Geography Terms
What am I?
Plains- a large flat area of land
What am I?
Lagoon-A body of water cut off from a larger body of water by a reef
What am I?
Equator – an imaginary line that runs around the center of Earth, halfway between the North Pole and the South Poles at 0 degrees latitude
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Absolute Location – description of a place using grid coordinates latitude and longitude
What am I?
Arctic Circle – a line of latitude that runs through northern North America, northern Asia, and northern Europe (66.5 degrees N latitude)
What am I?
Artesian Basin – land formed by underground water
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Atoll – a circular reef formed when coral grows around an island, and that island sinks beneath the surface of the sea, partially surrounding a lagoon
What am I?
Strait – A narrow channel joining two larger bodies of water
What am I?
Sea – a body of salt water that is part of an ocean, yet is partially enclosed by land
What am I?
Mesa – a flat-topped hill with steep sides, larger than a column of rock
What am I?
Dunes – a mound or ridge of windblown sand
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Canal – a waterway DUG across land through which ships can pass
What am I?
Archipelago – a group of islands
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Cape – a point of land that extends into a sea or an ocean
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Cardinal Directions – the directions of north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W)
What am I?
Plateau – a flat-topped hill with steep sides; larger than a mesa
What am I?
Compass Rose – a directional arrow that shows cardinal and sometimes intermediate directions on a map
What am I?
Coordinates – the latitude and longitude address of a place on a map
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Delta – a triangular deposit of sand and soil that collects at the mouth of some rivers
What am I?
Desert – a dry region with little or no rainfall
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Harbor – a safe area of water where ships can dock or anchor safely
What am I?
Elevation – the height of the land above sea level
What am I?
Channel – a narrow deep waterway connecting two bodies of water OR the deepest part of a river or waterway
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Erg – a vast sea of land that appears to have no end
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Peninsula – a portion of land surrounded on three sides by water
What am I?
Geographic Grid – the intersecting pattern formed by the lines of latitude an longitude
What am I?
Gulf – a large area of ocean that is partly surrounded by land; like the Gulf of Mexico shown on the left of the previous slide
What am I?
Intermediate Directions – directions of northeast (NE), southeast (SE), northwest (NW), and southwest (SW), that are in between or in the middle of the cardinal directions
What am I?
Isthmus – a narrow strip of land with water on each side that connects two larger bodies of land
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Lines of Latitude or Parallel Lines – imaginary lines on earth that run parallel to the Equator and each other: they run east to west but measure the distances between places in degrees of North and South
What am I?
Lines of Longitude or Meridian Lines – imaginary lines on Earth that run North to South but measure distances on Earth in degrees of East and West of the Prime meridian: these lines meet at the North and South Poles
What am I?
Port – a harbor where ships can dock or anchor safely
What am I?
Mountain – any point of land that rises quickly to at least 1,000 feet above its surroundings
What am I?
Mountain Peak – the summit or highest point of a mountain
What am I?
Mountain Range – a group or chain of mountains
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Oasis – a place in the desert where there is a source of water and where plants grow
What am I?
Tributary – small river(s) or stream(s) that flow into a larger river
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River System – a river and the smaller streams that supply water to the river
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Source – the place where a river begins
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Swamp – a wetland with trees, many plants, and animals
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Sand Sea – a large area covered by sand and dunes
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Basin – land drained by a river
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Mouth – the part of a river where it empties into another body of water
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Valley – the flat land between hills or mountains
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Prime Meridian – an imaginary line that runs from the north Pole to the South Pole of Earth at 0 degrees longitude
What am I?
Island – land surrounded on all sides by water
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Marsh – a wetland that has few plants and animals
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Volcano – a mountain of molten rock and lava that can overflow if it heats