| A | B |
|---|
| Geography | the study of the earth and its land, water, and plant and animal life |
| Absolute Location | the exact position of a place on the earth's surface |
| Hemisphere | one-half of the globe; the Equator divides the earth into Northern and Southern hemispheres; the Prime Meridian divides it into Eastern and Western Hemispheres |
| Latitude | location north or south of the equator |
| Longitude | location east or west of the Prime Meridian, measured by imaginary lines (meridians) numbered in degrees east or west |
| Grid System | network of imaginary lines on the earth's surface, formed by the criss-crossing patterns numbered in degrees north or south |
| Relative Location | the position of a place on the earth's surface in relation to another |
| Place | describing the typical characteristics that distinguish one place from another |
| Environment | natural surroundings |
| Movement | one of the geographic themes, describing how people from different places interact |
| Region | one of the geographic themes, defining parts of the earth that share common characteristics |
| Galaxy | huge system in the universe including millions of stars |
| Solar System | group of planets and other bodies that revolve around the sun |
| Orbit | elliptical path that a planet follows in revolving around the sun |
| Revolution | for a planet, one complete trip around the sun |
| Leap Year | year with 366 days to account for the extra one-fourth day in Earth’s revolution around the sun |
| Axis | the horizontal (bottom) or vertical (side) line measurement on a graph |
| Solstice | day in June and December when the sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer (23½ degrees North) or Tropic of Capricorn (231/2 degrees South) marking the beginning of summer or winter |
| Equinox | day in March and September when the sun’s rays are directly overhead at the Equator, making day and night of equal length |
| Landform | one of the features that make up the earth's surface, such as a plain, mountain, or valley |
| Core | central layer of the earth, probably composed of hot iron and nickel, solid in the inner core and molten in the outer |
| Mantle | middle layer of the earth, composed of thick, hot rock |
| Crust | outer layer of the earth |
| Magma | melted rock within the earth’s mantle |
| Continent | one of the major land areas of the earth |
| Plate Tectonics | theory in geology that the earth’s crust is made up of huge, moving plates of rock |
| Fault | crack in the rocks of the earth’s crust along which movement occurs |
| Earthquake | violent jolting or shaking of the earth caused by movement of rocks along a fault |
| Tsunami | huge sea wave caused by an earthquake on the ocean floor |
| Weathering | process by which surface rocks are broken down into smaller pieces by water, chemicals, or frost |
| Erosion | wearing away of the earth’s surface, mainly by water, wind, or ice |
| Plateau | flat landform whose surface is raised above the surrounding land, with a steep cliff on one side |
| Isthmus | narrow piece of land connecting two larger pieces of land |
| Peninsula | piece of land surrounded by water on three sides |
| Strait | narrow body of water lying between two pieces of land |
| Atmosphere | thick cushion of gases surrounding the earth, made up mainly of the gases nitrogen and oxygen |
| Geographic Themes | place, movement, region, location, and human/environment interaction |
