Show Us The World Too

On Break for the School Year

2010-03-14T18:34:00.001-07:00

Because we are working with Reach the World, we are taking a break from this blog until the summer months.

You can follow all of our "kid friendly" news here: Journey Across the USA

The Columbia River

2009-09-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

Show Family 2 Reporting Live from Washington. We are enjoying camping right on the Columbia River here.

The Columbia River begins in the country Canada. The Columbia River drains in seven states: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, and Utah. It flows for more than 1,200 miles, from the base of the Canadian Rockies to the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon, and Ilwaco, Washington.

The explorers that we are learning about rowed down this river in dug out canoes. Their names were Lewis & Clark. Lewis & Clark explored places in the United States that were not known about yet. We think they might have been very impressed by this river when they saw it too. What do you think?

One of the reasons we like the Columbia River is because it is full of salmon. Remember how we like salmon and Austin tried to catch some? We drove to a dam in the river yesterday so we could see the fish ladder there that lets fish get through. It was interesting.

We learned some facts about the fish in the river. Did you know that when the river reaches 69 degrees, that is too warm for the fish? We love swimming in water that warm. We must be different than fish in that way. We learned about how trash and litter can hurt the fish and how we can help by cleaning litter away when we see it.

We also learned how native trees and dirt are important for the river to stay healthy. Remember how we said the water can't get too warm for the fish? Trees and plants help to keep the water cool so they can live. There is a club called Kids for the Columbia Club that kids can join to help keep this river big and strong.

One more fun thing to know about the Columbia River is that 2.100 ships have shipwrecked at the mouth. When we were in Long Beach, Washinton one of the people that lived there told us about special boat captains they have there to help the boats come in because of all of the shipwrecks. They are the only ones allowed to drive boats there because they know how to do it without wrecking. Isn't that cool?

More Columbia River Fun: Lower Columbia River Kids Website

Spur-Thigh Tortoise Videos

2009-09-20T23:56:00.000-07:00

Today we visited a reptile zoo full of cool reptiles. Here are some videos from this incredible place:

Legless Lizard Supper Time and Reticulating Python Videos

2009-09-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

Talking Reptile and Soft Turtle Videos

2009-09-20T23:51:00.000-07:00

Burmese Python Videos

2009-09-20T23:48:00.001-07:00

Green Anaconda and Rattlesnake Videos

2009-09-20T23:48:00.000-07:00

Alligator and Alligator Snapping Turtle Videos

2009-09-20T23:43:00.000-07:00

Two Headed Turtle Video

2009-09-20T23:41:00.000-07:00

This is one of the interesting things we saw at the zoo reptile today!

Olympic National Park-Hoh Rainforest

2009-09-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

We went to the Olympic National Park again today. First, Austin made a new friend. Then we stopped and saw another huge tree. This one was 500 years old. Austin shared with us that they make guitars out of this kind of tree. How many guitars do you think could be made from this tree?
Then we went to the Hoh Rainforest. We stopped at the visitor center to learn some things and pick up a trail map.Our favorite thing by far was seeing elk, up close and personal, three different times!
More about the rainforests here:

Ocean-Born Forests
The lush forests in the Quinault, Queets, Hoh, and Bogachiel valleys are some of the most spectacular examples of primeval temperate rain forest in the lower 48 states. These rain forests once stretched from southern Oregon to southeast Alaska, but little remains outside of protected areas. Other temperate rain forests grow in a few isolated spots around the world including Chile, New Zealand and southern Australia.

