A region is an area with common features that set it apart from other areas.

Undersea volcanoes form islands. Ocean waves wear away coastlines. The plates that form the earths crest move.

Continents are large bodies of land. There are 7 Continents: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.

In geography, it means, half of the earth. The earth is split into 4 hemispheres: northern, southern, western, eastern.

North, East, South, and West The intermediate directions are the in-between directions. Northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest.

Political maps show countries, capitals, and political boundaries. Physical maps show landforms and bodies of water. Elevation maps are physical maps that show how high and low the land is. Distribution maps show how things are spread out throughout parts of an area.

Lines of latitude are also called parallels and circle the earth at the same distance from the equator. Lines of longitude are also called meridians and they meet at the north and south poles.

The starting point for measuring longitude is the prime meridian. It, like all meridians, run from the north pole to the south pole.

Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a place and time as regards heat, cloudiness, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc. Climate is the weather patterns of an area over a long period of time.

Places that are closest to the equator are the warmest places on earth. Low latitudes from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn are called tropical climates.

The highest latitudes are the coldest places on earth and they are called polar climates.

The middle latitudes fall between the low and the high latitudes. Most of the North America lies in the middle latitudes. The middle latitudes are generally cool in the winter and warm in the summer. Because they are temperate, or mild, climates in this zone are called temperate climates.