Our Planet, Earth Guided Notes Part 1 PDF

Name: Our planet, Earth How does Earth’s movement explain the days and seasons? How is climate different than weather?...

Name: Our planet, Earth How does Earth’s movement explain the days and seasons? How is climate different than weather? Why do temperatures and precipitation vary? What are Earth’s main climate regions? How do climates affect Earth’s ecosystems? Earth’s Rotation: As Earth revolves around the sun, it is also rotating in space. Earth rotates around it’s axis. Each complete rotation takes 24 hours- one day. It is night on the side of Earth facing away from the sun, and day on the side facing the sun. Timezones: Because Earth rotates towards the East, the day starts earlier in the East. In short distances, the time difference is small. Standard time zones: areas sharing the same time. Times in neighboring zones are one hour apart. Vocabulary: (Part 1) Equinox: period during which hours of daylight and hours of darkness are of equal length everywhere on Earth. Solstice: period during which hours of daylight are longest in one hemisphere and shortest in the other hemisphere. weather: condition of the air and sky at a certain time and place Climate: average weather of a place over many years. Why are there seasons? The tilt of Earth’s axis and its orbit around the sun combine to make seasons. Direct sunlight moves North and South of the Equator as the year progresses, that is why seasons occur. Earth travels around the Sun in an oval shaped orbit.  Earth takes 365 1/4 days to make one complete journey around the sun- one revolution. Earth is tilted on an axis- an imaginary line between the North and South poles. Climate: Earth has many different climates, and those differences shape life on Earth. Earth’s climates cause humans to respond to the elements in a variety of ways. Precipitation and temperature are the main ways to describe both daily weather and long-term climate. Vocabulary: (Part 2) Tropics: area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Low latitudes. It is usually hot in this region. Temperate zone: the middle latitudes. These regions have a hot summer, cold winter, and a moderate spring and fall. Moderate: not extreme Biome: a region made up of similar ecosystems and communities of plants and animals. Ecosystem: a group of plants and animals that depend on each other in their environment for survival. Precipitation: water that falls to the ground as rain, snow, sleet, or hail. Temperature: a measure of how hot or cold the air is. Altitude: height above sea level. Ecosystems: 3 main types of Ecosystems: -forest, grassland, and cold climate.