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Chapter 2 Vocab1
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. |
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 tow times each year 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 |
10. Evosystem | 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 scrub |
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 suface that stays permanently frozen |