The Amazon Teacher’s Guide
Vocabulary :: Resources
Amazon Basin The region drained by
the Amazon River and its tributaries
Andes Great mountain system that forms the backbone of South
America extending through the countries of Colombia, Venezuela,
Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina
anthropology The study of people and their cultures
apprentice A person who works for another in order
to learn a trade
biodiversity The variety of life on Earth
biomass The total mass or amount of living organisms
in a particular area or volume
botany The study of plants
canopy The layer of the forest formed by the crowns
of tall trees
culture The sum total of ways of living built up by
a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation
to another
decomposition The process by which dead plants and
animals are broken down into simpler elements (to rot, to
decay)
developed country A largely urban and industrialized
nation with high levels of income and education
diversity Variety of life
echolocation The use of reflected sound from an emitter
(such as a bat or dolphin) to locate objects
ecosystem A system made up of a community of anima]s,
plants, and bacteria and its interrelated physical and chemical
environment
equator An imaginary circle around the earth equally
distant at all points from the North Pole and the South Pole.
it divides the earth's surface into the Northern Hemisphere
and the Southern Hemisphere
ethnobotanist A scientist who studies the ways that
people use plants
exploitation The act of utilizing or turning to one's
own usc
fallow Left uncultivated or unplanted
fiber Any substance which may be separated into threads
or threadlike structures to be woven or spun. (Fibers are
extremely important to the survival of humankind. Rope, baskets,
clothing, paper, furniture and fishnets are just a few items
made of plant fibers)
genes The coded information in organisms’ cells that
makes species and individuals unique and that is transmitted
from one generation to the next
herbivore Plant-eating animal
indigenous Occurring naturally in a certain area. Indigenous
people is most often used to mean the tribal peoples, such
as Indians
immunity Resistance to a disease. The power to resist
infection
interdependency Mutual dependence
medicinal Plants that contain chemicals with curative
properties
myrmecologist A scientist who studies ants
photosynthesis The process by which green plants make
food
sediment Matter deposited by wind or water
shaman A tribal healer and/or doctor who has great
know]edge of the medicinal qualities of native plants
slash-and-burn agriculture Cutting down trees and then
burning them to clear land for agriculture
sustainable agriculture Agriculture that can be maintained
for many years through the efficient and wise use of resources
symbiosis The living together of two different organisms
in close association, especially where this is advantageous
to both
tributary A stream that flows into a larger stream
or body of water
westerner (in this context) A person from the U.S.
or Europe
Resources :: Vocabulary
Books
Biophilia, E.O. Wilson
The Diversity of Life, E.O. Wilson
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice, Mark Plotkin
Seeds of Change, Henry Hobhouse
The High Frontier, Mark Moffet
Vanishing Eden, edited by Edward Atkins
Jungles, edited by Edward S. Ayensu
Articles
Rainforest Remedies, Sierra, July/August 1991
They're Our Rain Forests Too, National Wildlife, April/May
1993
Wings (publication of the Xerces Society), Fall 1991
Window on the Wild, World Wildlife Fund
Videos
Eyewitness Jungle
The Living Planet, Jungles (Time/Life)
Twentieth Century Medicine Man
Acknowledgements
Written by Rebecca Rose
Illustration ©1997 Phil Roberts. All rights reserved
Amazon © 1997, 2003. All rights reserved.
