Friday, January 8, 2010

More Exploration of North America

Today, Mrs. Yollis' class had another opportunity to explore the
26' x 35' Giant Map of North America.



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Mrs. Hanzer, 
who sponsored the map for our school, 
joined us and talked about the importance of geography!
She has traveled to all SEVEN continents!




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Below, four students stood in the Four Corners region. 

Do you know why it is called the Four Corners?




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Below, Mrs. Yollis' class created the Sierra Nevada range, the Rocky Mountains, and the Appalachian Mountains. Several students climbed Mt. McKinley! (Also called Denali.)

(Does anyone recall its elevation?)

 


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  Can you name any of the features below?

Try to find:    Pikes Peak, the Mississippi River, the Missouri River, the Ohio River, the Arkansas River, the Appalachian Mountains, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea.

 


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We created the Mississippi watershed. 
As shown, all the water drains into the Gulf of Mexico.

(Do you know what a watershed is?)

 


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Can you name the man-made feature the students are pointing at in the Panama Isthmus?

 


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Panda got to visit the Hawaiian Islands!





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Then it was time to put our shoes back on and leave the Giant Map of North America forever...


 




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What did you learn from your experience on the map?

30 comments:

  1. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I think it is amazing that Mrs. Hanzer has been to all seven continents. Also, I don't know why the Four Corners is named the Four Corners. But I just think it is amazing that if you put both hands and feet in different states, you are in all four states at the same time.

    " A watershed is a basin-like landform defined by high points and ridge lines that descend into lower elevations and stream valleys."

    Here is a thank you note to Mrs. Hanzer.

    Dear Mrs. Hanzer,

    Thank you so much for giving Chaparral the giant North America Map. I learned a lot from that map.

    Thank you,
    Nick

    Sincerely,
    Nick

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Mrs. Yollis,
    It was fun to climb Mt. McKinley. I wanted to thank Mrs. Hanzer for providing the huge map of North America. Experiencing the big map was fun!
    Also, my favorite part of the map was when we made the Mississippi River flow out into the Gulf of Mexico.
    Your student,
    Trent

    ReplyDelete
  3. @ Trent,

    Thanks so much for a fabulous comment on this post about North America. You are an excellent member of this online community!

    Again, you have taken the time to spell and capitalize all of the proper nouns correctly. Mrs. Hanzer and I are very proud of you! (I'm sure your parents are too!)

    I loved when we pulled the chain down the Mississippi River like it was water flowing. Everyone could clearly see that all the water drained into the Gulf of Mexico.

    Great comment, Trent!

    :-)
    Mrs. Yollis

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a great idea to use a giant map!
    I'm sure the kids had great fun and learnt a lot too.
    Regards from Spain!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Mrs. Yollis' class,

    I love the pictures of the giant map! When I first looked at your post I thought maybe it was trick photography because it looked like you had all shrunk. Then I realized that it was an enormous map!

    You are very lucky to have had the chance of experiencing how big North America really is. I have driven across the country a few times, so I've seen many of the landforms that you made.

    My favorite picture was the Mississippi river. That is a BIG watershed!

    Your friend,
    Mr. Salsich

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    It was very fun visiting the map of North America. We always knew the Mississippi River was big, but not that big. We also learned that the Mississippi River has many tributaries. One tributary was the Arkansas River, and another was the Ohio River. The biggest tributary was the Missouri River. That's a big watershed!

    Sincerely,
    Gal, Ethan, and Lexi

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I thought it was so fun to see Panda hula dancing in the Hawaiian Islands. Also I have been to Maui, Hawaii, and it was so fun because I got to go snorkeling with the colorful fish and sea turtles.

    I wanted to make a thank you note to Mrs. Hanzer so here it is.

    Dear Mrs. Hanzer,

    Thank you so much for bringing the North America map to the whole school. I had a lot of fun on it because you get to explore the states, counties, and islands.

    Thank you,
    Nick

    Can you please send this thank you to Mrs. Hanzer?

    Sincerely,
    Nick

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    It was exiting when we used our cards to discover the locations of cities and bodies of water. Our coordinate was Rhode Island. Walking the longitude lines made me feel fast because I got there quickly.