Recipe for Olympic's Temperate Rain Forest

Rain—lots of it. Storms off the Pacific Ocean drop much of their moisture on these west-facing valleys. Precipitation in Olympic's rain forest ranges from 140 to 167 inches (12 to 14 feet) every year.
Moderate temperatures. In these low elevation valleys the temperature seldom drops below freezing and summertime highs rarely exceed 80°F.
Epiphytes, or plants growing on other plants. Mosses, spike mosses, ferns and lichens festoon tree trunks and branches, giving the forest a "jungle-like" feel.
Large, old trees. The dominant species are Sitka spruce and western hemlock, but other conifers and several deciduous species grow as well. Many are 100s of years old and can reach 250 feet in height and 30 to 60 feet in circumference.
Nurse logs. Because of the densely covered ground, many seedlings instead germinate on fallen, decaying trees. As they grow, their roots reach to the ground. When the log eventually rots away, a colonnade, or row of trees on stilt-like roots, remains.
Dead wood. When the massive trees die, they eventually fall, but can take centuries to slowly decay back to the soil. Throughout their long death, they provide important habitat for whole communities, including mosses, tree seedlings, fungi, small mammals, amphibians, and insects.
Roosevelt elk. The thick, layered canopy above moderates the temperature year-round for wildlife, including the largest wild populations of Roosevelt elk in the U.S. On the forest floor, elk browsing shapes the appearance of their forest home.

Olympic National Park

2009-09-12T20:36:00.001-07:00

Today we visited Olympic National Park in the state of Washington. I won't share all of the things we did today, but I wanted to share a few that I thought you mind find interesting. The very first thing we did was to eat something. They had more than one place to eat, and since we were not hungry for a big meal, we picked this place. We each had something from the "Dog Pound". The next thing we did was to go and get a map, and talk to one of the people that worked there to ask some questions. Austin put a stamp in our passport book. Our passport book has all of the National Parks and Monuments listed in it, and places to put stamps for them. We have been doing this since we began our trip, so we have quite a few by now!This was what we did next:That's right-we got to see the World's Largest Spruce Tree! As you can see on the sign, it is almost 1,000 years old. It was so tall, I could not fit the whole tree in my picture. You can see how big it is with Papa standing up next to it!And here is Austin standing on the trunk of the tree. It was so huge!We had a lot of fun seeing this amazing tree! What do you think of it?

Fun Stuff

More information about the record trees here: Record Trees

Kite Making in Washington

2009-09-02T20:06:00.000-07:00

Today we visited a kite museum and while there, we made our own kites. This can give you some idea of how to make your own too:

Kite Flying in Oregon

2009-08-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

Today we went to a kite shop here so we could buy two kites. We are going to be visiting a kite festival, so we wanted to learn more about kites before then. Here is the shop:

After picking out the perfect kite, we headed over to the beach to try them out. Here is how you begin when flying the kites:Then you wait for a gust of wind to lift the kite a little bit:And then you run really fast while the kite lifts into the air:Do you see how high it is in this picture? We had so much fun!
A Very Short History of the Kite:

The kite has been around since at least 2,800 years ago. The kite is believed to be invented by the famous 5th century BC Chinese philosophers Mozi and Lu Ban.

Kites can be designed with many different shapes, forms, and sizes. They can take the form of flat geometric designs, boxes and other three-dimensional forms, or modern sparless inflatable designs. Kites flown by children are often simple geometric forms (for example, the diamond). In Asia, children fly dried symmetrical leaves on sewing thread and sled-style kites made from sheets of folded writing paper.

Benjamin Franklin was known for flying a kite for an experiment. He was flying kites long before this though. In fact, young Ben once swam across a lake with a kite attached to his toe. He was curious whether it would carry him across the water, and it did.

How to Make Your Own Kite

Kite One
Kite Two
Kite Three
Kite Four

Books About Kites

The Emperor and the Kite
Curious George and the Kite

Unit Study About Kites

Study One
Study Two
Study for the book The Emperor and the Kite
Comprehensive study with tons of links
The virtual Kite Zoo
Crayola Chinese Kites

Joshua Tree National Park, CA

2009-07-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

Show Family 2 here, reporting live from California. Today we visited a national park that is named after the Joshua Tree. One of the rangers told us that this is not actually a tree, but is related to the flower the lily.

