Name:______Date: ______HR______
Earth Science Vocabulary
1. Solar System-the Sun and all objects that are bound by gravitational force to the Sun
2. Tides:the daily rising and falling of an ocean’s water levels
3. Axis:the imaginary line that passes through the center of a planet from pole to pole
4. Rotation:the motion of Earth spinning on its axis; one rotation is called a day
5. Revolution:the motion of Earth moving around the Sun; onerevolution is called a year
6. Moon:A natural satellite of the earth, visible mostly at night by reflected light from the sun
7. Gravity:The force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth
8. Comets:an object in space made mostly of ice and dust
9. Meteor:a chunk of burning rock traveling through Earth’s atmosphere
10. Asteroids:an object that orbits the Sun but is too small to be considered a planet
11. Meteorites: a meteor that passes through Earth’s atmosphere and strikes the ground
12. Solar Eclipse:an eclipse that takes place when the new moon passes between Earth and the sun and the shadow formed reaches Earth
13. Lunar Eclipse:occurs when Earth’s shadow falls on the moon
14. Air Mass:A body of air with horizontally uniform levels of temperature, humidity, and pressure.
15. High-pressure system:a high-pressure area created by sinking cold air
16. Low-pressure system:a low-pressure area created by risingwarm air
17. Cold front:a front that occurs when a cold air mass moves in and replaces a warm air mass
18. Warm front:a front that occurs when a warm air mass moves in and replaces a cold air mass
19. Altitude:a measure of the distance an object is above sea level
20. Galaxy:a huge collection of gas, dust, and billions of stars
21. Orbit:regular, repeating path that an object in space follows around another object
22. Satellites:an object in orbit around another object