California Geography Spelling & Vocabulary Words

1. hemisphere: hemi is Greek for halfsphere (n) is a round, solid figure

So, hemisphere is _________________________________________________________________

Specifically, North America and South America represent one ____________________ of the globe. We

call this area west of the Prime Meridian the Western ___________________________.

Or, one can call the northern half of the planet the Northern ________________________________. That would include North America, Europe, Asia, and northern Africa.

One can call the southern half of the planet the Southern ________________________________. That would include the southern parts of South America and Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and Antarctica.

2. equator, the imaginary line dividing the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Notice that this is a line of latitude running east to west.

3. prime meridian, the imaginary line dividing the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Notice that this longitudinal line crosses western Europe and western Africa.

4. Lines of latitude are the flatitude lines, horizontal, running east to west. At the equator, the latitude is 0 degrees. Go 10 degrees north of the equator, it is 10 degrees north. Go 10 degrees south of the equator, it is 10 degrees south.

4. Lines of longitude are the long ones, like a pair of long pants, loooong…..Notice that Egypt is about 30 degrees East longitude.

Los Angeles is about 34 degrees North latitude and 118 degrees West longitude.

5. harbors, a place along the shore where ships can find rest from crazy ocean waters.Name a natural harbor in California’s Coastal Region.San Francisco or San Diego harbors

6. Channel Islands, the eight islands off of the Coastal Regions including Santa Catalina and San Nicolas

7. Coast Ranges Mountains are west of the Great Central Valley of California.

8. Sierra Nevada Range is east of the Great Central Valley of California.

9. Transverse RangesTrans is Latin for across, beyond, or throughA transmission is a communication across cable lines or phones lines.The Transverse ranges go across the state connecting the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada.

10. The Peninsular Ranges stretch from Southern California in the U.S. to the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, stretching into a peninsula…

11. The Cascade Mountain Range

12. A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Below, see the Tuolumne River is a tributary leading into the larger San Joaquin River. Below that, see tributaries flowing into the Sacramento River.

13. A river delta is a landform that forms from soils that are deposited as a river runs into slower-moving bodies of water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, or lake. The Sacramento Delta is an example of this.

14. Sacramento River15. San Joaquin River

16. Mojave Desert and the Colorado River

17. Precipitation: the water that falls to the earth in rain, sleet, hail, or snow.

18. Climate: The kind of weather that a certain place experiences year after year.

19. Rain shadow: The dry side of a mountain range. So, Death Valley lies in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Evaporated ocean waters in the form of clouds drift from the Pacific Ocean toward the East. As those clouds hit the Sierra Nevada, they release their rain and snow and leave little moisture for any clouds that make it over the Sierra Nevada.

Rain Shadow east of the Sierra Nevada

20. Natural Resource: Something found in nature, water, soil, minerals, that people can use to meet their needs.