Key Vocabulary

• Active volcano: a volcano that has had an eruption in the last 10,000 years, and it is possible it may erupt in the future
• Altitude: the height of something above sea level
• Amazon Basin: the area drained by the River Amazon and all of its tributaries
• Amazon River: the longest river in South America. It flows through Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil
• Ancient: something that belongs to the past, and is often no longer in existence
• Antarctic: a polar region in the South Pole
• Antarctic circle: imaginary line/circle about 66.5° south of the Equator
• Arctic: a polar region in the North Pole
• Arctic circle: imaginary line/circle about 66.5° north of the Equator
• Bakery: a shop that sells bread, cakes, pastries, pies etc.
• Bay: an indentation of a shoreline. Usually of softer rock
• Beach: a landform by the sea. usually sand and/or rock
• Biome: geographical area defined by its climate, plant and animal life and the activities of the people who live there
• Butcher: a shop that sells meat products
• Channel: a landform, it is the outline of the path that a river takes
• Cliff: a vertical or near vertical rock feature, usually on the coast
• Climate: weather patterns in a place over a long period, such as seasonal rainfall, sunshine and temperatures
• Clock: an instrument for measuring and recording time
• Coast: the region where land meets sea
• Colour words: red, brown, yellow, green etc.
• Common: land that everyone can use
• Compass points: points on a magnetic compass marking the four main directions: North, South, East, West
• Condensation: the change of a state of matter – from gas to liquid
• Confluence: the meeting of two or more streams of water
• Continent: land mass defined by physical, human, or cultural features: Europe, Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Oceania, North America or South America
• Coral: marine invertebrates that typically live in compact colonies in the sea
• Country: political area defined by physical, human or cultural features
• Crater: a cup-shaped depression in the surface of the earth, caused by volcanic activity’
• Day: time from sunrise to sunset each day, in relation to the Earth’s rotation on its axis
• Descriptive temperature words: warm, cold, cool, dry, hot etc.
• Desert: A dry area of land which receives very little rain or precipitation
• Dock: a structure for handling boats and ships and their cargo
• Dormant volcano: a volcano that has not erupted in the last 10,000 years, but it is possible that it will erupt in the future
• Drought: period with very little or no rain
• Dunes: sandy mounds by the sea or in a desert
• Earthquake: movements, fractures and vibrations in the earth’s crust as tectonic plates move
• Endangered: a species which is at risk of becoming extinct
• Environment: conditions to which a plant, animal or person is adapted
• Equator: imaginary line/circle of latitude around the Earth, midway between North and South Poles, dividing the Earth into Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The Equator lies at 0° latitude: the midday Sun is always high in the sky. Because the sun is never far from being overhead, the Sun’s rays are very concentrated and so temperatures are high
• Erosion: a process where the surface of the earth is worn away by, e.g. water, wind, waves etc.
• Eruption: the ejection of rock and gas from a volcano
• Estuary: where the mouth of a river broadens as it meets the sea