More information:

Lesson Plans

Teaching with Historic Places
Keys Ranch: Where Time Stood Still
Learn NPS

San Diego Natural History Museum

2009-06-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

This is Show Family 2 reporting live from San Diego CA. We are almost all the way to the Mexican border here and we are enjoying the sunny weather. One of the fun things we've done while here is to visit this museum with models of dinosaurs. Are you as fascinated by these wonderful animals as we are? We learned all sorts of interesting things about them.

We also learned more about fossils while here. You can visit some of the links below to see what we did learn here.

Unit Studies/Teaching Guides
After the Dinosaurs: When Crocodiles Ruled
The Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park: The Lost World (K-8)
Feathered Dinosaurs and the Origin of Flight

Puzzles
Dinosaur Word Search
Dinosaur Word Search 2
Jurassic Jumble

Games
Dinosaur Games & Activities (Experiments)
Dino and Fossil Activities

Math
Dinosaur Math
Math Learning Videos

Timeline
Geological Timeline (Printable)

Fun Facts
Paleontology FAQ

Books recommended by the Museum

Pets Rule Show at Sea World

2009-06-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

One of the things we did while visiting San Diego, California was to visit Sea World. One of our favorite things we did there was to watch the Pets Rule show. It is a show were pets do tricks. Tricks like jump roping:
Jumping over a pole:
More jump roping:
and cheerleading:
and of course, a favorite trick-catching frisbees:
We think this show is neat because all of the pets they use are animals that have been rescued. We didn't show them here, but they also have pigs and cats in the show. What is your favorite trick out of all of the tricks here? We like the jump rope trick!

Hummingbirds

2009-06-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

Show Family 2 here: One of the things we have done this past week, is to get bird feeders to hang outside of our RV. We were hoping to attract different birds so we could see them up close and personal.

The hummingbirds have been some of our favorite visitors:Some facts about the hummingbird:

They are the tiniest birds on the planet. They are famous for more than their beauty and size. They are the only bird that can fly backwards. When they hover in the air, their wings can beat up to 72 times per second!

Hummingbirds hearts beat amazingly fast too. The blue-throated hummingbird's heart beats at 1260 beats per minute. They can fly at a steady speed of about 29 mph.

Hummingbirds are BIG eaters. They can eat twice as much as their body weighs each and every day. That's about the same as if a kid who weighs 50 pounds ate 100 hamburgers a day.

Hummingbirds digest their food really quickly. It only takes about ten minutes for a fruit fly to pass completely through one end to the other of a hummingbird.

How long do these incredible birds live? When kept in a cage and cared for, they have been able to live as long as dogs-about nine to fourteen years.

Coloring Pages with Hummingbirds
Color Your World
Enchanted Learning
Jea
RubyThroat

Games
Online Jigsaw Puzzle

How You Can Help Hummingbirds
Operation Ruby Throat

Montezuma Castle National Monument~Camp Verde, Arizona

2009-05-25T21:28:00.001-07:00

One of the things we have been able to do since we have been in Arizona is visit a very old castle that is actually a cliff dwelling.

It is in a National Park and we were able to do fun things to earn ranger badges first:Then we walked down to see the castle. This does not look like any castle that I have ever seen before. How about you?It was built by the Sinagua Indians. There name means without water because they had to farm in an area that doesn't have much water. They built this castle about 900 years ago and left it about 600 years ago.

Here is Abby to tell you what she thinks about it:

Grand Canyon National Park~South Rim

2009-05-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

This is Show Family 2 reporting from Arizona. We were able to visit the Grand Canyon National Park the other day!

It is one of the coolest things we have visited so far. It is so huge that you can hardly believe your eyes when looking at it. It is 277 river miles long, up to 18 miles wide and a mile deep. It is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

Here is Auburn telling you about it:

And here is our dog Ace:

Lesson Plans/Unit Studies
Official Site of Grand Canyon
Activities on how to become a ranger
Lesson plans about TGC from K-12

Books
Hey Ranger!

