| A | B |
|---|
| indigenous people | natives of an area who have been conquered or dominated by others who came later |
| traditional culture | customs and a way of life handed down from ancestors |
| subsistence farming | farming carried out mainly to provide food for farm families....there is little left over to sell |
| adaptation | a change in a way of life to suit new conditions |
| adobe | a type of brick made with clay and straw dreid in the sun |
| slash and burn | a way of clearing land for farming that involves cutting down and burning trees and plants |
| rituals | a set of actions performed as part of a ceremony |
| migrant workers | a person who moves regularly in order to find work |
| barter | trade - a common way to obtain goods in a Mayan market |
| spatial inequality | the unequal distribution of wealth of resources in a geographic area so some are richer than others |
| plaza | an open square or market place |
| standard of living | the overall level of comfort & well being of a group or a country |
| aqueduct | a pipe or channel built to transport water from one place to another |
| urbanization | the movement of people from a rural to urban areas resulting in the growth of urban areas |
| rural decline | worsening economic conditions in the countryside including rising unemployment and growing poverty |
| communal lands | lands that are held in common by a group of people |
| unemployment | joblessness |
| volcano | a break in earth's crust where magma erupt from earth's interior |
| smog | a haze in the air caused by pollution especially the exhaust from car's and other vehicles |
| air quality | a condition of the air based on the amount of pollution in it |
| slum | an overcrowded dirty area of a city where the housing is in poor condition |
| tenement | a run-down apartment building |
| estates | a sizeable area of privately owned property with a large house |
| life expectancy | the average age that a person in a given population can expect to live to. |
| isthmus | a narrow strip of land that links to large land masses |
| empire | a group of territories, people or nations rules by a single authority |
| dictator | a leader who governs by force without the consent of the people |
| barter | conducting trade by exchanging goods or services instead of money |
| extreme weather | a term that refers to severe or unusual weather conditions |
| natural disaster | his is when great damage or loss of life occurs in an extreme weather event |
| meteorology | the scientific study of climate and weather patterns |
| tropical cyclone | a severe storm with high winds that spiral around a calm center. Depending on where they form, these are called hurricanes, typhoons or cyclones |
| atmosphere | the layer of air that surrounds the Earth |
| convection | the movement, or transfer of heat through a gas or liquid |
| current | the steady movement of air or water due to convection |
| prevailing winds | winds that usually blow in a certain direction |
| El Niño | a warm ocean current that flows off the west coast of South America every few years |
| condense | to lose heat from a vapor or gas into a liquid |
| tropical disturbance | a cluster of thunderstorms near the equator |
| tropical depression | a storm near the equator with winds moving in a circle at speeds up to 38 mph |
| tropical storm | a storm near the equator with winds moving in circles at speeds up to 39-73 mph |
| eye | the calm area at the center of a hurricane or other tropical cyclone |
| eye wall | the ring of thunderstorms that surrounds the eye or center of a hurricane or other tropical cyclone |
| rainbands | a band of dense clouds that swirls around the eye wall of a hurricane |
| storm surge | wall of water that is pushed ashore by a storm |
| landmass | a very large, unbroken area of land |
| ropical rainforest | a broadleaf evergreen forest found in wet and hot regions near the equator |
| land use conflict | disagreement over how to use a particular area of land |
| ecosystem | a community of all the living things in an area and the environment in which they live |
| forest floor | the bottom layer or ground of a forest |
| canopy | the thick layer or overlapping tree branches that make up the top layer of a forest |
| lower story | the middle layer of a forest consisting of shrubs and trees |
| biodiversity | the variety of plants and animals living in one area, or on Earth |
| deforestation | removing or clearing away the trees from a forest....often done for farming or ranching |
| sustainable development | using resources in ways that meet needs of people today without hurting the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Finding ways to use resource without using them up. |
| carbon-oxygen cycle | the process by which carbon and oxygen cycle among plants, people and the environment |
| environmentalist | a person who words to protect the natural world |
| ecotourism | a form of tourism that brings people to a unique ecosystem while trying to avoid the danger to these special places |
| reforestation | the replanting of trees in a formerly forested area by people or by nature |
| altitudinal zonation | the division of land into zones based on elevation, which helps determine climate and vegetation |
| snow line | the lowest elevation on mountains where snow remains year-round |
| terracing | the creation of flat areas on mountain slopes for the purpose of farming |
| tree line | the highest elevation where trees grow on a mountain |
| vertical trade | the trading of crops between lowland and highland areas |
| mestizo | mixture of indigenous and European peoples |
| navigable lake | a lake that is large and deep enough for big ships |
| tierra caliente | the lowest elevation in the Andes |
| tierra templada | the 2nd elevation zone in the Andes. pleasant, springlike climate year round |
| tierra fria | reaches elevations of 12,000 feet (VERY high!) Many natives live in this zone |
| tierra helada | frost country |
