Grade 6 World History Chapter 1 Vocab Words

Front 1

theory

Back 1

A possible explanation or unproved assumption

Front 2

continental drift

Back 2

The continuing movement of continental plates

Front 3

fault

Back 3

A crack in Earth's crust along which movement occurs

Front 4

magma

Back 4

Melted rock within Earth

Front 5

lava

Back 5

Magma that has broken through Earth's crust and is on the surface

Front 6

weathering

Back 6

The wearing away of rock through some kind of motion

Front 7

glacier

Back 7

A thick mass of slow-moving ice

Front 8

erosion

Back 8

The carrying away of land by forces of nature

Front 9

deposition

Back 9

The process of dropping, or depositing, sediment in a new location

Front 10

delta

Back 10

A triangle-shaped piece of land built from soil deposited at the mouth of a river

Front 11

trench

Back 11

A deep ocean valley

Front 12

current

Back 12

A giant stream of ocean water

Front 13

tidal wave

Back 13

A giant ocean wave

Front 14

tide

Back 14

The regular, rhythmic rise and fall of ocean waters

Front 15

water cycle

Back 15

The circulation of water from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back

Front 16

tributary

Back 16

A small river that feeds into a larger river

Front 17

river system

Back 17

A river and all its tributaries

Front 18

drainage basin

Back 18

The land drained by a river system

Front 19

rift

Back 19

A crack in the Earth's crust

Front 20

reservoir

Back 20

A human-made lake

Front 21

latitude

Back 21

The distance north or south of the equator

Front 22

equator

Back 22

An imaginary line that circles Earth halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole. The line divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere

Front 23

longitude

Back 23

The distance east or west of the prime meridian

Front 24

prime meridian

Back 24

The meridian marked 0 longitude. It runs north and south through Greenwich, England

Front 25

climate

Back 25

The kind of weather a place has over a long period of time

Front 26

temperature

Back 26

Neither very hot nor very cold

Front 27

tropic

Back 27

An area on Earth at or near the equator, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn

Front 28

altitude

Back 28

Elevation

Front 29

rain shadow

Back 29

The drier side of a mountain

Front 30

vegetation

Back 30

Plant life

Front 31

rain forest

Back 31

A wet land with thick vegetation and tall trees that block the sunlight

Front 32

arid

Back 32

Very dry with little rainfall

Front 33

population distribution

Back 33

The way people are spread out in different places throughout the world

Front 34

environment

Back 34

Surroundings

Front 35

irrigation

Back 35

The use of connected ditches, canals, or pipes to move water to dry areas

Front 36

desertification

Back 36

The long-term process in which fertile land is changed into desert

Front 37

drought

Back 37

A long period of time when little or no rain falls

Front 38

migration

Back 38

The movement of people from one place to another

Front 39

urbanization

Back 39

The movement of people from the countryside to the cities

Front 40

metropolitan area

Back 40

A city and all the suburbs around it

Front 41

thematic map

Back 41

A map with a specific theme or topic, such as population, culture, or history

Front 42

population density

Back 42

The average number of people living on a square unit of land