7th Grade

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7th Grade Unit 8 Natural Events that Change
the Environment Lesson 1 Impact of
Catastrophic Events on the Earth Vocabulary of
Instruction
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1. Catastrophic Event

• Are sudden, natural or man-made situations where
  change and destruction may occur without prior
  knowledge or preparation. 
• Ex
• Supervolcano

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2. Drought

• Long periods of usually low precipitation
  (rainfall).

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3. Earthquake

• The shaking and trembling that
• result from the
• sudden movement
• of the earths crust (Rock beneath
• Earths surface).

San Andreas Fault, California
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4. Equilibrium

• A state at which opposing forces in a system are
  equally balanced or stable.

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5. Flood

• Is when a body of water suddenly increases in
  volume, sending water over its banks into nearby
  land that is normally dry.

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6. Hurricane

• A powerful tropical storm with heavy rains and
  winds with speeds of 119 kilometers per hour (74
  miles) or higher. The winds rotate around an area
  of calm known as the eye.

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7. Natural Disaster

• Any sudden event that results from Earth
  processes and that can cause damage or endanger
  human life.

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8. Tornado

• A rapidly whirling, funnel-shaped cloud that
  sometimes develops during a violent thunderstorm
  and reaches down from a storm cloud to touch the
  Earths surface.

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9. Tsunami

• Is a very large sea wave, or series of waves,
  produced by underwater earth quake or volcanic
  eruption.

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10. Volcano

• An opening in the earth's crust through which
  molten lava, ash, and hot gases are ejected
  during the eruption.

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11. Wildfires

• A raging, rapidly spreading fire.