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Geo1122
Chapter 2 Vocab
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 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 temperatures |
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. decidious | leaf shedding; a type of tree that sheds its leaves during one season |
13. conferous | 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 he earths surface that stays permanently frozen |