click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
unit 1 vocbulary
Term | Definition |
---|---|
location | the site or position of a place or a thing |
environment | the surroundings in which people , plants , or animals live |
plain | a large area of flat, or nearly flat, land |
barrier island | a narrow island between the mainland and the ocean |
escarpment | a steep slope or cliff |
plateau | an area of high, flat land |
fault line | a crack in Earth's surface caused by moving plates |
aquifers | a layer of rock or gravel that absorbs rainfall and keeps it flowing underground |
basin | a sunken area in a plateau found between mountain ranges |
elevation | height above sea level |
arid | lacking enough water for things to grow |
petroleum | a type of oil that is the source for gasoline |
drought | a period of lower than normal precipitation |
erosion | the wearing away of Earth's surface by the movement of water, wind, ice, and gravity |
mesa | a small, high plateau |
butte | a flat-topped hill, smaller than a mesa |
agribusiness | large-scale farming including production, processing, and distribution |
nomad | person who moves from place to place |
archaeologist | scientist who studies the physical remains of the past |
artifact | any objects made or used by humans such as tools, pottery, bones, and shells |
hunter-gatherer | person who lives by hunting and gathering food, rather than growing it |
shaman | person believed to have the power to summon spirts and to heal the sick |
confederacy | a union of different groups |
matrilineal | referring to a group that trances kinship through the mother's line |
adobe | a mix of sun-dried earth and straw used to build houses |
patrilineal | referring to a group that traces kinship through the father's line |
tepee | a portable home made of tanned bison hides fastened to a framework of ploes |
tribe | a tribe is a number of bands that follow the same leader and share the same territory and culture |
gulf indians | Coahuiltecans, Karankawas (harshest environment, hunter-gatherers, ate snakes, lizards, snails, armadillos, etc., greatly affected by European diseases) |
plains Indians | Kiowas, Apache, Comanche, Tonkawas (Nomadic, followed the buffalo, wore buffalo skin clothing and lived in tepees) |
Puebloan Indians | Chochos, Tiguas, Adobe (Lived in the Mountain & basin region of Texas where there was very little plant life. They ate seeds, cactus, small animals, lived in pueblos built adobe style with clay) |
Southeastern indians | Wichita, Atakapans, Caddo ( Lived in the piney woods area of Texas, had face & body tattoos, were hunter-gatherers) |
era | a period of time |
Pre-history Era | This era is the prehistory of Texas up to the point of contact with Europeans in 1528.This era includes natural geologic history as well as Native American history. |
Age of Contact | 1528-1690 -This era Includes the encounters of Cabeza de Vaca and the numerous expeditions over the next 150 years that define what the Europeans and American Indians understood about each other and Texas |
Spanish Colonial Era | 1690-1821- This era deals with the efforts of Spain to bring Texas under Spanish control. The Spanish established missions, town, ranches, and military posts in South Central and East Texas |
Ogallala Aquifer | a large aquifer, or an underground layer of porous rock that contains water, that stretches from South Dakota to Central Texas |
Austin | the capital of Texas, located in Central Texas in the Coastal Plains region |
Rio Grande Valley | an area at the southern tip of Texas along the northern bank of the Rio Grande River as it nears the Gulf of Mexico |
Beringia | a region now covered in water that was exposed during the last ice age, it included the Bering Strait that connects Alaska and Asia |
Migrate | To move from one place to another for social, economical, or religious reasons |
middle man | a dealer or agent acting as a go-between for the producers of goods and retailers or consumers |