Exploration Game Questions

Part 1: The Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution

Copernicus came up with the idea that the _____ was at

the center of our solar system.

sun

This famous astronomer was forced to spend the later

years of his life under house arrest because of his refusal to take back his heliocentric

view of the galaxy. 

Galileo Galilei

This Englishman is known for coming up with the theory of

gravitation.

Sir Isaac Newton

This English philosopher wrote the

book Leviathan. He also has a famous cartoon tiger named

after him. 

Thomas Hobbes

This Dutch scientist was the first man to observe single celled organisms through a

microscope.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

This French Political thinker is known for his theory of

the separation of powers in government.

Montesquieu

This German astronomer discovered three laws of

planetary motion.

Johannes Kepler

This French Enlightenment thinker is famous for his

views of religious tolerance.

Voltaire 

This Scottish man is credited as being the father

of modern economics. He wrote the book The Wealth

of Nations.

Adam Smith

This English philosopher believed that everyone had a

right to life, liberty, and property.

John Locke

This Founding Father wrote the Declaration of

Independence and was the third President of the

United States.

Thomas Jefferson

This Founding Father invented the lightning rod and many other things. He

was also our first Ambassador to France.

Benjamin Franklin

This French mathematician has the Cartesian coordinate

system named after him.

René Descartes

This German composer and pianist lost his hearing later in life but was still able to

compose music.

Beethoven

This Austrian man composed over 600 works and greatly

influenced Beethoven.

Mozart

This FEMALE philosopher was an advocate of women's rights. She is best known for her book called A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. In this book she states that

women are not at all inferior to men.

Mary Wollstonecraft

This Englishman is credited with creating the scientific method. He also happens to

have a "tasty" last name.

Sir Francis Bacon

Part 2:  Exploration

This Viking man was the first European to land in the

Americas.

Leif Erikson

What is the process of taking over territory,

creating a government, and settling towns called?

colonization

What is the term for sailing completely around

something?

circumnavigate

This is the term for the exchange of people, plants,

and animals, and ideas between the Eastern

Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere. 

Columbian Exchange

What was the agreement signed by Spain and Portugal to split the known world in

half between them?

Treaty of Tordesillas

 This explorer was an Italian who sailed for Spain. In 1492

he was the first European since the Vikings to see the

Americas.

Columbus

This Spanish explorer's crew made it around the world, but he was killed in the

Philippine islands.

Magellan

North and South America are named after this

explorer.

Amerigo Vespucci

This Portuguese explorer was the first to find a way to get to India by sailing around the Cape of Good

Hope.

Vasco da Gama

This Spanish explorer was the first man to see the

Pacific Ocean

Vasco Nuñez de Balboa

John Cabot was Italian, but what country did he sail for?

England

This explorer found the area around what is modern day

New York.

Henry Hudson

This English captain was seen as a pirate by the

Spanish.

Sir Francis Drake

What did Leif Ericson name the land he found?

Vinland

What is the name of the instrument designed to measure and plot the

position of stars?

astrolabe

What is the science of making maps and globes?

cartography

What is the term for a heavy substance placed

inside of a ship to improve stability and control?

ballast

Economy based on the private ownership of

property and the use of property to compete for

profits or gains in a market

capitalism

Economic policy in which a nation controls its trade, agriculture, industry, and money to bring as much

wealth as possible into the country.

mercantilism

Francisco Pizarro conquered ___________.

The Inca

 

Hernan Cortes conquered __________.

The Aztecs

This animal helped the Spanish conquer North and South America. This animal

also transformed the nomadic lives of the plains

Indians.

horse

This animal was brought from Europe by the Spanish so that they could have food

to eat as they went exploring. This animal

destroyed Native American farms.

pigs

This plant, also known as maize, was found in America

and led to population explosions in Africa and

Asia.

corn

Part 3: Reformation

This German monk went to Rome and became shocked with the worldliness of the

Catholic Church. He was eventually excommunicated

for his beliefs.

Martin Luther

This was a form of forgiveness of sin given by

the Catholic Church. By buying this item a person was then forgiven for sins. This

term is:

indulgences

An idea that God long ago determined who would gain

salvation.

Predestination

The man who came up with the idea of predestination is

named:

John Calvin

This is the list of arguments against the Catholic Church written by Martin Luther.

