or animal pests.
pestle A club-shaped hand tool for grinding or mashing substances in a mortar.
petal One of the often brightly colored parts of a flower immediately surrounding the reproductive organs; a division of the corolla.
petrochemicals Chemicals made from petroleum products.
pheromone A chemical secreted by an animal, especially an insect, that influences the behavior or development of others of the same species.
phosphorus A chemical element found in mineral forms in meats, poultry, fish, cheese, egg yolks, dried peas and beans, milk and milk products, soft drinks, nuts and almost all foods which helps strengthen teeth and aids in bone growth and energy metabolism.
photosynthesis Formation of nutrients in the chlorophyll-containing tissues of plants exposed to light.
phyla A division of the animal kingdom or, less commonly, the plant kingdom, next above a class in size.
piece work Work done by the piece and paid for at a standard rate per unit.
pig A small swine, weighing less than 250 pounds.
pigweed A native grass found in Oklahoma.
pita bread A round flat bread of Middle Eastern origin that can be opened to form a pocket for filling. Also called "pocket bread."
pith The soft spongelike substance in the center of the stems and branches of most vascular plants.
pinon Any of several pine trees bearing edible, nutlike seeds.
plains An extensive area of land that is flat or nearly flat.
plant breeder Someone who develops new or improved strains in plants, chiefly through controlled mating and selection of offspring for desirable traits.
plight A bad situation or condition.
plow A farm implement consisting of a heavy blade at the end of a beam, usually hitched to a draft team or motor vehicle and used for breaking up soil and cutting furrows in preparation for sowing seeds.
Plymouth Rock A breed of chicken used commercially or for show purposes.
plywood A sheet of wood, commonly 4 by 8 feet, made by gluing an odd number of thin layers of wood in such a way that the wood grains of each layer are at right angles to the layer next to it to increase the strength of the sheet.
point A dimensionless geometric object having no properties except location.
poll To cut off or to cut short the horns of an animal.
pollen The fine powderlike material produced by the anthers of flowering plants or flower in the process of fertilization.
pollinated To convey or transfer pollen from an anther to a stigma of a plant or flower in the process of fertilization.
polluting Contaminating water, soil or air to the extent that it is no longer useful or is offensive to the senses.
polyunsaturated fat Fat having four or more hydrogen atoms short of saturation, usually liquid at room temperature and common in vegetable oils.
pork The flesh of a pig or hog used as food.
potassium A soft, silver-white, highly or explosively reactive metallic element that occurs in nature only in compounds. It is obtained by electrolysis of its common hydroxide and found in, or converted to, a wide variety of salts used especially in fertilizers and soaps.
poultry Domestic fowl, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks or geese, raised for meat or eggs.
positive The photographic image in which the lights and darks appear as they do in nature.
prairie An extensive area of flat or rolling grassland, especially the plains of North Central America.
precipitation Water droplets or ice particles, such as rain or snow, which are condensed form atmospheric water vapor and fall to the earth's surface.
predators Animals that live by preying on others.
predict To state, tell about, or make known in advance; to do so on the basis of special knowledge.
prefabricated Constructed in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled.
prevailing winds The direction from which winds blow most frequently in a given area.
Priapus An ancient Greek god whose face was so ugly Greek farmers carved wooden likenesses of him to frightened birds away from their wheat fields and grape vines.
price The amount of money paid for something.
private Not available for public use, control, or participation.
proboscis Elongated snout of an insect used for food intake.
process A series of operations performed in the making or treatment of a product.
processing plant A place where a specific type of food is prepared and converted by special treatment into an end product.
producer Someone who creates something by mental or physical effort.
product Something produced by human or mechanical effort or by a natural process.
production The act or process of producing
production agriculture The segment of the agriculture industry which produces livestock or crops for food and fiber.
propagate To cause (an organism) to multiply or breed.
protein Any of a group of complex organic macromolecules that contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and usually sulfur and are composed of one or more chains of amino acids. Proteins are fundamental components of all living cells and include many substances, such as enzymes, hormones, and antibodies, that are necessary for the proper functioning of an organism. They are essential in the diet of animals for the growth and repair of tissue and can be obtained from foods such as meat, fish, eggs, milk, and legumes.
public domain Land owned by the US government that is not reserved for a specific purpose.
Pueblo tribes Any of some 25 Native American peoples, including the Hopi, Zuni, and Taos, living in established villages in northern and western New Mexico and northeast Arizona. The Pueblo are descendants of the cliff-dwelling Anasazi peoples and are noted for their skilled craft in pottery, basketry, weaving, and metalworking.
pullet An immature female chicken.
pulp A product obtained from digesting wood in a slightly alkaline or neutral sodium sulfite cooking liquor.
pumpkin The large, pulpy round fruit of a vine, having a thick, orange-yellow rind and numerous seeds.
purebred animals Offspring of animals from the same breed.
pyramid A solid figure with a polygonal base and triangular faces that meet at a common point.

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