North/Central America

In this unit, students learn about the USA, Canada, and Mexico as a cultural region. The long history of conquest, invasion, colonization, and immigration have influenced the multicultural nature of the region and why people here value their freedoms today. Students will explore the physical geography of the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and how it influences the economic development of the regions within those countries. Students will also examine how values, beliefs and past events have influenced history, government, economics, and cultures of North America and how that influence has grown across the world.

Important Vocabulary for this Unit

Democratic republic: A form of government where the people elect representatives to make the laws.

    • My mom demonstrated her right as a citizen living in a democratic republic when she voted for a new president.

Developed economy: A wealthy country with quality education, high literacy, good health care, and access to technology.

    • I feel very lucky to live in a developed economy where I have access to hospitals and a good education.

Developing economy: A poor country with less educated people, low literacy rates (few people who can read), limited access to health care, and less access to technology.

    • Developing economies often have many people who live in poverty due to poor education and low working wages.

Diversity/diverse: A range of different things; can be about race, religion, culture, ethnicity, and so on.

    • There is a great diversity of languages spoken in the United States.
    • The United States is very diverse because Americans speak many different languages.

Limited government: A government that is limited by its people; the government cannot do whatever it wants

    • Americans vote for their leaders in elections because we have a limited government.

Monarchy: A form of government ruled by a king or a queen.

    • The American Revolution was a war fought to get rid of the British monarchy.

Population density: The amount of people living within a certain area (usually measured per square mile).

    • Rural areas have a very low population density because very few people live there.

Poverty: Lacking (not having enough of) or not having the basic necessities of life- food/water, shelter, jobs, clothing.

    • In parts of Africa, people living in severe poverty don’t have access to clean drinking water.

Scarce/scarcity: Not having enough, lacking.

    • In the Sahara Desert, there is a scarcity of water.

Supply and demand: The price of a product/service will be based on how much of your product you have (the supply) and how much the customer wants it (the demand)

    • The price of apples went down because HEB had too much supply but demand never increased.

Unlimited government: A government that has unlimited power over its people

    • North Koreans live under an unlimited government, and they cannot say anything negative about their leader.