Geography Terms

Front 1

What conditions affect climate?

Back 1

elevation--higher are usually cooler,oceans--they add humidity; distance from the equator--closer to the equator are warmer

Front 2

What landform stretches across the middle of the United States?

Back 2

the Interior Plains

Front 3

humidity

Back 3

the amount of moisture in the air

Front 4

How does land along the Atlantic Coast differ from land along the Pacific coast?

Back 4

Atlantic is flat and Pacific has mountains, little flat

Front 5

What causes seasons?

Back 5

the tilt of the axis as the Earth moves around the Sun

Front 6

tributary

Back 6

a stream or rover that flows into a larger stream or river, also called branches

Front 7

revolution

Back 7

trip around the sun

Front 8

mouth of a river

Back 8

the end of a river where the river empties into some larger body of wter

Front 9

Which movement of Earth causes day and night?

Back 9

rotation

Front 10

how are rivers in the Great Basin different from most other rivers in the U.S.

Back 10

the river flows into low-lying land not an ocean

Front 11

revolution

Back 11

trip around the sun; the Earth takes one year to do this

Front 12

Peninsula

Back 12

land almost entirely surrounded by water

Front 13

rotation

Back 13

a complete turn; the eath takes one day to make one

Front 14

elevation

Back 14

the height of the land

Front 15

delta

Back 15

the triangle-shaped land at a river's mouth that has rich soil

Front 16

the 3 main parts of a river

Back 16

source, channel, mouth

Front 17

sea level

Back 17

land that is level with the surface of the ocean

Front 18

channel

Back 18

the deepest part of a river or other body of water

Front 19

mountain range

Back 19

a group of connected mountains

Front 20

Plateau

Back 20

high,mostly flat land

Front 21

river system

Back 21

a river plus its tributaries

Front 22

basin

Back 22

low. bowl-shaped land with higher ground all around it

Front 23

Piedmont

Back 23

foot of the mountain

Front 24

source

Back 24

the place where a river begins

Front 25

Coastal Plain

Back 25

low land that lies along an ocean

Front 26

floodplain

Back 26

the low,flat land along a river

Front 27

Name the 5 great lakes

Back 27

Erie, Huron, Superior, Ontario, Michigan

Front 28

drainage basin

Back 28

the land drained by a river system

Front 29

what is the highest mountain in the U.S.

Back 29

Mount McKinley

Front 30

which 3 mountain ranges are nearest to the Pacific coast?

Back 30

Sierra Nevada (snowy mountain range), Cascade Range, Coast ranges

Front 31

groundwater

Back 31

water beneath the Earth's surface

Front 32

fertile land

Back 32

rich land

Front 33

relief

Back 33

differences in elevation

Front 34

The Appalachians

Back 34

cover much of the eastern part of the United States, from northern Alabama to southeastern Canada

Front 35

dam

Back 35

a wall built across a river to hold back water; it protects against flooding

Front 36

downstream

Back 36

toward the river's mouth

Front 37

levee

Back 37

a high wallmade of earth that is built along the banks of a river to control flooding

Front 38

erosion

Back 38

the wearing away of the Earth's surface

Front 39

upstream

Back 39

toward the river's source

Front 40

precipitation

Back 40

water, as rain, sleet, or snow that falls to te Earth's surface

Front 41

canyon

Back 41

a deep, narrow valley with steep sides

Front 42

axis

Back 42

an imaginary line that runs through the Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole