North and South America

Unit Review Sheet

Facts and Definitions

Lesson 1: Geography of North America

• North America is a large continent that includes the countries of Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico.
• Central America is part of North America and contains the countries of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.
• The islands of the Caribbean are part of North America; these include Cuba, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the self-governing commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the many island nations of the Lesser Antilles in the south.

Lesson 2: North America Economies

• Economics is the study of how things are made, bought, sold, and used.
• Natural resources are resources that are found in nature.
• Capital resources are resources that must be purchased or built to support economic production.
• Human resources are the people and/or the human attributes (strength, creativity, skills, education) that are required for production.

Lesson 3: The Cultures of North America

• In Canada, Remembrance Day is an official holiday held on November 11 to commemorate the sacrifices of military personnel and civilians during wartime.
• In Mexico, communities celebrate El Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) each November. Families come together to celebrate the lives of the deceased, preparing altars with their loved ones' favorite foods and colorful decorations and visiting grave sites.
• Citizens of the United States, like their counterparts in Canada and Mexico, celebrate a number of holidays and festivals throughout the year.

Lesson 4: Geography of Central America, The Caribbean, and South America

• South America includes Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina.
• Central American countries include Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
• The Caribbean countries include Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.
• Colonization and immigration, particularly from Spain and Portugal, have been important to the language, history, and culture of South America.

Lesson 5: Governments in Latin America

• An autocracy is a government where all the power is controlled by one person.
• An oligarchy is a government where all the power is in a small group of people.
• A democracy is a government where most citizens can vote and elect people to run the country in a certain way.
• In a direct democracy, citizens vote for every decision the government makes.
• In a representative democracy, citizens vote for people who will make decisions in government.
• An aristocracy is a country ruled by people who claim to be better than others.
• A theocracy is a government ruled by religious leaders who make the country's laws the same as their religion.
• Many countries in South America had revolutions leading to their form of government today.

Lesson 6: Economic Systems of Central and South America

• The natural resources of South American countries are important to their economies.
• The economy is influenced by factors such as natural resources, industry, agriculture, exports, and imports.
• Industry is when people make things in factories or other places to sell to others, like cars, clothes, and toys.
• Agriculture is the work of growing plants and raising animals for food and other products.
• Exports are goods a country sells to other countries, while imports are goods a country buys from other countries.
• Economic activities that take place in the fragile environment of the rainforest have the potential to damage that ecosystem.

Lesson 7: Central and South American Culture

• Cultures in South America often blend the traditions of native people, of the European people who colonized the continent (largely from Spain), and of other immigrants.

Final Project: Embassy Reception or Trivia Game

• When studying for your test, you should find a quiet place with few distractions.
• Review your activity pages, vocabulary, maps, and the "Things to Know" sections from earlier lessons in preparation for your unit test.
• Be sure to look over the rubric for your final project regularly throughout the planning process and anytime that you are working on components of your project.