95 Theses

What is an official action that ends a marriage like it

never happened?

annulment

This King of England broke away from the Catholic

Church because he wanted to annul his marriage. He went

through a lot of wives.

Henry VIII

French Protestants of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Huguenots

A great fleet sent by King Phillip II of Spain to attack

England.

The Spanish Armada

What was the name of King Henry VIII's only son?

Edward

After Edward died, the next in line for the English throne

was:

Mary

After Mary died, the next in line for the English throne

was:

Elizabeth

Part 4: Renaissance

What two civilizations were inspiration for Renaissance

artists?

Greece and Rome

Renaissance means what in French?

rebirth

What building did Michelangelo paint the

ceiling of?

The Sistine Chapel

Leonardo da Vinci was known for being really good at a lot of different things. What is the term for someone like

that?

Renaissance man

What art technique did Brunelleschi discover?

linear perspective

This Renaissance English playwright wrote 37 plays.

Who is he?

Shakespeare

What idea did Thomas More's book

Utopia encourage? Was it monetary success, religious freedom, artistic realism, or

equality?

equality

Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing

press helped increase the amount of people who

learned to read and write. The term for being able to

read and write is?

literacy

According to individualism, it was okay to seek recognition for your accomplishments.

True or false?

True

The view that religion is not the center of human affairs

is known as:

secularism

What was the first book that Johann Gutenberg printed with his printing

press?

The Bible

This Spanish term refers to the movement to drive the

Muslims from Spain.

Reconquista

Who were the King and Queen of Spain who

completed the Reconquista?

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella

What is a poem with 14 lines and a fixed rhyming pattern

called?

sonnet

Who wrote The Divine Comedy? The Inferno is the

first part of this book.

Dante Alighieri

What does sfumato mean?

smoky

_____ means to remove material from published

works or to prevent their publication.

censor

A _______ is a piece of writing that attacks vice or

folly through ridicule or sarcasm.

satire

Part 5: Medieval Europe

A widespread outbreak of a disease is known as:

epidemic

This disease killed as many as 1/3 to 2/3 of all

Europeans.

Black Death or bubonic plague

What language was used in medieval universities?

Latin

This famous medieval scholar tried to combine faith and

reason.

St. Thomas Aquinas

These monks lived on donations and worked in the

community, not in monasteries. What were

they known as?

mendicant monks

A group of people who practice the same craft,

usually in the same city, who have joined together for

their common good.

guilds

The Black Death spread from what continent

originally?

Asia

A legal idea that an arrested person be brought before a

judge or court.

habeas corpus

By 1215, England's leaders had had enough of King John's high taxes and military failures. The

rebellious barons forced the king to approve a document that promised them certain rights. It is Latin for the

"Great Charter"

Magna Carta

Christian religious wars fought in the Middle East to

retake the holy land.

Crusades

In feudal Europe, a peasant who was legally "tied" to the

lord's land and could not leave it.

serf

What is the title for the head of the Catholic Church?

Pope

The first great ruler of the Middle Ages. His reign helped establish the tradition of European

kingship. His empire included most of central and western

Europe.

Charlemagne

_____ means to exclude, or kick out, a person from a

church or religious community.

excommunicate

The self sufficient estate of a medieval lord.

manor

A Christian warrior's code of behavior.

chivalry

This missionary helped to convert the Irish to

Christianity.

St. Patrick

Part 6: Japan

Japanese scroll paintings.  The viewer

unrolled the scroll as he or she viewed each

scene.  These scrolls depicted historical events,

scenes from novels, and legends.

Yamato-e

a warrior of medieval Japan, very similar to the knights

of medieval Europe.

samurai

a strict code of conduct that guided the behavior of a

samurai.  It literally means "the way of the warrior."  

bushido

the lords of feudal Japan; samurai reported directly to them and gave their loyalty

to them

daimyo

a three-line Japanese poem where the first line has five syllables, the second line has seven syllables, and the third

line has five syllables 

haiku

a military leader of feudal Japan; while the emperor

was technically the ruler of Japan, the leader had the greatest military power

 

shogun

the traditional form of Japanese theater.  In this,

characters are in masks with men playing both male and

female roles.  There is both chanting and music, it is

sometimes called "Japanese opera."

