Unit 5 Vocabulary: Earth Systems

Atmosphere: The layer of gas that surrounds Earth. (It is often called air.) It consists of several different gases, which are held close to Earth by a force called gravity.

Biosphere: the ecosystem comprising (making up) the entire earth and the living organisms that inhabit it (from the sky to the ocean trenches, from plants and animals to fungi and bacteria)

Geosphere: the solid portion of the earth; all the land and rock the planet is made of

Hydrosphere: the water on or surrounding the surface of the globe, including the water of the oceans and the water in the atmosphere

Elevation: the height of a place above sea level or ground level

Vegetation: all the plants or plant life of a place

Rain Shadow Effect: A rain shadow is an area of land that lies behind a mountain which gets almost no rainfall. (This side of a mountainous area is AWAY from the wind.) The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems and cast a "shadow" of dryness behind them.