Term | Definition |
Weather | The condition of the bottom layer of the earth's atmosphere in one place over a 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 top on its axis, as it travels through space |
Revolution | One complete orbit of the earth around the sun. The earth completes on revolution every 365 1/4 days, r one year |
Solstice | Either of the two times a year when the sun appears directly overhead at the tropics of cancer and Capricorn |
Equinox | Either of the two times each year (spring and fall) when day and night are nearly equal length everywhere on earth |
Precipitation | all of the forms of water that fall on earth from the atmosphere, including rain and snow |
Front | The boundary between two masses of air that differ in density and temp. |
Continental Climate | the type of climate found in the great central arras 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 |
Deciduous | Leaf-shredding; a type of tree that sheds its leaves during one season |
Coniferous | Cone-bearing; a type of tree able to survive long, cold winters, with long, thin needles, other than leaves |
Chaparral | A type of natural vegetation that is adapted to Mediterranean climates; small evergreen trees and low bushes, or scrub |
Savanna | A tropical grassland with scattered 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 earth's surface that stays permanently frozen |
Culture | The way of life that distinguishes a people, for example, government, language, religion, customs, and belief |
Population Density | The average number of people living in a given area |
Birthrate | The number of live births each year per 1,000 people. |
Immigrant | A person who moves into a country |
Emigrant | A person who leaves a country to live elsewhere |
Urbanization | The growth of city populations |
Rural | Of, or characteristic of, the countryside |
Cultural Hearth | A place in which important ideas begin and thereafter spread the surrounding cultures. |
Cultural Convergence | The contact and interaction of one culture with another |
Diffusion | The process by which a cultural element is transmitted from one group or individual to another |
Cultural Divergence | The restriction of a culture from outside influences |