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Facts to Wow your Friends!
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Mrs. Waffenschmidt
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Gail Hennessey
Here are two worksheet activities to help foster geography awareness on the state of Florida . Students could work in groups and use reference materials to find the answers to Mrs. Waffenschmidt and her new puppy, Schnitzel’s, travels to the state of Florida . I’ve found serveral great sites to help young people learn about Florida . * With all websites, please check them out to see if they are appropriate for your grade level.
Map Work on Florida
Use a map such as the one suggested here to answer some questions about the state of Florida. Fact Monster
1. What is the southern most city in Florida ?________________
2. Which is the western most city in Florida ?_______________
3. What is the largest lake in Florida? _________________
4. What are the three bodies of water which touch the peninsula state of Florida ? _____________________
5. What is the capital city of Florida? ___________________
6. Name the states that touch Florida. ____________________
Did you know?
Florida is the only state with two rivers which have the same name. They are the Withlacoochee in north central Florida and the Withlacoochee in central Florida .
Amelia Earhart took off on her 1937 flight around the world from Miami, Florida. She was never seen again.
The southernmost state is NOT Florida , it’s Hawaii !
The city in the United States with the highest rate of lightning strikes per capita is the Florida city of Clearwater.
Travels of Mrs. W and her dog, Schnitzel!(Florida)
Schnitzel, we are now visiting the state of Florida, nicknamed the _________state because of all the sunny days it has a year. The Spanish explorer , Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513, was the first European to discover the area. He called the area “Pascua Florida ” which means “feast of flowers”. We are here in the oldest European settlement in North America , called _________________, a city founded in 1565. Now , that was a LONG time ago. Come back here, Schnitzel, come back here. We don’t have a ticket to go see the _________________ which is what Ponce de Leon was trying to find on his journey. I really need to put you on a leach since you are too quick to jump from my purple backpack whenever something catches your eye! Did you know that it was here at ________________that the first spacecraft taking astronauts to the moon was launched? Let me get my digital camera out to take a picture of you beside one of these early space crafts. Good, Schnitzel, you actually stayed still long enough for me to take the picture! Let’s go for a boat ride along the longest river in Florida . The________ is 273 miles long and is one of only a couple of rivers that flows north instead of south! Please don’t bark at those unusual sea cows, also called the ______________, Florida ’s state marine mammal! Sadly, many of these gentle creatures that can be as much as 3000 pounds and 12 feet long, are endangered because they get hurt from motor boat propellers when they come up for air as they swim in the rivers and bays of Florida . Before we leave Florida , I want to go to the city of Tarpon Springs famous for their____________ divers, Disneyworld and the other theme parks near the city of ___________ and the ____________national park, the largest subtropical wilderness area in the United States . Don’t worry, we’ll be in a car so you don’t have to worry about coming into contact with the state reptile, the _____________. Before we leave the state of Florida , I am buying you a beaded collar made by the ______________Indians of Florida . Women of this tribe were given strings of beads every year on their birthday until they turned 40 year old. Never in a even number, the beaded necklaces were wrapped around the neck and after the age of forty, one necklace was removed each year after. Pretty interesting, don’t you think? Well, Snitzel, it’s on to another state but before we do, I’d like to buy some _________. the popular fruit of Florida .
Websites of interest to help find the answers:
http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/kids/
http://www.nps.gov/ever/forkids/index.htm
Note: Illustration from WpClipart.com