Vocabulary in Curriculum

apothecary - a chest of medicines; a pharmacy; a person who prepared and sold medicines

cache - buried hiding place for supplies and equipment -- to lighten the load and to have a supply depot available for the return journey

canoe - large round-bottomed dugout, hollowed out from a large tree or built to a frame and covered with bark or skins (much larger than modern day canoes)  

cartographer - a person who makes maps

celestial - pertaining to the sky

Celestial Navigation - using heavenly bodies such as the north star, moon and sun to find one’s position  

cipher - a method of transforming a text in order to conceal its meaning; message in code

Degree - measurement for latitude and longitude

Equator - imaginary line east to west around the world midway between the north and South poles.  Latitude at the equator is 0 degrees.  The equator divides the earth into the north and south hemispheres.

fauna - animals

flora - plants

headwaters - waters from which a river rises

horizon - line where the land or water and the sky seem to meet

keelboat - a shallow covered barge-like riverboat that could be sailed, rowed, poled or towed.  The keelboat used by Lewis and Clark could carry 12 tons in the hold, had a 32-foot-high mast, was 55 feet long, and had 11 benches for oarsmen.

latitude - the distance north or south of the equator, designated in degrees (0 to 90 degrees). On a globe and map, latitude lines run east and west.

longitude - the distance east or west of the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England, designated in degrees (0-180 degrees).  On a globe and map, longitude lines run north and south.

North Star – called Polaris or Polestar; used to find latitude in the Northern Hemisphere

octant - navigational instrument used for measuring celestial bodies

pirogue - big flat-bottomed masted row boats built from planks and designed for shallow waters (somewhat different from a modern day pirogue -- a canoe made from a hollowed tree trunk)

portage - carrying supplies and canoes overland between waterways

Prime Meridian - imaginary line connecting the North and South Poles, designated as 0 degrees longitude, established to be at Greenwich, England, and from which other longitudes are determined east and west

purge (the body) - to rid the body of impurities

sextant - navigational instrument used for measuring celestial bodies

terra incognita - unexplored country; unknown territory  

undaunted - fearless; courageous in the face of difficulty or danger

Ursa Major - constellation known as Great Bear or Big Dipper

Ursa Minor - constellation known as Little Bear or Little Dipper