The Physical World

Permanently frozen layers of soil are called ________.

• cold

• permafrost

• tornado

Earth’s _______ is an imaginary line around which a planet turns.

• rotation

• revolution

• axis

________ blow the warmed air across Europe.

• The Gulf Streams

• prevailing winds

• westerlies

Areas near the poles, called lower latitudes, are cold year-round.

• true

• false

_________ are areas of tall grasses and scattered trees and shrubs.

• tropical rain forests

• savannas

• plains

The short-term changes in the air for a given place and time is called ________.

• erosion

• weather

• climate

_______ produce rain, lightning, and thunder.

• thunderstorms

• hurricanes

• blizzards

Long periods of lower-than-normal precipitation are called ________.

• hailstorms

• droughts

• famines

____________ are winds that blow in the same direction over large areas of Earth. 

• north winds

• prevailing winds

• south cold winds

________ is water that falls to Earth’s surface as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

• evaporation

• condensation

• precipitation