    From,
    Sam

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I love the map of North Amarica. I am so greatful that Mrs. Hanzer paid for it to come to the school.


    Love,
    Anais

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I learned from the map that the Mississippi River has more than one river flowing into it. For example, the Arkansas River and the Ohio River are tributaries. I thank Mrs. Hanzer for sponsoring the giant map of North America to our school. I learned a lot from the map like I said above.

    Your student,
    Caleb

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    To me it is amazing that Mrs. Hanzer traveled in all seven continents! I've only been to one, and it is North America.

    By the way, did you know that the Great Lakes first letters spell homes? Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Superior.

    From,
    Richie

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    You were right about us learning every day. I learned that longitude lines meet at the poles and latitude lines never touch. Did you learn anything new?

    Here is a thank you letter:

    Dear Mrs. Hanzer,
    Thank you so much for the wonderful North America map. I like it because you can see the borders of Canada and Mexico.

    Making the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains was fun because I got to learn where all the things are.

    From,

    Sydney

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    It was fun learning about North America. My favorite part of the map was discovering that latitude lines never touch and, longitude lines meet at the Poles.

    What did you learn about the North America map?

    From,
    Scarlet

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I know why it is called the Four Corners. It's called the Four Corners because if you stand in one state, Arizona for example, you can also be standing in New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. Have You ever been to any of the Four Corners states?

    Panda is very lucky to be in Hawaii hula dancing. Have you been to Hawaii?


    Your student,
    Sydney

    ReplyDelete
  15. @ Conchi,

    Thanks so much for visiting our blog from Spain and for leaving a comment! We appreciate that. ¡Muchas gracias!

    @ Mr. Salsich,

    We loved your comment about how you thought it was trick photography at first glance. You are funny! It is a bit hard to believe that a map could be that colossal! (Colossal is one of our vocabulary words for our story this week, and it really applies to the map!)

    Hope you're having a great beginning of the year!

    @ Richie,

    Thanks for great tip about how to remember the Great Lakes. H-O-M-E-S for Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. I'd forgotten about that trick.

    @ Sydney and Scarlet,

    You asked me what I learned about North America. I knew that Pikes Peak was named for Zebulon Pike (even though he wasn't the first to summit the peak - he was the first to document it), but I thought it was spelled Pike's Peak, with an apostrophe (singular possessives...remember those from our worksheet today?) I learned that 1891, the U.S. Board of Geographic names recommended against using apostrophes in names. Interesting, no?

    @ Sydney,

    Yes, I have been to Hawaii several times, and visited three of the islands in the archipelago.

    @ EVERYONE!

    Excellent comments bloggers! Each and every one of you are becoming outstanding writers. Practice makes perfect! :-)

    From,
    Mrs. Yollis

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow, what a big map! That looks like a lot of fun. That is wonderful that Mrs. Hanzer has visited all seven continents. It seems like you guys had lots of fun on that GIANT map, I know I would! That was very considerate of Mrs. Hanzer to give Chaparrel the map. I enjoyed reading your blog!
    Your friend,
    Purpleunicorn
    @ Lindero

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dear Mrs. Yollis,
    I was very amused by you and your student's class blog. From the many of your postings, I loved this one about the gigantic North America map. To me, it is truly astonishing that a group of third graders are capable to do these activities at such a young age. Keep it up!

    Matan
    Mrs. Lofton's Class
    Lindero Canyon Middle School

    ReplyDelete
  18. @ Purpleunicorn from Lindero,

    Thanks for a great comment! We love to hear from our middle school friends! Yes, it is remarkable that Mrs. Hanzer has visited all seven continents. So far, I have been to North America, South America, and Europe. Four more to go! What about you? Where have you traveled?


    @ Matan for Lindero Canyon Middle School,

    Thanks for visiting and taking the time to write a thoughtful comment! You use high-level vocabulary! (We love that!) Mrs. Lofton must be an excellent teacher! I hope you'll come back and visit my students' blog again! We love our middle school followers!

    Your friend,
    Mrs. Yollis

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dear Mrs. Yollis' Class,
    You guys seemed to have lots of fun at the map. My class went there just a few days ago! It's very cool how you created all of the mountain ranges. I wonder what map they'll bring next year?

