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World Geography 2w34
Chapter 2 Vocabulary
Term | Definition |
---|---|
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 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 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 |
7. Precipitation | all forms of water that fall from the atmosphere onto the earths surface |
8. Front | the boundary between to masses of air that differ in density and 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 |
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 regions throughout the world. |
12. Deciduous | Leaf-shedding; a type of tree that sheds its leaves during one season. |
13. Coniferous | Cone-bearing; a type of tree able to survive long, cold winters, with long, thin needles rather than leaves. |
14. Chaparral | A type of natural vegetation that is adapted to Mediterranean climates; small evergreen trees and low bushes, or scrubs. |
15. Savanna | A tropical grassland with scattered 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 grasses |
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 |