| A | B |
|---|
| weather | what the atmosphere's like each day |
| climate | weather over a period of time |
| tropical zone | low latitudes |
| temperate zone | middle latitudes |
| arctic zone | high latitudes |
| plateau | a flat piece of land high in elevation |
| valley | long stretch of land that is lower than the land on either side |
| canyon | steep-sided lowland that a river has cut through a plateau |
| isthmus | narrow pievce of land that connects two larger pieces of land |
| Continental shelf | plateau under the ocean off the coast of each continent |
| strait | narrow body of water between two larger pieces of land |
| channel | wider body of water between 2 pieces of land |
| vegetation | all the plants & trees in an area |
| evaporation | turning water into vapor |
| condensation | turning water vapor back into liquid |
| precipitation | water falling back to earth |
| collection | water going back into the oceans |
| glaciers | huge sheets of frozen freshwater |
| groundwater | water that fills tiny cracks & holes in the rock layers |
| rainforest | dense forest that gets lots of rain each year |
| savanna | broad grassland in the tropics with few trees |
| desert | dry climate with less than 10" of rain each year |
| steppe | partly dry grassland |
| tundra | vast treeless plain in high latitude climates |
| taiga | huge evergreen forests in the subarctic |
| middle latitude forest | forest in the temperate zone |
| monsoon | seasonal wind that blows over a continent for months at a time |
| typhoons | hurricanes in Asia |
| hurricane | violent tropical storm with high winds and heavy rains |
| tornado | funnel-shaped windstorm |
| equinox | day & night are of equal length |
| summer solstice | day with the most hours of daylight |
| winter solstice | day with the least hours of daylight |
