Chapter 1, Section 1 Vocabulary & Terms

Includes the islands of the Caribbean and the countries that connect North and South America.

• South America

• spatial thinking

• Central America & the Caribbean

• North America

A large landmass on Earth's surface; Earth has seven of them.

• continent

• hemisphere

• ocean

• equator

The position of a place in relation to other places.

• geographic pattern

• spatial thinking

• absolute location

• relative location

The exact point where a place is located, identified by latitude and longitude coordinates.

• relative location

• absolute location

• spatial thinking

• geographic pattern

A group of places with common traits.

• geographic pattern

• continent

• region

• legend

Also called a key, explains what the symbols on a map or a globe represent.

• continent

• spatial thinking

• legend

• absolute location

Includes Brazil, a growing economic power, and the Amazon Rain Forest, the world's largest tropical rain forest.

• South America

• Central America & the Caribbean

• North America

• spatial thinking

Contains the United States, Canada, and Mexico, along with the Great lakes-the largest group of freshwater lakes.

• spatial thinking

• South America

• North America

• Central America and the Caribbean

A similarity among places.

• geographic pattern

• relative location

• spatial thinking

• legend

A way of thinking about space on Earth's surface, including where places are located and why they are there.

• geographic pattern

• relative location

• spatial thinking

• region