1.
13: Number of original American states
2.
50: Number of American states
3.
Appalachain Mountains: the geologically oldest mountain system found in eastern North America
4.
Beringia: an ancient land bridge over which the earliest Americans are believed to have migrated from Asia into the Americas
5.
Canadian Shield: a huge, rocky region that curves around Hudson Bay like a giant horseshoe. The Shield covers half the land area of Canada.
6.
Checks and balances: A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power
7.
Continental Divide: mountain ridge in North America that separates river systems flowing toward opposite sides of a continent
8.
Everglades: a large subtropical swamp in southern Florida that is noted for its wildlife
9.
Great Lakes: a group of five freshwater lakes of the central North America between the United States and Canada; the lakes are Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior
10.
Great Plains: a vast prairie region extending from Alberta and Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada south through the west central United States into Texas
11.
Interior lowlands: rolling flatlands with many rivers, broad river valleys, and grassy hills
12.
Locks: sections of a waterway with closed gates where water levels are raised or lowered
13.
Mackenzie River: Canada's longest river; a part of a river syster that flows across the Northwest Territories to the Arctic Ocean
14.
Miranda Rights: rights guaranteed by the Constitution that police must tell arrestees about, especially the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney
15.
Mississippi River: longest and biggest river in US that has its source in Minnesota & its mouth in Louisiana
16.
Nomads: people with no permanent home; move from place to place in search of food
17.
Permafrost: ground that is permanently frozen
18.
Prevailing westerlies: winds that blow west to east between 30 and 60 degrees in the northern and southern hemispheres
19.
Rocky Mountains: Mountain range that begins in Alaska and runs south to Mexico
20.
Separation of Powers: the division of power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government
21.
St. Lawrence Seaway: system of locks, canals, and dams that allows ships to move from one water level to another completed in 1959; makes it easier to move goods from the US to Canada
22.
Tornado Alley: Great Plains area where tornadoes occur most, NE, IA,KS,OK,TX
23.
Transcontinental Railroad: Railroad that stretches across a continent from coast to coast
24.
Urban Sprawl: rapid expansion of a city into the countryside around the city
25.
Washington D.C.: the capital of the United States
