BY CAROLE MARSH - · PDF fileBY CAROLE MARSH U ©Carole Marsh ... i—Land of Many...

B Y C A R O L E M A R S H

U

©Carole Marsh • Gallopade International • 800-536-2GET • www.gallopade.com • Big Cool USA Activity Book • Page 1

G Published by

TM

800-536-2GETwww.gallopade.com

Copyright ©2008 Carole MarshPermission is hereby granted to the individual purchaser or classroom teacher to reproduce

materials in this book for non-commercial individual or classroom use only. Reproduction of these materials foran entire school or school system is strictly prohibited.

Gallopade is proud to be a member and supporter of these educational organizations and associations:

™

A Word From the Author!


Dear Kids,

America is a very special country! This Big Cool USA Activity Bookwill help you learn more about the United States by completing fun andchallenging projects! These stand-alone projects are adaptable for allschool ages!

Each project requires everyday materials and natural kid skillslike creativity and pizzazz! Hands-on projects help you learn tosolve problems and dream up unique solutions. You’ll build yourresearch and investigative skills as you search out facts about theUnited States. Use your skills to have fun learning about ourgreat country and to prepare for your exciting future!

Enjoy your journey through the United States of America experience. It’s thetrip of a lifetime!

Carole Marsh Let’s get started on thisGREAT PATRIOTIC EXPERIENCE!

USA America’s True Colors! 4USA United States Symbols 5AL Alabama State Symbol Scramble 6AL Huntsville Alabama...Rocket City, U.S.A.! 7AK Alaska...Forget-Me-Not! 8AK Mush! Mush! Alaska 9AZ Oh! Say Can You See...The Arizona State Flag 10AZ The Roads Well Traveled in Arizona 11USA The Story of Our Star Spangled Banner 12-13AR All Around Arkansas Bubblegram! 14AR Hot Springs of Arkansas 15CA California Butterflies 16CA The San Francisco Treat! 17CO Colorado, The Centennial State! 18CO Colorado Gold Rush! 19USA America’s First Flag 20

USA Independence Day 21CT Our Connecticut Bird! 22CT “Made in Connecticut” Word Search 23DE Wild Things in Delaware! 24DE The Original Delaware Natives! 25FL Florida Wheel of Fortune 26FL Alligators Abound in Florida! 27USA All About America! 28USA Fifty Nifty States! 29GA It’s Still the Real Thing in Georgia! 31GA “Stone” Mountain Men of Georgia! 32HI awai’i—Land of Many Languages 33HI Surf’s Up in Hawai’i 34ID Idaho Topography is “Tops”! 35ID This Spud’s for You in Idaho! 36IL Mr. Illinois, How Does Your Garden Grow? 37

Table of Contents


Table of ContentsIL Chicago’s Dino Darling 38USA Branches of Government 38-39USA The United States Flag 40-41USA The White House 42-43USA Christopher Columbus 44-45USA Amazing U.S. Geography! 46-47USA The First Thanksgiving 48-49GU The Flag of Guam 50GU A Taste of Guam! 51VI Tropical Fish of the U.S. Virgin Islands 52VI The A-Maze-ing Virgin Islands! 53IN Interesting Indiana! 54IN Who’s a “Hoosier”? 55IA Iowa’s Forts 56IA Iowa—America’s Corn State 57USA America the Beautiful! 58USA The United States of America! 59KS The Kansas Barred Tiger Salamander! 60KS Naturally Kansas 61KY The Screaming Eagles of Kentucky! 62KY Spelunk! Kentucky’s Caves 63LA Louisiana Through the Years 64LA Mardi Gras 65USA Let Freedom Ring! 66USA Strand of Stars 67ME Maine Coon Cat! 68ME Downeast Slang! 69MD What’s Growing in Maryland 70MD Sail Away...United States Naval Academy! 71MA What a Massachusetts’ Find! 72MA Land Ho! 73USA America the Beautiful! 74USA Can You U.S.A. Sudoku? 75AS American Samoa 76AS Samoan Rainforest Mix-up! 77MI Breakfast in Battle Creek, Michigan 78MI Michigan Legend 79MN Paul Bunyon and Babe, the Blue Ox! 80MN Minnesota—Land f 10,000 Lakes 81MS Mississippi—Speak 82MS A River Runs Through It! 83USA My American Flag 84USA Big, Cool, Sudoku! 85MO Famous Man from Missouri! 86MO The Gateway Arch 87MT Montana Goodies! 88MT Custer’s Last Stand! 89NE Onward and Westward! 90NE Ears to You! Nebraska Cornhuskers! 91USA The Pledge of Allegiance 92USA Dear Diary 93NV They Found it in Nevada! 94NV Nevada’s City of Many Themes! 95MP Mariana Islands 96MP Vigorous Volcanoes! 97NH Endangered and Threatened in New Hampshire 98NH Covered in Covered Bridges! 99NJ Have a Ball in New Jersey! 100NJ Buzzing Around New Jersey 101

