| A | B |
|---|
| geography | the study of the earth and its land, water, and plant and animal life |
| landform | individual features of the land, like mountains and valleys |
| environment | natural surroundings |
| region | an area, or place, that shares commo characteristics |
| GPS or Global Positioning System | group of satellites traveling around the earth that tells the exact locations of places |
| GIS or Geographic Information Systems | computer software that helps geographers gather many kinds of information about a plac |
| solar system | group of plaets and other bodies that revolve around the sun |
| orbit | path planets follow in revolving aroundthe sun |
| atmosphere | layer of air surrounding the earth |
| axis | imaginary line that runs through the earth's center between the North Pole and South Pole |
| revolution | one complete orbit of a planet around the sun |
| leap year | a year that has 366 days because it combines the extra one-fourth days in the earth's revolution around the sun into a full day |
| summer solstice | the day in June when the sun appears directly over the Tropic of Cancer; the day with the most hours of sunligh |
| winter solstice | the day in December when the sun appears directly over the Tropic of Capricorn; te day with the fewest hours of sunlight |
| equinox | the day in March and September when the sun appars directly over the Equator; when day and night are of equal length |
| core | center of the earth that is solid metal surrounded by hot liquid metal |
| mantle | layer of solid and melted rock surrounding the earth's core |
| magma | melted rock fro the earth's mantle that flows to the earth's surface during volcanic eruptions |
| crust | outer layer of the earth |