Noh drama

 

A craftsman; someone who is skilled in hand-making goods.

artisan

This Mongol leader tried to invade Japan twice.

Kublai Khan

 

Japan's government, arts, and writing system were influenced by what other

nation?

 

China

Buddhism came to Japan from what nation?

 

Korea

 

The native religion of Japan is:

 

Shinto

 

What is the term for a chain of islands?

 

archipelago

 

Part 7: China

A religion founded by a man named Siddhartha Gautama.

This religion teaches its followers that your actions

eventually come back to you.

Buddhism

 

What was the name of the network of trade routes

connecting China and Europe over 4,000 miles.?

The Silk Road

 

This is an ancient Chinese philosophy.  It means the

"Way" or the "way of nature."

Daoism

 

This way of living emphasized a respect for

family and the social order.

Confucianism

 

What is the term for a ruling family that holds

power for many generations?

dynasty

 

What is the process of hiring and promoting people based on talent and skills,

rather than on wealth, social status, or connections?

merit system

This term refers to the large dry, grass-covered

plains of central Asia.

steppes

economy in which people use currency rather than barter (trade) to buy and sell goods

money economy

This Mongol leader who conquered much of Asia and parts of Eastern Europe in

the late 1100s and early 1200s was known as a ruthless warrior and a

respected and feared leader.

Genghis Khan

Italian explorer and adventurer who arrived in Mongol-controlled China in

1275.  He later took a job as a diplomat and official for the ruler Kublai Khan, and

was sent on various missions around the Mongol Empire.

Marco Polo

Hongwu became a cruel tyrant. Another term for a

ruler like this is: 

despot

 

What is a hard white pottery of extremely fine quality

known as?

porcelain

 

_____ is a state of complete peace.  For Buddhists, it is

the ultimate state of enlightenment.

Nirvana

 

This class in the Song period were highly educated civil

servants who entered government only after

passing special examinations.

scholar-officials

Part 8: Mesoamerica

 

a farming technique by which farmers clear small plots of

land by cutting down the forest and burning the felled

tres and plants to use as a fertilizer

 

slash-and-burn agriculture

 

in Inca society, a group of related families that lived in

the same location

ayllu

 

an ancient book that was written by hand

codex

 

a prolonged period of time with little or no rainfall

 

drought

 

This term refers to one of the blood rituals of the Maya people,

which often involved the removal of the victim's heart with a knife. The

Aztecs often performed this practice on enemy soldiers captured in war as a way to terrify conquered

peoples

human sacrifice

 

a writing system in which a symbol or picture stands for

a word, idea or sound

hieroglyph

 

What is the term for the vast grassy plains of

Argentina and Uruguay; this vegetation zone makes up

most of the southern portion of South America

Pampas

 

What is the term for flat strips of level land cut into hillsides so people living in

mountainous areas can grow crops?

terraces

 

What is the term for the Aztec "floating gardens"?

These were grown by suspending crops over water

chinampas

 

What is an adjective used to describe a way of life that is centered around agriculture,

or growing crops?

agrarian

 

Of the Maya, Aztec, or Inca, who did NOT practice blood

sacrifice?

 

Inca

 

What is a place of worship that is dedicated to a sacred

object or person called? 

shrine

 

What is the name of the Aztec capital?

 

Tenochtitlan

 

What is the term for goods paid as taxes by conquered

peoples? 

tribute

 

Who was the Aztec emperor when the Spanish arrived in

the 1500s? 

Moctezumaor

Montezuma

The Inca had a network of _______ that helped to tie

the empire together.

roads

 

The Inca had a record keeping device made of

knotted strings called what?

quipu

All the land in the Inca Empire was considered

"communal property." What does this mean?

land that is owned by everyone (the community)

and not by individuals

What is the term for a government like the Incas

had where it takes responsibility for the well-

being of its citizens?

welfare state

 

The Inca had a writing system. True or False

false

 

The capital of the Inca empire was _____.