More information
Lost in the Grand Canyon from PBS
National Geographic

Games
NG presents The Grand Canyon for Kids

Elk at the Grand Canyon National Park

2009-05-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

This is Show Family 2 reporting from Arizona. One of the places we have visited while here is the Grand Canyon. We saw some elk while visiting here.

Elk are one of the largest species of deer and one of the largest mammals in North America and eastern Asia. They live in forests or on the edge of forest. They eat grass, plants, leaves and bark.

Here is a movie we took of one of the elk we saw:

More information about elk:

National Geographic

Lesson Plans/Unit Studies

Curriculum about elk
Too many elk? lesson plan

Coloring Pages

American elk
Elk coloring page
E is for elk page
Yellowstone elk page

Children's books

Ella, the elk

Squirrel at Grand Canyon National Park

2009-05-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

This is Show Family 2 reporting from Arizona. Another animal we saw while visiting the Grand Canyon was the squirrel. Our niece Mikaylah was able to feed one by hand:

Squirrels are one of the most successful animals when it comes to learning to live together with humans. They mostly live in trees. They eat plants, nuts, fruit and some flowers. Sometimes squirrels try to move into people houses and have to be removed. I think they are so cute. Do you like squirrels?

More facts:
National Geographic

Games
Squirrel escape
Squirrel maze

Arts and Crafts
Nutty squirrels
Many squirrel crafts and activities
Pine cone squirrel craft

Coloring pages
Multiple pages of squirrels
S if for squirrel page

Books
Scaredy Squirrel

Arizona~Grand Canyon State

2009-05-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

This is Show Family 2 reporting live from Arizona. We are here visiting for about a month.
Here is the state flag:
Arizona comes from two Papago Indian words meaning "little spring" or "young spring".

Arizona is home to many Indian cultures such as the Apache and the Navajo. Arizona has the largest Native American population of any state. More than 14 tribes are represented on 20 reservations, including part of the Navajo Nation, which is located in the Four Corners region of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.

Spanish treasure seekers from Mexico arrived in the area in the 16th century, thus establishing Mexico's claim to the area. The area was ruled by Spain until Mexico won its independence in 1821. Mexico ceded the territory to the United States as part of New Mexico during the Mexican-American War of 1848. The Gadsden Purchase, an area south of the Gila River, was added in 1853. Arizona was organized as a territory in 1863 and became the 48th state in 1912.

Arizona is full of beautiful natural attractions like the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest. It is also home to the old London Bridge.

Major Rivers: Colorado River, Little Colorado River, Gila River, Bill Williams River

More info
Desert animals
Desert plants
The Sonoran Desert

Coloring Pages
State bird and flower

Arts and Crafts
Desert Diorama

Clemmons Educational State Forest in North Carolina

2009-05-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is Lauren from Show Family one reporting: Last week we visited North Carolina on our way back home from Florida. While there we visited Clemmons Educational State Forest.They had rattlesnakes and copperheads in glass containers. The copperhead was pretty, but scary.They had a mole snake that was bigger than the container it was in.

We did some hiking there and I was worried about ticks. We did not get any ticks on us though.

Disney Fort Wilderness Campground in Florida

2009-05-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is Lauren from Show Family One reporting. We took a trip from Virginia to Florida last week. We stayed at the Disney campground. We love the Disney campground. It has horses and golf carts that you can rent. On the last day we rented a golf cart. (This is a picture of my uncle and cousins when they rented a golf cart there:
We put our dog Coby on it and he barked up a storm. A little boy saw Coby and acted like he was in awe of him because he thought he was so handsome. My Aunt Dot and Uncle Fred came to visit us and she asked if Coby were a girl or a boy. My mom laughed and told them he is a boy.

