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 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 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 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 tempature |
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 decribe 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 then 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 jays below the earth''s surface that stays permanently frozen |