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ch.2 vocabulary
definitions
Term | Definition |
---|---|
1.weather | the condition of the bottom layer of the earth's atmosphere in one place over a short period of time. |
2.climate | the term used for the weather patterns that an area typically experience 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 1/4 days or one year. |
5.solstice | either of the two times a year when the sun appears directly over head 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. |
7.precipitation | all the forms of water that fall to earths 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 winter and warm or hot summers. |
10.ecosystem | the interaction of plant life,animal life and the physical environment in which they live |
11.biome | the term used to describe a major type of ecosystem that can be found in various region throughout the world |
12.deciduous | Leaf-shedding type of tree that sheds its leaves during one season |
13.coniferous | cone-bearing a type of tree able to survive long cold winter with long thin needles rather then leaves |
14.chaparral | a type of natural vegetation that is adapted to mediterranean climates small evergreen trees and low bushes or shrub |
15.savanna | a topical grassland with scatterd trees located in the warm lands near the equator |
16.herbivore | a plant eating animal |
17.carnivore | a meat eating animal |
18.prairie | a temperate grassland characterized by a great variety of grass |
19.tundra | a dry treeless plain where temperatures are always cool or cold and only specialized plants can grow |
20.permafrost | a layer of soil just below the earths surface that stays permanently frozen |