We did not go into Walt Disney World this trip, but we did swim and they had a big water slide that even the adults could slide down. My brother Josh rode on it but they had to turn the jets off when he rode on it. We swam almost every day we were there and we got sunburned more than we got tan.

We went to the beach twice when we were in Florida. I swam out really far. I was nervous because they had a lot of jelly fish there, but I didn't see any. We didn't bury each other in the sand because my Dad doesn't like sand. We had fun!

Big Bend National Park in Texas

2009-04-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

Show Family Two reporting here: Today we visited Big Bend National Park. This was a huge park with lots of different things to see. We went up one of the mountains and then we drove around to explore. We went on a dirt road in the desert, where some of us road our bikes and some of us hiked. We had so much fun here!

Sea World in San Antonio Texas-Beluga Whales

2009-04-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

Show Family Two here reporting from San Antonio, Texas. One of our favorite things to see so far, was a show that we visited while at Sea World. The show had acrobats, dolphins and beluga whales.

We were so impressed with the interaction between the whales and their trainers!

We thought they were beautiful and graceful animals.

We hope to be able to spend more time seeing them while in California and Florida.

More about Beluga Whales:

Beluga Whales

Beluga whales are warm-blooded mammals that breathe air through the blowhole on the top of their head. Their blowhole is covered by a muscular flap which provides a water-tight seal. Beluga whales cannot breathe through their mouths and can hold their breath for 20-25 minutes. They are extremely social animals, living, hunting and migrating in groups called pods.
The beluga whales are the most vocal of the toothed whale. Arctic fisherman say they can hear the beluga whales’ sounds coming from miles away, and they can feel the vibration of their sounds coming through the hulls of their fishing boats. This behavior has earned them the nickname “sea canary.”

Fun Facts
• The beluga whale is the only whale with a flexible neck.
• A beluga whale uses its pectoral flippers (forelimbs) mainly to steer and stop.
• The beluga whale is also called the white whale. The word beluga comes from the Russian word for white, “belukha.”
• Beluga caviar comes from the beluga sturgeon, not the beluga whale.
• This whale has the ability to swim backward.

Adopt a Beluga Whale

More Facts:
National Geographic for Kids
Sea World Animal Bytes
Beluga Whales Facts
Facts and Fun Activities

Games:
Animated Jigsaw Puzzle
Whale Flip Game
Save the Whales Game

Arts and Crafts:
Origami Whale
Ocean Diorama
Whale Mobile

Coloring Pages
Beluga Whales
Whale Coloring Book
Page with Anatomy labels
Beluga Whale Page

Books and Stories
Interactive story about whales
Beluga Sky
Beluga Days
Beluga Whales up Close
The Little Lost Baby Beluga Whale

Unit Studies and Lesson Plans:
Unit Study from Sea World
Lesson Plans from Scholastic
Whale Migration Maps
Experiment about blubber

Bottle-nosed Dolphins at Sea World

2009-04-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

Show Family Two reporting live from San Antonio, Texas: One of the things we've been able to enjoy at Sea World is the dolphins there. Here is some video that we took of them while we fed them (and others did too):

Some facts about the bottle-nosed dolphins:

Dolphins are mammals, not fish
Scientists believe that dolphins rank among the most intelligent animals
Bottle-nosed dolphins can measure 13 feet and can weigh as much as 600 lbs.
Bottle-nosed dolphins are gray, but their backs are darker than their undersides
Bottle-nosed dolphins show apparent great friendliness toward people
Bottle-nosed dolphins, living in groups of about 12, play and hunt food together
Bottle-nosed dolphins live in tropical waters and stay within 100 miles of land
Dolphins communicate via a series of whistles and clicks called phonations More Facts:
Facts and Fun Activities , Sea World Animal Bytes , About bottle nosed dolphins , More dolphin facts , And more dolphin facts , Kids Planet Facts , How dolphins use sonar

