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Chapter 2 Vocabulary
1.Weather | The condition of the bottom layer of the earths atmosphere in one place over a short period of time. |
2.Climate | The term used for the weather patterns that an area typically experiences over a long period of time. |
3.Rotation | The spinning motion of the earth, like a top on its axis, as it travel through space. |
4.Revolution | One complete oebit of the earrth around the sun. The earth completes one revolution every 365 1/4 days or one year. |
5.Solstice | Either of the two times a year when the sun appears directly overhead at the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. |
6.Equinox | Either of the two times each year (spring and fall) when day and night are of nearly equal length everywhere on earth. |
7.Precipitation | All the forms of water that fall to earth from the atmosphere, including rain and snow. |
8.Front | The boundary between two masses of air that differ in density or temperature. |
9.Continental Climate | The type of climate found in the great central areas of continents in the Northern Hemisphere; characterized by cold, snowy winters and warm or hot summers. |
Ecosystem | The interaction of plant life, animal life, and the physical environment in which they live. |
Biome | The term used to describe a major type of ecosystem that can be found in various regions throughout the world. |
Deciduous | Leaf-shedding; a type of tree that sheds its leaves during one season. |
coniferous | Cone-bearing; a type of tree able to survive long, cold winters, with long, thin needles rather than leaves. |
chaparral | A type of natural vegetation that is adapted to Mediterranean climates; small evergreen trees and low bushes, or scrub. |
Savanna | A tropical grassland with scattered trees, located in the warm lands near the equator. |
Herbivore | A plant eating animal. |
Carnivore | A meat eating animal. |
Prairie | A temperate grassland characterized by a great variety of grasses. |
Tundra | A dry, treeless plain where temperatures are always cool or cold and only specialized plants can grow. |
Permafrost | A layer of soil just below the earths surface that stays permanently frozen. |