Earth & Moon Vocabulary

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Across
  1. 5. The process used by plants to turn sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into food and oxygen.
  2. 7. The true shape of Earth and many planets—a sphere that is squashed at the top and bulges at the equator.
  3. 9. The theory that a planet's outer crust is broken into moving pieces (plates).
  4. 11. The layer of gases that surrounds a planet or moon.
  5. 12. The light-colored, heavily cratered, and mountainous regions of the Moon.
  6. 18. The natural process where unstable atoms break down, releasing heat inside a planet.
  7. 20. A measure of how tightly packed matter is inside an object (mass divided by volume).
  8. 22. Primary waves; the fastest earthquake waves that push and pull the ground like an accordion.
  9. 23. Bowl-shaped holes in the ground caused by space rocks crashing into a planet or moon.
  10. 24. Secondary waves; slower earthquake waves that shake the ground side-to-side and cannot travel through liquids.
  11. 25. The thick, hot layer of rock inside a planet located right beneath its outer crust.
Down
  1. 1. Long, narrow channels or trenches on the Moon that look like dried riverbeds, carved by ancient lava flows.
  2. 2. The bending of wind and ocean currents caused by a planet’s rotation.
  3. 3. The circulation of heat where hot material rises and cold material sinks.
  4. 4. The process where a planet's crust is pulled apart, creating deep cracks or valleys.
  5. 6. A process where one tectonic plate slides underneath another and sinks into the mantle.
  6. 8. When a moon spins at the exact same speed it orbits, causing it to always show the same side to its planet.
  7. 10. When the Moon blocks the Sun, casting a shadow on Earth.
  8. 13. An ancient supercontinent where all of Earth's landmasses were joined together long ago.
  9. 14. When the Earth blocks the Sun, casting a shadow on the Moon.
  10. 15. The dark, smooth, and flat lava plains on the Moon's surface.
  11. 16. When a planet's atmosphere traps heat from the Sun, making the surface warmer.
  12. 17. Bright, splash-like streaks of dust shooting out from a young crater.
  13. 19. Vibrations or shockwaves that travel through a planet during an earthquake or impact.
  14. 21. Glowing lights in the sky (like the Northern Lights) caused by solar particles hitting a planet's atmosphere.