| A | B |
|---|
| geography | The study of the earth in all its variety. |
| landforms | individual features of the land |
| environment | natural surroundings |
| Global Positioning System (GPS) | A group of satellites traveling around the earth that receive signals that determine the exact latitude and longitude of a certain thing. |
| Geographic information systems | Also know as GIS-Special computer softyware that helps geographers gather many different kinds of information about the same place that can then be combined and put on maps. |
| artifact | any object made by man, such as tools, pottery,paintings, weapons, etc. |
| fossils | remains of animal or plant life from the past |
| solar system | earth, eight other planets and thousands of smaller bodies that all revolve around the sun |
| orbit | path that a body in the solar system travels around the sun |
| atmosphere | the layer of air surrounding the Earth |
| axis | the imaginary line that runs through the Earth's center between the North and South Poles |
| revolution | one complete orbit around the sun |
| leap year | a year that has an extra day; it occurs every 4th year |
| summer solstice | on or about June 21st, the day with the most hours of sunlight and the fewest hours of darkness in the Northern Hemisphere |
| winter solstice | on or about December 22nd, the day with the fewest hours of sunlight in the Norther Hemisphere |
| equinox | when the day and night are of equal length in both hemispheres |
| core | the center of the earth |
| mantle | a layer of rock that surrounds the core that is about 1800 miles thick (2,897 km) |
| magma | melted rock |
| crust | the outer layer of the earth that is only 31-62 miles thick (50-100 km) |
| continent | massive land area located on the crust |
| plate tectonics theory | The crust is not an nbroken shell but is made up of plates or huge slabs of rock that move. Oceans and continents sit onthese gigantic plates |
| earthquake | a violent and sudden movement of the earth's crust |
| tsunamis | huge waves created by undersea earthquakes |
| faults | cracks in the earth's crust |
| weathering | the process of breaking surface rock into boulders, gravel, sand, and soil due to water and frost, chemicals, and even plants |
| erosion | the process of wearing away or moving weathered material on the earth's surface |
| glaciers | giant, slow-moving sheets of ice |
| elevation | height above sea level |
| plains | low-lying stretches of flat or gently rolling land |
| plateaus | flat, high land that is higher than the surrounding land |
| isthmus | a narrow piece of land that connects two larger pieces of land |
| peninsula | a piece of land with water on three sides |
| island | a body of land completely surrounded by water |
| continental shelf | a plateau off the coastof a continent that lies under the ocean and stretches for several miles |
| trenches | ocean valleys |
| strait | a narrow body of water between two pieces of land |
| channel | a body of water wider than a strait |
| delta | area formed from soil de[posited by a river at its mouth |
| Mount Etna | one of the most actice volcanoes in the world, located in Italy |
| Andes | a South American mountain range |
| Antarctica | the continent at the South Pole |
| Amazon Rain Forest | a dense forest located along the Amazon River in South America |
| Himalaya | mountai range located in southern Asia, bvordering the Indian subcontinent onthe north |
| San Andreas Fault | fault or weakness in the earth, located in California |
| Mount Everest | The world's tallest mountain, located in South Asia's mountain range, is 29.035 feet (8,850 m) or nearly 5.5 miles (8.9 km) high |
| North European Plain | plain located inNorther Europe that stretches from the midle of the continent north to the coast |
| Plateau of Tibet | The World's largest plateau, also called the Roof of thge World, lies between the Himalaya and the Kunlun Shan, in southwestern China. Its elevation is 13,00 feet (3,962 m). |
| Grand Canyon | a canyon in Arizona that was formed by the Colotado River flowing over a plateau and carving through rock |
| Mariana Trench | The deepest trench or valley in the Pacific Ocean, it is 35,840 feet (10,924 m) below sea level |
| Strait of Magellan | a narrow body of water between the souther tip of South America and an island called Tierra del Fuego that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans |
| global | worldwide |
| label | name |
| overlap | to layer |
| region | an area that shares common characteristics |
| trends | the general direction in which something is headed |
| define | to identify |
| reactions | return or opposing actions |
| erode | to wear away |
| layers | levels |
| occur | to take place or to appear |
| process | a procedure |
| theory | a plan of how something might be done |
| contrast | to show the difference between two or more items |
| source | beginning |