USA Bubble Up...United States Fun Facts! 102USA Sudoku—Just for You! 103NM A Plethora of Pueblos in New Mexico! 104NM Enchanting Rodeos! 105NY The New York Scenic Route! 106NY Hit the Heights! See the Sight! 107NC The Lost Colony of North Carolina 108NC The First Flight 109USA An All-American Lady! 110USA United We Stand! 111ND What To Do in North Dakota! 112ND Beautiful Bison 113PR Puerto Rico 114PR El Coqui: The Symbol of Puerto Rico 115OH Indians in Ohio 116OH The Great Ohio River 117OK Oklahoma’s Alabaster Caverns 118OK Oklahornado! 119USA Uncle Sam Clothespin 120USA Democracy is... 121OR The Oregon Trail 122OR Watching Wondrous Whales! 123PA Steely Pennsylvania! 124PA History Mystery Tour! 125RI How Big is Rhode Island? 126RI The Rhode Island Lights! 127USA Monumental U.S.A.! 128USA U.S. Time Zones 129SC Unique South Carolina Place Names! 130SC Rebus “Round South Carolina 131SD Looking for a Home in South Dakota! 132SD Rush to Mount Rushmore! 133TN The Day it Rained SSSSnakes in Tennessee! 134TN Tennessee’s State Horse—Walking Tall! 135USA Big, Cool U.S.A. Rivers, Lakes, and Mountains! 136USA A Symbol of Pride and Strength 137TX Texas State Seal 138TX The Alamo 139UT Al the Allosaurus—Utah’s State Fossil! 140UT Utah’s Great Salt Lake! 141VT Ski the Vermont Green Mountains! 142VT Marvelous Marble! 143USA Who Can Vote? 144USA Who Can Become President? 145VA Virginia Valley! 146VA Presidents From Virginia 147WA Lighting Up Washington! 148WA Majestic Mount Rainier 149WV Searching for What matters in West Virginia! 150WV Working in the Coal Mines! 151WI Wisconsin’s Old Abe 152WI Reservations for Ten? 153USA As American As Apple Pie! 154USA Hooray for the U.S.A. 155WY Wyoming’s Neighbors! 156WY Wyoming Ranches, Dude! 157USA Political Symbols 158USA Electoral Crossword 159

Solutions for Sudoku 160

America’s True Colors!


BROWNLike desert sand of the

SouthwestBrown

RE

DLike

the

strip

eso

nth

efla

gR

ed

WH

ITE

Likethe

clouds

inthe

sky

BLUE

Likethe

waters

of thesea

Blue

ORANGELike the sun settingover the country

Orange

GREEN

Likethe

leavesof

America’s

forests

Green

PU

RP

LE

Likem

ountainsin

thed

istance

Purple

YE

LLOW

Likeco

rno

fth

eM

idw

est

Yellow

White


United States Symbols

SS C ER A LM BDraw a line to match each symbol with its name.

Now color them all!

● Bald eagle ● Stars and Stripes ● Liberty Bell● Uncle Sam ● Statue of Liberty


Alabama State Symbol Scramble!

Unscramble the names of these symbols for the state of Alabama.Write the answers in the word wheel around the picture of each symbol.

1. N R E H T U O S F A E L G N O L E N I P HINT: Alabama’s state tree hasneedles that are bundled in “threes” and grow to about 1 foot. The pine cones grow to about7 inches long.

2. A C E M L L A I HINT: The spectacular state flower blossoms for nine months of theyear—even in winter, when few other plants are in bloom. Camellias can be red, white,or pink, or a mixture of these colors.

3. C A P N E HINT: Alabama’s state nut is tasty and a good source of vitamin B-6.Many southern recipes such as pralines and pies make good use of these great-tasting nuts!

4. M O U T H L A R G E S S B A HINT: The state freshwater fish is greenish with adark side stripe and lives in Alabama’s lakes, ponds, and rivers.

