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vocabulary2
vocabulary ch. 2
Term | Definition |
---|---|
1.Weather | The condition of the bottom layers of the earths atmosphere in one place over a short period of time. |
2.Climate | The term used for the weather pattern 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 travels through space |
4.Revolution | One complete orbit of the earth around the sun, The earth completes one revolution every 365 1/2 days, or one year |
5.Solstices | either of the two times a year when the sun appears directly overhead of the tropics of cancer and capricorn |
6.Equinoxes | Either of the two times each year (spring and fall) when day and night are nearly epual length everywhere on earth |
7.Precipitation | All the forms of water that fall to earth from the atmosphere, including rain and snow |
8.Continental Climates | 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 |
9.Fronts | The boundary between two masses of air that differ in density or temperature. |
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 survibe long, cold winter, with long, thin needles rather then leaves. |
Chaparrel | A type of natural vegetation that is adapted to Mediterranean climates; small evergreen trees and low bushes, or scrub |
Savannas | A topical grassland with scattered trees, located in the warm lands near the equator |
Herbivores | A plant-eating animal |
Carnivores | A meat-eating animal |
Prairies | A temperate grassland characterized by a great variety of grasses. |
Permafrost | A layer of soil just below the earths surface that stays permanently frozen |
Tundra | A dry, treeless plain where temperatures are always cool or cold and only specialized plants can grow. |