Games:
Coral Reef Creatures Game , Dolphin dash , Dolphin Diving , Drawing Game , Sliding Dolphin Puzzle , Crossword Puzzle , Dolphin Maze

Arts and Crafts:
Dolphin door Hanger , Dolphin and Whale Mobile , Dolphin Duo Card , Make a model of a dolphin , Dolphin and Boat pop up

Coloring Pages:
Many different dolphin coloring pages , Dolphins playing , More dolphin coloring pages

Books:
List of Kids’ books about dolphins

Unit Study/Lesson Plans:

Ocean Animals-dolphins unit study , Head for the Ocean Unit Study , Unit Study with Lapbook , Dolphin Unit Study , Dolphin Unit Study 2

****What do you like about dolphins? What do you want to share with us or ask us about dolphins? Leave a comment using the comment button below!

Gavin the Falconer

2009-04-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

This is Show Family 2 reporting live from Lakehills, Texas:
This week, we met a really cool kid named Gavin. Gavin is a falconer. Here is Gavin with his mom and his sister.A falconer is a person who trains falcons or hawks for hunting. Gavin spent many hours learning lots of different things on top of having to apprentice or train under someone else in order to become a falconer. There are three falconers in his state that fly long wings like peregrine falcons. He and his father are two of those, so that means there is only one other falconer besides them. Gavin has his own falcon that he has trained. It took him many months to train his falcon and he is still training him to be better and better at hunting.

Falconry is one of the oldest forms of hunting and is often used together with hunting with horses and dogs. One of the differences between hunting with a horse or a dog and hunting with a falcon is the horse and dog are domesticated animals and the falcon is a wild animal. Falconry is the oldest field sport known to mankind.
Gavin also told me a bunch of neat facts about falcons. Here are some facts about these amazing birds:

Falcons have incredible eyesight. They are believed to be able to spot a pigeon from over five miles under ideal conditions. They are the swiftest of the birds of prey. In a dive, they can top speeds of 200 miles an hour. This makes them the fastest moving creatures on earth. It has been calculated that as a peregrine falcon comes out of a dive, and is straightening out for horizontal flight, it is pulling around 25G. Humans, on average, can tolerate 5-6G well.They are at the top of the food chain, so adults have no natural predators. The female is the boss of the house, so the male is cautious around her.How can these birds fly so fast? It is because of how they are built.

Falcons are very streamlined. They have pointed wings with slim, stiff, unslotted feathers. Because of this, they have almost zero resistance when flying. They have especially strong flight muscles that allow them to fly fast. They have a large, strong heart and ultra efficient lungs and air sacs. Everybody knows how difficult it gets to breathe when you're walking in a heavy storm. You have to turn your head to be able to breath. The falcon does not walk in the storm, it dive-bombs at 350 k/hour. Breathing would be absolutely impossible without special adaptions.The air pressure from a 200 mph (320 km/h) dive could possibly damage it's lungs, but small bony tubercles in a falcon's nostrils guide the shock waves of the air entering the nostrils (compare intake ramps and inlet cones of jet engines), enabling the bird to breathe more easily while diving by reducing the change in air pressure.To protect their eyes, the falcons use their nictitating membranes (third eyelids) to spread tears and clear debris from their eyes while maintaining vision.

Let's look at the lungs on a bird a bit closer. When a person breathes, air flows into its lungs and back out again. Bird lungs operate quite differently from ours. Instead of inhaling and then reversing flow when exhaling, birds have a clever lung design that permits them to circulate air in a single direction continuously.