• Evaporation: the change of a state of matter – from liquid to gas
• Extinct volcano: a volcano that has not had an eruption in the last 10,000 years, and will not erupt in the future
• Far: distant
• Farm: where animals and crops are raised and grown
• Fast food: food that is prepared and served quickly
• Fauna: animals native to an area, such as birds, reptiles and insects
• Flora: plants native to an area, such as trees, climbers, flowers and grasses
• Forest: large area covered with trees
• Glacier: a mass of ice that moves very slowly down from mountains
• Global Positioning Systems (GPS): internationally used way of pinpointing an exact location on the Earth’s surface using space-based satellite technology
• Grassland: large area covered with grasses
• Harbour: a sheltered port where boats can dock
• Headland: promontory of land jutting into the sea. Usually of harder rock
• High street: an area of a town where many of the shops and businesses are found
• Infiltration: the process where water seeps into the ground (soil or rock)
• International Date Line (iDl): a line of latitude. It is an imaginary north-to-south line/circle running through the Pacific Ocean, approximately along the 180° meridian from avoiding land
• Key: symbols on a map, and what they mean
• Latitude: imaginary horizontal line used to show NSS position on the Earth’s surface
• Lava: molten, fluid rock that is ejected from a volcano and solidifies as it cools
• Lines of latitude: imaginary parallel lines/circles, horizontal to the Equator, that never meet, and get smaller towards the Poles
• Lines of longitude: imaginary north-to-south lines/ circles, meeting at the North and South Poles to make segments. They are all the same length and go from pole to pole
• Longitude: imaginary vertical line used to show E-W position on the Earth’s surface
• Man-made: something built by humans
• Map: plan of a place, from above
• Migration: the movement of people or animals from one place to another
• Modern: something that belongs to the present
• Mountain: large landform, often with a peak, rising and earth rising high above the surrounding area; higher and steeper than a hill
• Mountain range: a chain of mountains
• Natural: the opposite of man-made, something created naturally through a process of the earth, such as wind, water, volcanoes, earthquakes or plants growing.
• Near: close
• Newsagent: a shop that sells papers, magazines, confectionery etc.
• Night: time from sunset to sunrise each day, in relation to the Earth’s rotation on its axis
• North Pole: the most northerly place of the Earth
• North, south, east, west: compass points, locational vocabulary
• Northern Hemisphere: half of the Earth north of the Equator
• Ocean: a body of salt water
• Often: many times
• Ordnance Survey (OS) grid references: the UK is covered by a grid of maps that are given letters.
• Park: land or large garden where people walk or play
• Passport: a document that entitles you to travel to different countries.
• Peak: the top of a mountain
• Percolation: the movement of rainwater through soil and rock
• Physical feature: naturally occurring, e.g. rivers, mountains, lakes
• Pier: a structure built on posts that extends out to sea
• Plan: outlines of a room or rooms, from above
• Plant: a living organism that gets its food through photosynthesis
• Plate boundary: where two tectonic plates meet
• Port: a place where ships load or unload
• Precipitation: forms of water that fall through the sky, e.g. rain, snow, sleet etc.
• Prime Meridian (Greenwich Meridian, PM): imaginary line/circle passing through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, London, marking 0° longitude
• Processed: food that has been treated by chemicals or changed in some way
• Promenade: a public walk by the seaside
• Quay: a solid structure built parallel to the shoreline where boats can dock
• Rainfall: measured level of water that has fallen as rain, snow, sleet or hail in a given period
• Rarely: not often
• Remote: a location far away from cities or towns – away from people and populations

• Richter scale: a scale to measure the magnitude of an earthquake
• River: natural watercourse, flowing downhill towards the sea, ocean or a lake
• Rock pool: an area by the shoreline that is filled with seawater at high tide, and exists as a separate pool at low tide
• Rockies: another name for the Rocky Mountains These are a mountain range in North America that stretches N-S across Canada and the USA
• Run-off: water that flows over the earth and does not evaporate away or filter into the ground
• Salt marsh: a coastal wetland that flooded by salt water at high tide and drained at low tide’
• Sand: Fine particles of rocks and stones
• School: building where children learn
• Scree: a pile of rock material that has eroded off a cliff and fallen to the base
• Seaside: a tourist resort by the coast
• Seasons: a time of year marked by certain conditions: spring, summer, autumn, winter
• Slum: a densely-populated and run-down area of a city, associated with poverty
• Source: the original point where a river begins
• South Pole: the most southerly place of the Earth.
• Southern Hemisphere: half of the Earth south of the Equator
• Supermarket: a shop that offers a wide variety of foods and products.
• Symbol: picture on a map to show a feature on land
• Tectonic plate: a massive slab of rock that ‘floats’ on top of the mantle (and inner layer) of the Earth
• Temperature: measured level of heat or cold in the air
• Tide: the periodic rise and fall of the sea caused by the movement of the moon and the sun
• Time zone: area between lines of longitude following a standard time
• Tourism: a worldwide industry based on travel for leisure, pleasure, business, and other reasons that provides information, amenities, attractions, accommodation etc.
• Tributary: a river or stream that flows into a larger river
• Tropic of Cancer: imaginary line/circle about 23.5° north of the Equator; the furthest north where the Sun appears overhead once a year
• Tropic of Capricorn: imaginary line/circle about 23.5° south of the Equator; the furthest south that the Sun appears overhead once a year.
• Tropical: to do with the region on either side of the Equator, between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
• Tsunami: a series of waves of water caused by the movement of tectonic plates below the surface
• Tundra: land where the soil beneath the surface is frozen all year and trees cannot survive the low temperatures and short growing season
• Vegetation belt: area where similar types of plant life grow, adapted to the conditions there
• Village: place where people live, smaller than a town.
• Volcano: a vent in the earth’s crust where lava, steam and ash is ejected during an eruption.
• Weather: conditions in the atmosphere on a particular day, such as temperature, windiness, rainfall, hours of sunshine or cloud cover.
• Weather words: sun, rain, clouds, rainbow etc.
• Wetland: swamp or marsh near a river or coast
• Wild: land not farmed, used for parks or gardens, or built on
• Wood: land covered with trees, smaller than a forest