World Geography - Chapter 2 Vocabulary Terms

3. the spinning rotation of the earth, like a top on its axis, as it travels through space
5. a plant-eating animal
10. a layer of soil just below the earth’s surface that stays permanently frozen
12. leaf-shedding; a type of tree that sheds its leaves during one season
13. cone-bearing; a type of tree able to survive long, cold winters, with long, thin needles rather than leaves
16. one complete orbit of the earth around the sun. The earth completes one of these every 365 ¼ days or one year.
17. the term used to describe a major type of ecosystem that can be found in various regions throughout the world
18. a region where temperatures are always cool or cold and only specialized plants can grow
19. either of the two times a year when the sun appears directly overhead at the tropics of cancer and Capricorn
20. a type of natural vegetation that is adapted to Mediterranean climates; small evergreen trees and low bushes, or scrub

1. the type of climate found in the great central areas of continents in the Northern Hemisphere; characterized by cold, snowy winters and warm or hot summers
2. all the forms of water that fall to earth from the atmosphere, including rain and snow
4. a meat-eating animal
6. the term used for the weather patterns that an area typically experiences over a long period of time
7. a temperate grassland characterized by a great variety of grasses
8. a tropical grassland with scattered trees, located in the warm lands near the Equator
9. the interaction of plant life, animal life, and the physical enivornment in which they live
11. either of the two times each year (spring/fall) when day and night are nearly equal length everywhere on earth
14. the boundary between two masses of air that differ in density or temperatures
15. the condition of the bottom layer of the earth’s atmosphere in one place over a short period of time