ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY UNIT 1

ASTEROID

A solid rock that orbit he Sun.

ASTRONOMICAL OBJECT

A naturally ocurring object in space, such us a star, planet or asteroid.

AXIS (The Earth’s)

An imaginary line connecting the North and South Poles, around which the Earth rotates.

BIG BANG

A gigantic explosion that propelled material across enormous distances in space when the Universe began.

CARTOGRAPHY

The study and practice of making maps.

COMET

A celestial body made of rock and ice with a tail of dust and gas that orbits in space.

EARTH

Also known as the world, Terra or Gaia, it is the third planet from the Sun, and the only celestial body 
known to accommodate life.

ELLIPTICAL

Shaped liked an oval, or flat circle.

EQUATOR

The parallel at 0º latitude that separates the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

GALAXY

A large system of stars, gas and dust gravitationally bound together.

GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES

The location of a place, at the point where a parallel and meridian cross each other.

GIS

A geographic information system (GIS) brings together and analyses all types of geographic data.

HEMISPHERE

One half of the terrestrial globe, separated by the Equator.

INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE

The meridian at 180º longitude, on the opposite side of the Earth to the Prime Meridian. The date moves forward or back by a day when crossing this line.

KEY

A table of symbols on a map that represents the geographical features of the land.

LATITUDE

The distance between a point on the Earth ‘s surface and the Equator.

LEAP YEAR

A year with 366 days, ocurring every four years.

LONGITUDE

The distance between a point on the Earth’s surface and the Prime Meridian.

MAP

A representation of all, or part, of he Earth on a flat surface.

MERIDIAN

An imaginary line that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole.

METEOR

Asmall rocky that burns as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere.

METEOROLOGY

The scientific study of the atmosphere, climate and weather.

MILKY WAY

The galaxy where we live.

MOON

He earth’s natural satellite.

ORBIT

1.      The movement of a planet around a star, or the movement of a satellite around a planet.

2.      To revolve around.

PARALLEL

Any of the imaginary lines tha runs East to West around the Earth.

PLAN

A detail, large-scale map of a small area, like a town or neighbourhood.

PLANET

A solid body that orbits the Sun and does not emit its own light.

POLAR REGION

One of the two regions between the polar circles and the poles, which receive little solar energy.

PRIME MERIDIAN

The meridian, at 0º longitude, that is the reference point for all other meridians. It is also called the Greenwich Meridian.

PROJECTION

The technique by which we represent three-dimensional objects on the flat surface of a map.

REMOTE SENSING

The gathering of information at far away places from aeroplanes or satellites, which is then processed by a computer and converted into digital images.

REVOLUTION (the Earth’s)

The Earth’s orbit around the Sun  is called a revolution, and takes 365.25 days.

ROTATION (the Earth’s)

The spinning movement of he Earth on its axis, which takes 24 hours to complete.

SATELLITE

A solid body, artificial or natural, that orbits a planet and does not emit its own light. The Moon is Earth’s natural satellite.

SATELLITE IMAGES

Photographs taken from an artificial satellite in space which are used to study meteorological phenomena or observe landscape.

SCALE

The ratio between a distance on the ground and its representation on a map.

SOLAR SYSTEM

It is made up of the Sun and the planets and satellites that orbit, or revolve, around it.

STAR

A celestial body that releases energy in the form of heat and light, such as the Sun.

SUN

The medium-sized star in the Milky Way that Earth orbits.

TEMPERATE ZONE

The climate found in the area between the tropics and the polar circles in each hemisphere.

THEMATIC MAP

A map that shows a specific feature of an area, such as climate, economic activities or natural resources.

TILT (the Earth’s)

The inclination of the Earth’s axis as it rotates (23.5º)

TIME ZONE

One of 24 divisions of longitude (15º across). There is a diference of one hour between each time zone.

TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

A map that shows the main natural and man-made features of an area, such as mountains, towns and roads.

TROPICS

The area between the Tropic of Cancer and theTropic of Capricorn, where the greatest amount of solar energy reaches the Earth’s surface.

UNIVERSE

It is made up of all the astronomical objects that are found in space.

VIRTUAL MAP

A map created on a computer, which may be three-dimensional.