Exploration and Navigation Terms

Front

Astrolabe

Back

A tool that measures the positions of the stars or the sun.

Front

Caravans

Back

A group of people or animals, often traders, traveling together across a desert in Asia or North Africa.

Front

Caravel

Back

A small, fast Spanish or Portuguese sailing ship of the 15th or 17th centuries

Front

Chronometer

Back

An instrument for measuring time, especially one designed to keep accurate time despite motion or variations in temperature, humidity, and air pressure.

Front

Circumnavigate

Back

To sail all the way around something (such as the world)

Front

Colony

Back

A group of people from one country who establish a settlement in another territory or land.

Front

Isthmus

Back

A strip of land that connects two larger lands

Front

Merchant

Back

People who trade, buy, and sell to earn a living.

Front

Middle Ages

Back

The period of European history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West (5th century) to the fall of Constantinople (1453).

Front

Navigation

Back

The act or process of planning out a route, or directing the travels of a vehicle such as a ship, car, or plane