Birds lungs with diagram and explanation

I can see why Gavin would want to work with such a fascinating animal!More resources on falcons:

Live webcams of Peregrine Falcons

Videos

Videos and slideshows , Video of falcon , Pigeon vs Falcon video , Facts and video clip

Coloring Pages

Falcon head , Peregrine Falcon , Another Peregrine Falcon Page , Falcon

Books
Audio: A to Z Mysteries: The Falcons Feathers

Raptor, A Kid's Guide to Birds of Prey , List of books for Young Readers , The Malted Falcon: A Chet Gecko Mystery

Facts and other Fun

National Geographic Kids Info on Peregrine Falcon (Has video, e-card and printable)

Birds of Prey Facts for Kids , Peregrine Falcon Facts , Facts and info on how to adopt a Peregrine Falcon

Games

Raptor Rescue Kids Games , Fierce Fliers Game , Peregrine Falcon Games

Arts and Crafts:

How to Make an Origami Falcon

Other Fun Stuff

Experiment related to Peregrine Falcon and DDT , Quiz on Falcons , Lesson plans on Falcons , Lesson Plans on Birds of Prey , Science Lesson Plan on Raptors , Unit Study with Falcon , Birds of Prey Unit Study ideas

*****Share your thoughts and questions with us through the comments section. Just click on comments and it will take you to the correct spot.

The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas

2009-04-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

This is Show Family 2: Today we visited the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. It was a beautiful building, made of limestone. The walls were very thick and the doorways seemed very tall to us. This used to be a church and then it was used as a fort. It was easy to imagine lots of people living here together, and it would have been very tight quarters because the place is not very big for the number of people who did share this space.

It was built in the 1700's. Then in 1836, there was a big fight between Mexico and the people that lived in Texas because the people in Texas wanted to be free from Mexico. The people from Texas were inside of this fort during the big fight. Most of the people inside the fort died during this fight. This place is now a memorial for those people.

Other resources related to the Alamo:

Let’s take a look at some of the world events that were happening during that year:

Jan 5th - Davy Crockett arrives in Texas, just in time for the Alamo
Jan 12th - Battle of Wetumka, Fla
Jan 12th - HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reach Sydney Australia
Feb 3rd - Whig Party holds its 1st national convention (Albany NY)
Feb 25th - Samuel Colt patents 1st revolving barrel multishot firearm
Mar 2nd - Republic of Texas declares independence from Mexico
Mar 5th - Samuel Colt manufactures 1st pistol, 34-caliber "Texas" model
Mar 16th - Texas approves a constitution
Mar 17th - Texas abolishes slavery
Mar 23rd - Coin Press invented by Franklin Beale
Mar 27th - 1st Mormon temple dedicated (Kirtland Ohio)
Apr 21st - Battle of San Jacinto, in which Texas wins independence from Mexico
May 16th - Edgar Allan Poe marries his 13-year-old cousin Virginia.
Jul 13th - US patent #1 (after 9,957 unnumbered patents), for locomotive wheels
Sep 1st - Reconstruction begins on Synagogue of Rabbi Judah Hasid in Jerusalem
Sep 1st - Narcissa Whitman, one of the first white women to settle west of the Rocky Mountains, arrives at Walla Walla, Washington.
Sep 5th - Sam Houston elected president of Republic of Texas
Nov 10th - Louis Napoleon banished to America
Dec 7th - Martin Van Buren elected 8th president
Dec 28th - Spain recognizes independence of Mexico

A map of Texas in 1836

Games:

The Alamo Memory Game

Other fun:

Flat Stanley Gallery

History of the Alamo for Kids and by Kids:

Brief History

*Child’s report on the Alamo

Books:

The Mystery at the Alamo , *Voices of the Alamo , *Susanna of the Alamo , *The boy in the Alamo ,

*The Story of the Alamo

Unit Studies:

Lesson Plans , *Unit Study on Alamo , *San Antonio Missions Lesson Plans

Coloring Pages:

The Alamo ,*The Alamo and Texas , *Davy Crockett, *Alamo page and some history

Some of the men there:

James Bowie

William B Travis

Davie Crockett

****Share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment! How do I leave a comment? Just click on the comment button below!

