Desalination – Getting fresh water from sea water. Water Cycle -- The continuous movement of water between Earth’s surface and the air, changing from liquid to gas to liquid

Evaporation – the slow changing of a liquid into a gas

Condensation – the changing of a gas into a liquid

Precipitation – any form of water particles that fall from the atmosphere and reaches the ground

Water Vapor – water in the form of a gas

Groundwater – precipitation that seeps into the ground and is stored in tiny holes, or pores in soil and rocks.

Aquifer – an underground layer of rock or soil filled with water

Water Table – the top of the water-filled spaces in the groundSpring – a place where groundwater seeps out of the groundReservoir – a storage area for

fresh water supplies

Well – a hole dug below the water table that water seeps into

Water Cycle Jump

Atmosphere – the blanket of gases that surrounds Earth

Troposphere – the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth

Insolation – Incoming SOLar RadiaTION; the amount of the Sun’s energy that reaches Earth at a given time and place.

Air Pressure – The force put on a given area by the weight of the air above it.

Isobar – a line on a weather map connecting places with equal air pressure

Barometer – a device for measuring air pressure

Wind – air that moves horizontally

Sea Breeze – wind that blows from the sea to land

Land Breeze – wind that blows from the land to sea

Coriolis Effect – the curving of the path of a moving object caused by Earth’s rotation

Convection – the flow of heat through a liquid or a gas, causing the hot parts to and cooler parts to rise sink.Convection Cell – a circular pattern of air rising, air sinking, and wind.

Air Mass – a large region of the atmosphere where the air has similar properties throughout

Front – a boundary between air masses with different temperatures

Cold Front – a front where cold air moves in under a warm air mass

Warm Front – a front where warm air moves in over a cold air mass

Thunderstorm – the most common severe storm, formed in cumulonimbus clouds

Tornado – a violent, whirling wind that moves across the ground in a narrow path

Hurricane – a very large, swirling storm with very low pressure at the center

Storm Surge – a great rise of the sea along a shore caused by low air pressure.

Weather – what the lower atmosphere is like at any given place and time.

Climate – the average weather pattern of a region

Humidity – the amount of water vapor in the air

Relative Humidity – a comparison between how much water vapor is in the air and how much the air could hold at a given temperature if it were full