Geography technical vocabulary

Here are a list of technical vocabulary your child might encounter during their geography journey at Sherwood.  

Vocabulary is taught throughout the units of work and children are encouraged to explore new vocabulary.

  • active volcano: a volcano that has had an eruption in the last 10,000 years, and it is possible it may erupt in the future
  • altitude: the height of something above sea level
  • Amazon Basin: the area drained by the River Amazon and all of its tributaries
  • Amazon River: the longest river in South America. It flows through Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil
  • ancient: something that belongs to the past, and is often no longer in existence
  • Antarctic: a polar region in the South Pole
  • Antarctic circle: imaginary line/circle about 66.5° south of the Equator
  • Arctic: a polar region in the North Pole
  • Arctic circle: imaginary line/circle about 66.5° north of the Equator

 

  • bay: an indentation of a shoreline. Usually of softer rock
  • beach: a landform by the sea. usually sand and/or rock
  • biome: geographical area defined by its climate, plant and animal life and the activities of the people who live there

 

  • Channel: a landform, it is the outline of the path that a river takes
  • city: a large town or human settlement.
  • cliff: a vertical or near vertical rock feature, usually on the coast
  • climate: weather patterns in a place over a long period, such as seasonal rainfall, sunshine and temperatures
  • clock: an instrument for measuring and recording time
  • coast: the region where land meets sea
  • colour words: red, brown, yellow, green etc.
  • common: land that everyone can use
  • compass points: points on a magnetic compass marking the four main directions: North, South, East, West
  • condensation: the change of a state of matter – from gas to liquid
  • confluence: the meeting of two or more streams of water
  • continent: land mass defined by physical, human, or cultural features: Europe, Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Oceania, North America or South America
  • coral: marine invertebrates that typically live in compact colonies in the sea
  • country: political area defined by physical, human or cultural features
  • crater: a cup-shaped depression in the surface of the earth, caused by volcanic activity’

 

  • day: time from sunrise to sunset each day, in relation to the Earth’s rotation on its axis
  • descriptive temperature words: warm, cold, cool, dry, hot etc.
  • desert: A dry area of land which receives very little rain or precipitation
  • dock: a structure for handling boats and ships and their cargo
  • dormant volcano: a volcano that has not erupted in the last 10,000 years, but it is possible that it will erupt in the future
  • drought: period with very little or no rain
  • dunes: sandy mounds by the sea or in a desert

 

  • earthquake: movements, fractures and vibrations in the earth’s crust as tectonic plates move
  • endangered: a species which is at risk of becoming extinct
  • environment: conditions to which a plant, animal or person is adapted
  • equator: imaginary line/circle of latitude around the Earth, midway between North and South Poles, dividing the Earth into Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The Equator lies at 0° latitude: the midday Sun is always high in the sky. Because the sun is never far from being overhead, the Sun’s rays are very concentrated and so temperatures are high
  • erosion: a process where the surface of the earth is worn away by, e.g. water, wind, waves etc.
  • eruption: the ejection of rock and gas from a volcano
  • estuary: where the mouth of a river broadens as it meets the sea
  • evaporation: the change of a state of matter – from liquid to gas
  • extinct volcano: a volcano that has not had an eruption in the last 10,000 years, and will not erupt in the future

 

  • far: distant
  • farm: where animals and crops are raised and grown
  • fauna: animals native to an area, such as birds, reptiles and insects
  • flora: plants native to an area, such as trees, climbers, flowers and grasses
  • forest: large area covered with trees

 

  • glacier: a mass of ice that moves very slowly down from mountains
  • Global Positioning Systems (GPS): internationally used way of pinpointing an exact location on the Earth’s surface using space-based satellite technology
  • grassland: large area covered with grasses

 

  • harbour: a sheltered port where boats can dock
  • headland: promontory of land jutting into the sea. Usually of harder rock
  • high street: an area of a town where many of the shops and businesses are found
  • human feature: Somethignt that has been built by humans and would not have existed in nature without humans.

 

  • infiltration: the process where water seeps into the ground (soil or rock)
  • International Date Line (iDl): a line of latitude. It is an imaginary north-to-south line/circle running through the Pacific Ocean, approximately along the 180° meridian from avoiding land

 

  • key: symbols on a map, and what they mean

 

  • latitude: imaginary horizontal line used to show NSS position on the Earth’s surface
  • lava: molten, fluid rock that is ejected from a volcano and solidifies as it cools
  • lines of latitude: imaginary parallel lines/circles, horizontal to the Equator, that never meet, and get smaller towards the Poles
  • lines of longitude: imaginary north-to-south lines/ circles, meeting at the North and South Poles to make segments. They are all the same length and go from pole to pole
  • longitude: imaginary vertical line used to show E-W position on the Earth’s surface

 

