Weather & Erosion Study Guide
Test Date: Tuesday, October 12th
Vocabulary
1. weathering – the wearing away or break down of rocks caused by wind,
water, ice or plant roots
2. erosion – carrying away of sediments
3. deposition – the dropping of sediment in a new place
4. freeze and thaw weathering – water in rock’s crack freezes and expands
making more weathering
5. moraine – rocks and sediment deposited by melting glacier
6. landslide – usually soil loosened by rain or ice melting and pulled down
by gravity
7. dune – hill of sand built up by wind
8. delta – large, flat land at mouth of river formed by deposited sediment
9. sediment – bits of soil, sand and rocks
* Study all of your notes in your science journal.
* Review all worksheets/handouts in your science folder.
* Reread science textbook pages:
B43, B54-55
C42, C48
D30-31, D34-37, D40-41
* Know the definition of weathering tools and be able to describe how they
are used to measure weather:
anemometer – instrument that measures wind speed
barometer – instrument that measures air pressure
rain gauge – instrument that measures rain
thermometer – instrument that measures temperature
wind vane – instrument that shows the direction of the wind
* Know the stages and definitions of the water cycle:
water cycle – water circulates through Earth’s oceans, atmosphere,
and streams
evaporation – the process by which water turns into a gas
condensation – the process by which water vapor turns into a liquid
precipitation – sleet, snow, hail, rain
* Know the description of clouds:
cirrus – wispy, thin clouds that are usually found high in the
troposphere
cumulonimbus – tall clouds that often produces thunder, lightning and
brings precipitation
cumulous – fluffy, white clouds that you might see on a fair-weather
day
stratus – low, gray clouds that have flat or layered shape
* Know how wind, water and ice shape and reshape Earth’s land surface by
eroding rocks and soil in some areas and depositing them in other areas
producing characteristic landforms (dunes, deltas, moraines).
* Know how freezing, thawing and plant growth reshape the land surface by
causing the weathering of rock. How wind, water and ice break down rocks.
* Know changes and evidence of changes on Earth’s surface in terms of
slow processes (erosion, weathering, mountain building, deposition, dunes,
deltas, moraines) and rapid processes (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes,
landslides).