Term | Definition |
weather | the condition of the bottom layer of the earths atmosphere in one place over short period of time |
climate | the term used for the weather patterns that an area typically experiences over a long period of time |
rotation | the spinning motion of the earth like a top on its axis as it travels through sun |
revolution | one complete orbit around the sun. the earth completes one revolution every 365 1/4 days or one year |
soltice | either of the two times a year when the sun appears directly overhead at the tropics of cancer and capricorn |
equinox | either of the times each year (spring and fall) when day and night are of nearly equal length everywhere on earth |
precipitation | all the forms of water that fall from the atmosphere, including rain and snow |
front | the boundary between two masses of air that differ in density or temperature |
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 |
decidous | leaf-shedding, a type 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 |
charparral | a type of natural vegetation that is adapted to mediterranean climates ; small evergreen trees and low bushes, or shrubs |
savanna | a tropical grassland with scatterd 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 |