Mapping the World
This imaginary line circles the middle of the Earth like a belt, dividing it into Northern and Southern Hemispheres
What is the Equator?
This is a large, flat area of land that is usually higher than the surrounding land; the "Altiplano" in the Andes is a famous example.
What is a plateau?
The Amazon Rainforest is famous for this—the variety of different species of plants and animals living in one area.
What is biodiversity?
Instead of eating what they grow, farmers produce these items—like coffee or sugar—specifically to sell for a profit.
What are cash crops?
In Latin American history, this term describes a military leader or "strongman" who ruled with absolute power.
What is a caudillo?
These lines run East and West (side-to-side) and are used to measure distance North or South of the Equator.
What is latitude?
Central America is this type of landform—a narrow strip of land with water on both sides that connects two larger landmasses.
What is an isthmus?
If a soccer field were built where a forest used to be, people might later try this process of planting trees to restore the forest.
What is reforestation?
This is a large farm or estate, often found in tropical areas, that specializes in growing one or two specific crops.
What is a plantation?
This refers to a member of a small, independent group that uses "hit-and-run" tactics to fight a larger, traditional army.
What is a guerrilla?
Unlike the Equator, this starting line for longitude runs through Greenwich, England, from the North Pole to the South Pole.
What is the Prime Meridian?
This landform is found at the mouth of a river, like the Amazon, where silt and sand build up into a triangle shape.
What is a delta?
Many colorful macaws and jaguars live in these wide, flat areas of land that have low relief and few trees.
What are plains?
This is an area where goods can be traded, handled, and manufactured without paying high taxes or "customs" duties.
What is a free-trade zone?
Many caudillos came to power after these—sudden, often violent, overthrows of a government
What is a coup?
These lines run "long" ways (North to South) and are used to help find a location's exact position on a map.
What is longitude?
This is the submerged, relatively shallow edge of a continent that extends out into the ocean before dropping off.
What is a continental shelf?
This environmental issue is the opposite of reforestation and often happens to make room for cattle or farming.
What is deforestation?
This type of trade agreement helps countries in the Americas swap goods more easily.
What is a free-trade agreement?
This is a form of government where the leader has total control and the citizens have very few rights.
What is a dictatorship?
This is the overarching study of the Earth's physical features, atmosphere, and how human activity affects both.
What is geography?
While South America has tropical heat, these massive, slow-moving bodies of ice once carved out landforms in the far southern regions.
What is a glacier?
Scientists study how the Andes Mountains affect the "rain shadow," which is a key part of this landform's physical geography.
What is a plateau?
When a country focuses on growing only one cash crop for export, they become vulnerable to this—a sudden drop in global prices.
What is economic dependence?
This is the name for the type of warfare practiced by small groups in the mountains or jungles of Latin America to hide from the government.
What is guerrilla warfare?