  • man-made: something built by humans
  • map: plan of a place, from above
  • migration: the movement of people or animals from one place to another
  • modern: something that belongs to the present
  • mountain: large landform, often with a peak, rising and earth rising high above the surrounding area; higher and steeper than a hill
  • mountain range: a chain of mountains

 

  • natural: the opposite of man-made, something created naturally through a process of the earth, such as wind, water, volcanoes, earthquakes or plants growing.
  • near: close
  • night: time from sunset to sunrise each day, in relation to the Earth’s rotation on its axis
  • North Pole: the most northerly place of the Earth
  • north, south, east, west: compass points, locational vocabulary
  • Northern Hemisphere: half of the Earth north of the Equator

 

  • ocean: a body of salt water
  • often: many times
  • Ordnance Survey (OS) grid references: the UK is covered by a grid of maps that are given letters.

 

  • park: land or large garden where people walk or play
  • passport: a document that entitles you to travel to different countries.
  • peak: the top of a mountain
  • percolation: the movement of rainwater through soil and rock
  • Physical feature: naturally occurring, e.g. rivers, mountains, lakes
  • pier: a structure built on posts that extends out to sea
  • plan: outlines of a room or rooms, from above
  • plant: a living organism that gets its food through photosynthesis
  • plate boundary: where two tectonic plates meet
  • port: a place where ships load or unload
  • precipitation: forms of water that fall through the sky, e.g. rain, snow, sleet etc.
  • Prime Meridian (Greenwich Meridian, PM): imaginary line/circle passing through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, London, marking 0° longitude
  • processed: food that has been treated by chemicals or changed in some way
  • promenade: a public walk by the seaside

 

  • quay: a solid structure built parallel to the shoreline where boats can dock

 

  • rainfall: measured level of water that has fallen as rain, snow, sleet or hail in a given period
  • rarely: not often
  • remote: a location far away from cities or towns – away from people and populations
  • Richter scale: a scale to measure the magnitude of an earthquake
  • river: natural watercourse, flowing downhill towards the sea, ocean or a lake
  • rock pool: an area by the shoreline that is filled with seawater at high tide, and exists as a separate pool at low tide
  • Rockies: another name for the Rocky Mountains These are a mountain range in North America that stretches N-S across Canada and the USA
  • run-off: water that flows over the earth and does not evaporate away or filter into the ground

 

  • salt marsh: a coastal wetland that flooded by salt water at high tide and drained at low tide’
  • sand: Fine particles of rocks and stones
  • school: building where children learn
  • scree: a pile of rock material that has eroded off a cliff and fallen to the base
  • seaside: a tourist resort by the coast
  • seasons: a time of year marked by certain conditions: spring, summer, autumn, winter
  • slum: a densely-populated and run-down area of a city, associated with poverty
  • source: the original point where a river begins
  • South Pole: the most southerly place of the Earth.
  • Southern Hemisphere: half of the Earth south of the Equator
  • symbol: picture on a map to show a feature on land

 

  • tectonic plate: a massive slab of rock that ‘floats’ on top of the mantle (and inner layer) of the Earth
  • temperature: measured level of heat or cold in the air
  • tide: the periodic rise and fall of the sea caused by the movement of the moon and the sun
  • time zone: area between lines of longitude following a standard time
  • tourism: a worldwide industry based on travel for leisure, pleasure, business, and other reasons that provides information, amenities, attractions, accommodation etc.
  • tributary: a river or stream that flows into a larger river
  • tropic of Cancer: imaginary line/circle about 23.5° north of the Equator; the furthest north where the Sun appears overhead once a year
  • tropic of Capricorn: imaginary line/circle about 23.5° south of the Equator; the furthest south that the Sun appears overhead once a year.
  • tropical: to do with the region on either side of the Equator, between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
  • tsunami: a series of waves of water caused by the movement of tectonic plates below the surface
  • tundra: land where the soil beneath the surface is frozen all year and trees cannot survive the low temperatures and short growing season

 

  • vegetation: area where similar types of plant life grow, adapted to the conditions there
  • village: place where people live, smaller than a town.
  • volcano: a vent in the earth’s crust where lava, steam and ash is ejected during an eruption.

 

  • weather: conditions in the atmosphere on a particular day, such as temperature, windiness, rainfall, hours of sunshine or cloud cover.
  • weather words: sun, rain, clouds, rainbow etc.
  • wetland: swamp or marsh near a river or coast
  • wild: land not farmed, used for parks or gardens, or built on
  • wood: land covered with trees, smaller than a forest

Contact Us

Sherwood Primary School, Sherwood Way, Fulwood, Preston, PR2 9GA

Mrs J Maddock | Tel: 01772 719093 | Email: admin@sherwood.lancs.sch.uk

SEND Enquiries | Mrs K Hobson | Email: k.hobson@sherwood.lancs.sch.uk