    Sincerely,
    Jonah

    ReplyDelete
  20. @ Jonah,

    What kinds of activities did you do on the map? Did you learn anything new?

    Your blogging buddy,
    Mrs. Yollis

    ReplyDelete
  21. Dear Mrs Yollis' Class,
    I just wanted to send you a quick message to let you all know where I'm up to on my travels. I left Hong Kong yesterday after a fantastic week there. I am now in Langkawi which is an island in Malaysia. It is so beautiful here!!!! I am staying at a lovely beach resort and having a lot of fun! I will be in touch again soon.
    Take care from your friend,
    Miss McGeady

    ReplyDelete
  22. Dear Mrs.Yollis,
    I think it is so cool that your class could experience learning about North America in such a fun way.My favorite part about looking at your photos is that I actually learned about North America too.Therefor Mrs. Hanzer must be a great person to pay for the map to come to your classroom.

    Sincerely,
    Basballplaya14
    from Mrs. Loftons class

    Ps. Your kids make great comments.

    ReplyDelete
  23. @ Miss McGeady,

    Greeting from California. We looked up Langkawi, the island in Malaysia where you are, and looked at some photos on Google Earth. What a gorgeous island paradise! We also looked up on our world time zone map. At 10:00 A.M. in the PST, it was 1:00 A.M. where you are. However, it was Wednesday here, but Thursday where you are. You are really helping us understand time zones!

    Thanks again for helping us learn about Asia!

    :-)
    Mrs. Yollis

    ReplyDelete
  24. @ Basballplaya14
    from Mrs. Lofton's class

    Thanks for a great comment! You mentioned you learned something from reading our post. We're curious, what did you learn?

    :-)
    Mrs. Yollis' students

    ReplyDelete
  25. It looks like your class really enjoyed learning about North America. Your giant map is amazing.
    I like the Four Corners and that you can learn so much about the seven continents.
    znla
    Mrs. Lofton's Class

    ReplyDelete
  26. @ znla (from Mrs. Lofton's class)

    Wow! Mrs. Lofton has great students! My students love it when they realize that other, older students are reading their work and commenting to them. Thank you!

    You mentioned the Four Corners region of the United States. I've never been, but I heard you can be in four states at the same time. Can you or someone from Mrs. Lofton's class name the Four Corner states?

    Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

    Mrs. Yollis

    ReplyDelete
  27. Dear Mrs. Yollis's class,

    I just wanted to say I love how you have that map of the whole world. I can't believe that you can fit all of you students on it. Also, I adore how you had everyone take a picture of each and everyone of them and write a post about what they were for halloween. I read alot of them but my favorite one was either Michael Jackson or the grimrepor. I'm from Mrs. Lofton's class and she always talks about you like how our blogs needs to be more like yours. Thank you and I love your blog!

    From,
    baseballkid

    ReplyDelete
  28. @ baseballkid (from Mrs. Lofton's class)

    Your class has been so great about leaving quality comments for our class. Be sure to thank all of the students for their excellent writing!

    You mentioned you liked the Grim Reaper and the Michael Jackson stories in our Halloween post in January. What specifically did you like? Was it the image, the pose, or the content of the writing? My students are intrigued and would love to know!

    Thanks again!
    Mrs. Yollis

    ReplyDelete
  29. Dear Ms Yolis,I am a student from Lindero Canyon Middle School.I loved the giant map. I think it's lovely that you and your class got to learn more about the geography of the United States. I wonder why the Four Corners is named the Four Corners. I love the pictures of the giant map. Please tell Mrs. Hanzer I said hi. I think its great that she sponsored the map for the school.

    Theo

    ReplyDelete
  30. Dear Mrs .Yollis's class and Mrs .Hanzer,

    What an excellent idea to learn about North America using a giant map. I'll bet it made it alot easier to understand the geography when the map was so large! It's truly remarkable that Mrs. Hanzer has been to all seven continents! The idea of being able to be in four states at once is also very fascinating

    Your friend,
    nrenee21 from Mrs. Lofton's class

    ReplyDelete

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