| A | B |
|---|
| smallpox | Disease wipes out Native American populations. |
| Land Bridge | This is how the first Americans got here. |
| Maya | Early Native American civilization on the Yucatan peninsula. Astonomers and timekeepers. |
| Pok-a-tok | Sacred Mayan ball game. Losers were sometimes sacrificed. |
| Slash and burn | Only way to really farm in the rainforest |
| Chichen-Itza | Mayan religious center with a cool pyramid. |
| December 23rd, 2012 | Mayan day of doom! |
| Inca | Built a 2,500 mile long empire in the Andes mountains. |
| terrace farming | Cutting steps into mountains for farming. |
| llamas | Related to the camel and the work animal of the Andes. |
| Road system | Suspension bridges, roads and way stations through the Andes. |
| quipas | Ropes and knots for keeping record of goods for trade. |
| Machu Picchu | Incan religious center accidently discovered in 1911. |
| Aztecs | Warlike people who conquer an empire in Mexico. |
| Huitzilopochtli | Aztec sun and war god. Needed constant feeding. |
| Flowery Death | Honor of being sacrificed to the gods. |
| obsidian swords | Black, volcanic rock. Extremely sharp but brittle. |
| tribute | Forcing a nation to pay great sums to prevent invasion. |
| Tenochtitlan | Great capital city of the Aztecs 300,000 strong. |
| Hernando Cortez | Spanish conquistador who landed in Mexico in 1519 A.D. Has an army of 500 men, 16 horses and 14 cannon. |
| El Dorado | legendary 7 cities of gold in the Americas. |
| Conquistadors | conquerors. Given the right by Spain to hunt for and keep 1/5 of all treasure found. |
| Montezuma | Aztec emperor! |
| Quetzalcoatl | white skinned god who once ruled over the Aztecs. Sailed east and vowed to return someday. |
| Pizarro | Conquistador who conquers the Incas with 350 men. Tons of Gold. |
| heiroglyphs | Mayan writing system |
| eclipses | The Maya were able to predict them. |
| Andes | Mountain chain in S. America where the Inca built their civilization. |
| Amazon river | Mightiest river in the world |
| canopy | Primary layer of the rainforest. In the trees. |
| tapir | Looks like a pig horse. Usually brown with a mobile snout. |
| capybara | Largest rodent in the world. |
| sloths | Move so slowly that moss grows on them. |
| Poison arrow dart frogs | Deadly, bright colored frog. |
| Anacondas | Rumors they may grow up to 100 feet long. Crush their prey then swallow. |
| piranha | Razor sharp teeth and clean up the Amazon. |
| vampire bat | Saliva is a powerful anti-coagulent. They like blood. |
| army ants | Capture other colonies and enslave other ants. Devour all in their path. |
| candiru | Tiny, tiny catfish. Lodges in your privates. I think I am going to be sick. |
| Greenhouse effect | Build-up of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere causing climate change. Controversial so nothing gets done. |