5. R I A N C G K H R E S O HINT: Alabama’s official state horse is a very stronghorse with a smooth, natural gait (or stride), and can sustain a fast pace for a long time.Racking horses are very comfortable to ride and are usually friendly to people.

ANSWERS: 1-Southern longleaf pine; 2-camellia; 3-pecan; 4-largemouth bass; 5-racking horse

3

4

5

1

2

CamelliaLargemouth bass

PecanRacking horse

Southern longleaf pine

WORD BANK


Huntsville, AlabamaRocket City, USA!

In 1960, the United States wantedto explore the final frontier-space! TheGeorge C. Marshall Space Flight Centerwas built in Huntsville, Alabama. Itwas the first headquarters of NASA, the National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration. Huntsville and itsresearch labs, assembly plants, andlaunch pads became known as RocketCity, USA!

Huntsville’s U.S. Space andRocket Center offers an up-close lookat rockets, spaceships, shuttles, lunarlanding vehicles, and moon rocks.Visitors can ride the Space Shot, aheart-pounding 4-G ride up a 180-foot(55-meter) tower to experience a fewseconds of weightlessness-just like realspace!

The ultimate “mission” includes atrip to Space Camp, where for threedays kids of all ages (even grown-upones) can experience astronaut-trainingactivities to find out what astronautsdo in space. “Astronauts for the day”evengo on a “pretend” space shuttlemission!

You can be an “Astronaut for the day”right now! Check out the rocketand label the different parts.Maybe it will be the beginning of agreat career!

USA

ANSWERS: 1-launch escape system; 2-command module; 3-lunar excursion module; 4-

fuel tank; 5-engines (for lift off)

1. ________________

3. ________________

4. _______________________

5. ________________

command module

engines (for lift off)

fuel tank

launch escape system

lunar excursion module


Alaska...Forget-Me-Not!

Use the facts you’ve learned about the forget-me-not to answer thesequestions.

1. When was the forget-me-not adopted as Alaska’s state flower?___________________________

2. True or False: Forget-me-nots may appear frail, but they’re actually pretty hardy. __________________________

3. True or False: Forget-me-nots can only be found in a few areas in Alaska. ___________________________

4. A __ __ __ __ was included in the legislation that designated the forget-me-not as Alaska’s state flower.

5. According to the poem, who asked to have the forget-me-notmade a state emblem? _____________________________________

ANSWERS:1-1917; 2-True; 3-False; 4-poem; 5-pioneers

The wild forget-me-not (Myosotis alpestris) was adopted as Alaska’s stateflower in 1917. The beautiful blue flowers have yellow centers and can befound throughout Alaska. Forget-me-nots have a frail appearance, but they’reactually hardy enough to survive the cold Alaskan weather.

This little poem was included on the legislation that designated theforget-me-not as Alaska’s state flower.

A little flower blossoms forthOn every hill and dale,

The emblem of the PioneersUpon the rugged trail;

The Pioneers have asked itAnd we could deny them not;

So the emblem of AlaskaIs the blue Forget-me-not.

If the state flower gotmixed up with the state bird,

what would you have?

A willow-me-not—it

could happen!


Mush! Mush! AlaskaDog mushing, or sled dog racing, is Alaska’s official state sport. Dogs and their

people race during the winter. Some races are about speed! Some are about distanceand surviving the elements! Some races have teams of 3 to 10 dogs. Others have nolimits on the number of dogs.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and the Yukon Quest International Sled DogRace are two of the most famous, long-distance championship races. The Iditarodfollowed the old dog team mail route from Knik to Nome. The trail was lengthened to1,100 miles (1,770 kilometers) with the starting line in Anchorage! The U.S. Congress designatedthe Iditarod a National Historic Trail in 1976.

Survival becomes more important than winning if a team gets caught in a winterstorm. Mushers will often stop to help another team and give up their chance to win.

See if you can figure out the meanings of these words from the story above.

1. mushing:_______________________________________________________________

2. official:_______________________________________________________________

3. surviving:_______________________________________________________________

4. designated:_______________________________________________________________

5. historic:_______________________________________________________________

HINT: You may need to look for root words!

Now check your answers in a dictionary. How close did you get to the real definitions?

BY CAROLE MARSH - · PDF fileBY CAROLE MARSH U ©Carole Marsh ... i—Land of Many...

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