Vocabulary and Big Ideas
Term
Definition
Examples
Authoritarian State
A country characterized by or favoring
absolute obedience to authority and
opposed to individual freedom.

Cuba
Dictatorship
A form of government in which one
ruler has absolute power.

Cuba under Fidel Castro
International Organization
A worldwide alliance of countries
working toward a common goal.


Red Cross/Red Crescent
United Nations
International Red Cross/Red Crescent
Society
A worldwide non-profit organization
formed to help people affected by war
or natural disasters.



Hurricane relief
Tsunami relief
Earthquake relief
North America Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA)
An agreement between Canada,
Mexico, and the United States that
reduces barriers to trade between its
member nations.

NAFTA is integrating the
economies of Canada, Mexico,
and the U.S.A.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO)
An alliance of countries from North
America and Europe that formed at the
end of WWII committed to
safeguarding the freedom and security
of its member countries by political
and military means.

NATO helps member countries
to problem solve, provide for
defense, and manage crisis.
Parliamentary System
A type of government in which power
is concentrated in a legislature. The
legislature selects one of its members
usually called a prime minister, as the
nation's principal leader.

Canada
Presidential System
A form of government in which the
legislative and executive branches
operate independently of each other.
The power is distributed through a
system of checks and balances.


United States
Mexico
Representative Democracy
A system of government in which the
people choose political leaders to make
policy decisions on their behalf.

Canada
United Nations
A global association of organizations
that work together to promote respect
for human rights, protect the
environment, fight disease, and reduce
poverty around the world.

Today nearly every nation in
the world belongs to the U.N.
Economics Vocabulary and Big Ideas
Term
Definition
Examples
Business Firm
An organization that produces
and sells goods and services.


Nike
Toyota
Command Economy
An economy in which the government
makes the decisions about what, where,
how and how much is produced and
who will get what is produced.

Cuba
Economic Institution
An organization created for a specific
economic purpose, making decisions
about the consumption and production
of resources that influence the
economy.






Households
Businesses
Banks
Labor Unions
Federal Reserve
U.S. Treasury
Economic Role of the Government
Government actions that influence
what is produced, how it is produced,
and who recieves the benefit of
production by making rules and
enforcing them.




Trade embargo
Taxation
Import/export regulation
Trade agreements
Economy
All the producers and consumers
interacting in a society to produce,
distribute, and consume goods and
services, including the management of
the income, supplies, and expenses of a
society.









Production of Life Savers (
2004 - headquarters moved
from Holland, MI to Canada):
Farmer
Raw materials buyer
Accountant
Machine operator
Inspector
Truck driver
Store clerk
Children/parents as consumers
Financial Institution
An established organization that deals
with money.



Bank
Credit Union
Investment Company
Households
Individuals or family units who live
together and buy and consume goods
and services.

The people with whom you live
International Trade
The exchange of goods and services
between/among nations around the
world.

United States buys: Tomatoes
from Mexico Lumber/paper
from Canada Beef from
Argentina
Labor Unions
An organization that represents
workers to help improve their wages
and working conditions.


UAW (United Auto Workers)
Teamsters
Market Economy
An economic system in which
producers and consumers decide what
is produced, how, and for whom.



United States
Canada
Great Britain
Mixed Economy
An economic system that combines
elements of market and command
economic systems.

Canada and many other
countries
Potential Contribution
The possible good, service or item that
can be given beyond the current
contribution.

A Latin American country that
presently supplies cacao beans
to the U.S. and could also
provide beef if ranching was
developed
Scarcity
The condition that occurs when wants
are unlimited, while resources needed
to produce those goods and services are
limited.



Oil/gasoline
Orange juice after a hurricane
Vaccines and medicines in
some countries
Traditional Economy
An economy that is based on customs
and traditions; the way things have
been done in the past.

Bartering in remote areas of
Latin America; primarily
agriculture, fishing, hunting.
Geography Vocabulary and Big Ideas
Term
Definition
Examples
Belief System
A set of opinions about what is
considered to be true and trustworthy.



Communism
Catholicism
Democracy
Climate Region
An area that shares similar long-term
trends in weather including
temperature, precipitation, winds, etc.


Desert
Tundra
Cultural Region
An area of earth that shares common
human characteristics such as
language, religion, history or politics.

Mexico is a predominately
Spanish-speaking country
Economic Connection
A person or group's relationship to the
production, and distribution of goods
and services.

A wheat farmer and a flour mill
Economic Region
An area of the Earth that shares the
method of organizing, the production,
consumption, and distribution of goods
and services.


Silicon Valley in California
Coffee and bananas in Latin
America
Medicines from the South
American rainforests
Ecosystem
A system formed by the interaction of
all living organisms (plants, animals,
and humans) with each other and with
the factors of the environment in which
they live.

Rainforest in Brazil
Gender Roles
A particular belief or view of males
and females in a group based on
cultural values and traditions.

Only men can be priests in the
Catholic religion
Global Consequences
Outcomes that are experienced
throughout the world.

Global Warming
Human/Environment Interaction
How people interact with and change
their environment; how people depend
on, modify, and adapt to
their environment.

People build a bridge across a
river
Deforestation
Language
A standard oral or written means of
communicating ideas or feelings.

In Panama a major way of
speaking or writing
(communicating) is Spanish
Physical Feature
A natural characteristic of the earth.


A landform
A mountain
Physical Region
An area that shares similar natural

The Great Lakes


features.



Prairie provinces/bread basket
Andes Mountain region
Maritime provinces
Political Region
An area where a group of people share
a similar belief about the role of
government.

Quebec
Political Connection
A person or group's relationship with a
set of ideas or particular government
official.


Democrat
NAFTA members
Population
Total number of people in an area.

Number of students in your
class
20 million people in Mexico
City

Regional Environment
The characteristics of an area such as
climate and vegetation.



Western Hemisphere
The half of the earth located west of
the Prime Meridian to the 180*
meridian.

Carnival in Rio de Janeiro
Fireworks on the 4th of July in
the U.S.A.
Quincinera
Includes North and South
America
History Vocabulary and Big Ideas
Term
Contemporary Condition
Definition
A recent or modern social issue in the
Western Hemisphere.
Examples






Immigration
Quebec independence
movement
Global warming
Water rights and division
Drug Trade
Deforestation
Crimes against Humanity
Actions that are agreed to universally
horrible by all people.



Enslavements
Massacres
Native peoples forced to leave
their land and change their
cultural practices
Discrimination
A showing of favoritism or prejudice
based on category or class.

Treatment of Native peoples by
invading groups (Acadians,
Mestizo, Native American
tribes)
Historical Origins
People and events of the past that
influenced future events.


French colonization of Quebec
Spanish colonization of Latin
America
Introduction of slavery into the
American colonies

Causing pain or suffering to an
individual or group of people based on
their race, religion, political beliefs, or
gender.


Imprisonment of the people
who spoke out against Castro
Civil war in Guatemala
Responses of Individuals
How and individual responds to a
specific situation or event


Crimes against Humanity
Discrimination
Violation of Human Dignity
The disrespectful or offensive
treatment of a person's human rights.


Child labor
Slavery
Persecution
Grade 6 Inquiry and Decision Making Vocabulary
Term
Definition
Examples
International Public Policy Issues
An issue the government must discuss
and make decisions on, based on how it
affects the lives of citizens between
and among various nations




Deforestation
Water Pollution
Global Warming
Tariffs
National Public Policy Issues
An issue the government must discuss
and make decisions about, based on
how it affects the lives of citizens in a
nation


Welfare/Poverty
Immigration