 

Cuzco

 

The Inca civilization emerged in the _____

mountain range 

Andes

 

What is the term for the Mayan form of art that was a carved stone slab or pillar usually created to celebrate

a person or an event? 

stela

 

The Maya understood the concept of _____ (the blank

is a number) long before Europeans did.

zero

 

Were you allowed to use your hands in the Mayan

ballgame?

no

 

Part 9: Africa

 

What was the capital city of the empire of Songhai? This was a center of trade and learning in Medieval Africa

 

Gao

 

What is the term for a West African storyteller?  This person was responsible for

passing on oral traditions and culture from one generation

to the next 

griot

 

A Moroccan traveler, historian, and storyteller from Medieval

Africa.  He was one of the most widely-traveled Muslims of the medieval period.  He traveled throughout Asia and Africa logging nearly 75,000 miles,

writing down stories about his travels

Ibn Battuta

 

This man was the most famous Muslim ruler of Mali.  His name

means "king of kings."  He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca in

1324.  He extended Mali's territory west to the Atlantic Ocean.  Under his reign, Timbuktu (the capital of

Mali) became a center of learning and culture.

Mansa Musa

 

What is a condensed, but memorable saying embodying

an important fact used by many people?  West African cultures used these to teach

their people important lessons about life.

proverbs

 

world's largest desert, covers over 3.5 million square miles, located in

north Africa. 

Sahara Desert

 

the geographic region between the Sahara Desert in the north and the savanna

in the south. 

Sahel

 

The various kingdoms in West Africa each had something the

other wanted. The north had one thing and the south had the

other.  Ghana was in the middle.  Ghana handled the

trades.  Both sides - north and south - paid Ghana a tribute to handle the trades. What is the

name of this trade?

salt-gold trade

 

The founding ruler of the Mali Empire.  He would later be known as the "Lion King."

 

Sundiata

 

a city in central Mali near the Niger River.  It was

known for the gold trade, and was also known as a

center of Islamic learning and culture under Mansa

Musa

 

Timbuktu

 

 Unlike Ghana, Mali adopted the religion of Islam. What is the term  for a change of

religion? 

conversion

 

Mansa Musa's spending upset the economy of Egypt because it made gold lose

it's value. What is this term that results in a general rise

of prices?

inflation

 

Trade with the Arabian peninsula brought this

language to West Africa. 

Arabic

 

Part 10: Islam

 

the fifth pillar of Islam, it calls Muslims to make a

pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lifetime, if they can afford it and are healthy

enough to do so.

hajj

 

the way that a Muslim is expected to live his or her life, based on the teachings

of Muhammad.

Sunnah

 

a written account of the words and actions of

Muhammad. 

Hadith

 

an isolated area of land in the desert where plants are able to grow.  It has plants because it

typically surrounds a water source.  Because it has water, this place is often a gathering place for people to meet and

trade in the desert.

oasis

 

Muslim bankers used a written record issued by one

bank that can be used at another. What is this term

for that piece of paper?

letter of credit 

 

Marriage to more than one spouse is called ______

 

polygamy

The term for a Muslim ruler is ______

 

Sultan

 

The two major sects in Islam are:

 

Sunnis and Shiites

 

In Arabic this term means "holy struggle"

 

jihad

 

A Muslim house of worship is called:

 

mosque

 

The name of the Muslim holy book is:

 

Qur'an

 

Islam is based on the teachings of which prophet?

 

Muhammad 

 

Part 11: Rome

 

A person who is a legally recognized member of a

nation. In Rome, the great advantage of being this was

that you could fully participate in government.

 

citizen

 

a soldier hired to fight for a country that is not their own.  Rome experienced a

shortage of Roman citizens who wanted to join the army,

so the Roman Empire was forced to recruit Germanic

soldiers to fight the Empire.

 

mercenary

 

a language that originally comes from Latin, which was the language of the Roman

Empire

Romance languages

 

in Latin, it literally means "the peace of

Rome."  It was the long period of relative peace that the Roman Empire enjoyed during the first

two centuries AD.  

Pax Romana

 

the "uncivilized" Germanic tribes that invaded and

ultimately conquered the western Roman empire.

 

barbarians

 

The Roman empire was centered around what body

of water? 

Mediterranean sea

 

Who was the first great Byzantine emperor?

 

Justinian

 

_____ was the Roman emperor who allowed

Christians to worship freely. 

Constantine

 

The first emperor of Rome was ______

 

Augustus

 

Julius Caesar conquered the area of Europe known as Gaul. What modern day

nation is located in the same area today?

France

 

Before Rome became an empire it was what type of

government? 

republic

 

The End