Whitetail Deer

2009-04-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is Show Family Two. One of the things we have enjoyed since being in this part of Texas, is that the place we are staying has many whitetail deer here. We have been able to feed them right out of our hands.

The things we have fed them so far are carrots and corn that has been made into feed for deer. We bought a 50 pound bag of the corn, so we will have plenty of food to feed them during our visit.
This deer is named a whitetail because of its tail. The underside of its tail is white, and it's the only part that you can see when it is running.Some natural predators of deer are: man, bobcats, wolves, mountain lions and other deer. Some things that these deer eat are: acorns, hay, corn, apples, cabbage, pine, cedar and just about any green that they can get to.

The baby deer are called fawns. The fawns have spots which helps them be able to hide from other animals that might try to kill them.The whitetail deer have a language and some of the ways they "speak" are: flicking their tails, moving their ears, curling their lips and stomping their feet. The tail waving is typically used to warn other deer of danger. This deer saw our dog and thought it might be in danger:
We are really falling in love with these gentle creatures!

More facts about deer:
National Geographic

Some deer coloring pages:
*White tailed deer and some facts, *Many different deer, *Deer themed coloring pages,
*Deer pages and activivites

More fun:
*How to draw a deer ,*Deer arts and crafts , *Folding paper deer craft , *Pipe cleaner animals with fawn

Deer Games:
*Deer and Hunter Game , *Oh deer game

Books about deer:
*Lightfoot the Deer , *Fawn at Woodland Way , *My Little Book of Whitetails , *Whitetail Deer ,
*Bambi: A Life in the Woods

Online Books or Stories about Deer:
*Short story about deer , *The Tale of Nimble Deer

****Tell us what you like best about deer by leaving a comment.

****Are there any other things you want to say about deer? Leave a comment so we can all hear it.

The state of Texas

2009-04-12T15:47:00.001-07:00

This is Show Family Two. Right now we are in the state of Texas. Here is a map of Texas:This is the state flag:The capital is Austin. Texas became a state on December 29, 1845. The state bird is the mockingbird. The state flower is the bluebonnet. The state tree is the pecan tree.

Some fun facts about Texas found at this site:

Rodeo is the official state sport of Texas.

The only place in the world where they make Dr Pepper according to the original formula is in Dublin, Texas. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period after the Dr in Dr Pepper.

Seventy-five percent of the world's Snickers bars are made in Waco at the M&M/Mars plant.

Three existing Indian reservations are in the state: the Alabama-Coushatta Reservation, located between Livingston and Woodville in East Texas; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo (Tigua Indian Reservation) near El Paso; and the Kickapoo Reservation in Maverick County. Most Native Americans in Texas live outisde reservations. Texas' Indian population ranks sixth among the states, with approximately 65,000.

The official dance is the square dance.

Texas is home to about 2.5 million deer and 200,000 alligators.

The World’s largest parking lot is located at DFW Airport.

The official dish of Texas is chili.

Texas Coloring Pages:

Texas Bob's Coloring Book
State Bird and Flower
Facts, Maps and State Symbols
Many different Texas Pages

Unit Studies:

Texas State Unit Study

Educational Games About Texas:

Texas Pledge of Allegiance Game

***What things do you know about Texas that we haven't added to our list yet?

***Are there any questions that you have about Texas?

Welcome to Show Us the World Too

2009-04-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

We thought it would be fun to share our travels and what we are learning with all of you! Now you can join our journey and travel along with us. Feel free to ask questions or share spots you would like to see with us as we go.

Who are "we"? We are two families that both travel. Our families are made up of two brothers who are named Daryl and Nathan, their wives who are named Diana and Krystal and their children who are Auburn-16, Austin-14, Lauren-12 and Joshua-3.

Sometimes we travel together, so you will see up sharing our travels and experiences. Sometimes we are traveling in different parts of the country, so you will see what both of us are up to with our own experiences during those times.

No matter what, we love to see new and exciting things and we believe each thing we see and do is a learning experience.