Key Terms

Question 1

Continent

Answer 1

One of the seven great landmasses on Earth

Question 2

Continental Drift

Answer 2

The theory of how the continents broke away and drifted from an original landmass

Question 3

Erosion

Answer 3

The wearing out of soil and rock by natural elements such as wind, water and ice

Question 4

Ice Age

Answer 4

A time ion which the Earth was colder, resulting in the expansion of glaciers, ice sheets and a fall in sea level

Question 5

Latitude

Answer 5

Imaginary lines drawn around the Earth from the east to the west (run on a y axis) to show the distance north or south of the equator

Question 6

Longitude

Answer 6

Imaginary lines drawn around the Earth from the north to the south (run on a x axis) to show the distance east or west of the Prime Meridian

Question 7

Sediment

Answer 7

Material deposited by a stream to other body of water

Question 8

Tectonic plates

Answer 8

Various slow moving plates that make up the Earth’s crust. Volcanoes and earthquakes often occur at the edge of plates

Question 9

Topography

Answer 9

Physical features (height and shape) of an area of land

Question 10

Weathering

Answer 10

The breakdown of bare rock by water, wind and temperature changes

Question 11

Climate

Answer 11

The tong term variation in the atmosphere relating mainly to temperature and precipitation

Question 12

Drainage basin

Answer 12

The area of land that feeds a river with water, or the whole area of drained by one river and its tributaries

Question 13

Drought

Answer 13

A pro-longed period of below average rainfall

Question 14

Ecosystem

Answer 14

A system formed by the interactions of the living elements of the environment and the physical ones

Question 15

Endemic

Answer 15

Native to a particular area and found nowhere else

Question 16

Marsupial

Answer 16

Mammal that feeds its young in a pouch

Question 17

Monotreme

Answer 17

Mammal that lays eggs

Question 18

Monsoon

Answer 18

The seasonal change in the wind direction that is mainly experienced in the tropics

Question 19

Regolith

Answer 19

The layer of broken rock and soil on top of the solid rock of the Earths crust

Question 20

Species

Answer 20

A group of plants or animals of the same kind that are able to breed with each other

Question 21

Synoptic chart

Answer 21

Weather map

Question 22

Gross National Income Per Capita (GNI)

Answer 22

Total value of goods and services produced in a country in one year per person plus net income from abroad

Question 23

Indigenous People

Answer 23

The descendants of the original inhabitants of an area

Question 24

Dreaming

Answer 24

Stories that describe the Dreamtime, a time in which the Aboriginal people believe the Earth cam to have its present form and in which life and nature began

Question 25

Sacred Sites

Answer 25

Places where important events in the Dreamtime took place

Question 26

Continental Shelf

Answer 26

The part of a continent found under a shallow sea

Question 27

Mantle

Answer 27

The layer of rock between the Earth’s crust and the core