Where in the World? Wednesday

Welcome to Where in the World? Wednesday!

Thank you for joining us again on our trip around the

United States via postcards and the Internet.

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Welcome to our tour of the state of Maryland.

Here are the lovely postcards we received this week.

Thanks folks!

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Interesting facts about Maryland:

State Capital: Annapolis
State Abbreviation: MD
State Nicknames: Old Line State
Origin of Name: In honor of Henrietta Maria (Queen of Charles I of England)

State Motto: Manly deeds, Womanly words (I LOVE this motto, don't you?!)
Name for Residents: Marylanders
State Song: Maryland, My Maryland
Largest City: Baltimore

State Tree: White Oak
State Bird: Baltimore Oriole
State Flower: Black-Eyed Susan
State Insect: Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly

State Beverage: Milk
State Dessert: Smith Island Cake
State Boat: Skipjack
State Sport: Jousting

State Team Sport: Lacrosse
State Gemstone: Patuxent River Stone
State Dance: Square Dance
State Crustacean: Blue Crab

State Cat: Calico
State Dog: Chesapeake Bay Retriever
State Reptile: Diamondback Terrapin
State Fossil: Ecphora gardnerae gardneraee

State Fish: Sriped Bass (Rockfish)
State Marine Mammal: Great seal
Highest Point: Backbone Mt , MD 3,360 ft
Industries:  Farming, Machinery, Mining, Steel

State Folk Hero: Johnny Appleseed
Famous people from Maryland:  (list of famous people comes from 50states.com)

Spiro T. Agnew vice president, Benjamin Banneker mathematician, astronomer, John Wilkes Booth actor, Lincoln assassin, Samuel Chase jurist, John Dickinson statesman, Frederick Douglass abolitionist, Christopher Gist frontiersman, Philip Glass composer, Matthew Henson explorer, Billie Holiday jazz-blues singer, Johns Hopkins financier, Francis Scott Key laywer, author, Thurgood Marshall jurist, H. L. Mencken writer, Charles Willson Peale painter, naturalist, Babe Ruth baseball player, Upton Sinclair author, Harriet Tubman abolitionist

Thanks to Tex, for compiling this list. It was a big help!

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Here are printables and some sites to help you with your study of Maryland.

Here is some basic information on Maryland from Enchanted Learning.
Here is an outline map of Maryland from Enchanted Learning.
A Label Me Map of Maryland from Enchanted Learning.
A dot-to-dot mystery map for your younger students from Enchanted Learning.
A Maryland Map/Quiz printout from Enchanted Learning.
A Maryland state flag printable is available HERE from Enchanted Learning.
Another Maryland flag printable.


Information about the State Symbols of Maryland can be found here.

Here are some fast facts about Maryland from Kids Konnect.

Here is information about the making of the state of Maryland from Social Studies for Kids.

Maryland Kids has a great collection of printables...please check these out. From coloring books to online crossword puzzles, there is something for every age group. I could have chosen what I liked and posted it here, but I figured, you will know what's best for your family. However, one quick note: the picture in the first coloring book titled "Meeting With the Indians" would be a good Thanksgiving coloring page.

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Here are some excellent Virtual Tours of interesting sites in Maryland:

University of Maryland virtual tour If you are interested in higher education or history, this video tour of the university will be right up your alley.

Less flashy, but with fascinating information and an interactive timeline, is a journey to The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. Click on dates on the timeline to see specific events from that year.
Historic St. Mary's City has a children's page with fun links to explore.

Fort McHenry, over which Francis Scott Key saw Old Glory flying during its bombing, and was inspired to write the Star-Spangled Banner during the War of 1812, has some interesting historical tidbits on their site. I enjoyed the download about the archaeological treasures. Once you have checked those out, head on over to the National Park Serivce site (Ft. McHenry is a National Park) and let your kids try their hand at becoming a junior ranger using their fabulous online learning game HERE. It's wonderful!

For even more nature and geography study, the visit Maryland site has interesting a colorful photo tours of each area of the state, with links to each area's most interesting sites.

To further study the geologic features of Maryland, click on specific locations as you scroll down to see photos and descriptions of each

**DO NOT MISS THIS ONE Thinkport Maryland is an awesome educational website with virtual adventures. We did the one called Bayport and it was excellent. We learned a lot about the Chesapeake Bay and tidal areas of the state, interacted with the wildlife, and explored the ecosystems.  Here are some of our picks:

•  Explore the Chesapeake Bay with an interactive adventure called Bayquest. Excellent.
• Exploring Maryland's Roots Visit an archaeological dig and watch videos about historical sites.
• Explore the Chesapeake Bay with Baytrippers

The National Aquarium in Maryland has some interesting links to information about animals. I was surprised they did not have a virtual trip available. If you find one that I missed, please e-mail me. My kids were so disappointed.

The Maryland Zoo offers online back issues of their Zoogram Magazine geared toward kids. If you scroll over the ad-like stuff, you will find good photos, informative articles, and even some crafts and puzzles. This would be fun for an animal-lover.

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Thinking about taking a trip to Maryland? Here are a few sites you might want to visit:

• National Colonial Farm has a homeschool day in May that looks like fun.
• St. Mary's City celebrates the military with free admission for military members and $1 admission for family members in the month of November.
• A listing of other historic sites around Maryland, their offerings, and their cost is HERE.

We live close to Maryland, and I am thinking a field trip there sounds like a nice idea!!

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I hope you have enjoyed our excursion to the colorful state of Maryland.
Please check back next Wednesday for a trip to North Carolina.

Blessings,

Heather

If you post about your "visit" to Maryland, or anywhere else geographic, please feel free to link up with our Mr. Linky here. The same linky will be open all school year (and posted every week here) and you can just keep adding your geography trips to it (if that's all right with you...?).

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