February/March 2005

Realtors often use the phrase "location, location, location" when helping home buyers to determine where to live. Where your home is located affects your life. For you, our readers, it can determine where you go to school.

For Parents and Teachers:

This issue of Kansas Kaleidoscope looks at the place called Kansas through study of geography. The definition of geography is broad. It is the study of the Earth's surface and the way people, plants, and animals live on and use it.

The issue helps to address the fifth grade history and government curricular standard that asks for students to use maps, graphic representations, tools, and technologies to locate, use, and present information about people, places, and environments.

When Kansas became a territory in 1854, the boundaries were defined in the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Visit History

The Dyck Aroretum of the Plains in Hesston was established to encourage a greater understanding and appreciation of the prairie.

Your life is affected by your state's geographic location, and every state is different.

Have you ever played the game "Battleship?" The game board has lines running across and lines running up and down to form a grid.

Since 1859 when Hawaii became a state, the United States has been made up of fifty states. Forty-eight of those states are connected to each other by land.

When you look at a map of the state of Kansas, you will notice that it looks like a rectangle with a "bite" taken out of the corner.

All places have physical features that make them special. Most physical features change slowly over time, due to natural occurrences.

One of the most impressive features of our land is the Kansas prairie. Perhaps Laura Ingalls Wilder titled her best-selling book, Little House on the Prairie, because of the importance of the land to her life story.

The climate of Kansas is directly related to the land. The Rocky Mountains in Colorado are so high that they block almost all moisture that might come to Kansas from the Pacific Ocean.

What about animals that live in Kansas? They are here because they can survive in the environment.

Northeast Kansas was the first area to be settled in 1854. Why?

During the Civil War geography played an important role in the largest battle fought in Kansas.

Natural resources found below the ground were the major attraction for settlers to the southeastern corner of Kansas.

Waconda Springs in Mitchell County has amazed many travelers through the years.

Geography was responsible for bringing cattle to Kansas although it had a little help from businessman J. G. McCoy.

Natural salt deposits were discovered underground in Reno County in 1887.

When pioneers arrived in northwest Kansas in the late 1800s, they found very few trees.

Limited rainfall in this part of Kansas persuaded early settlers to look for ways to tap into the underground water supply.

In southwest Kansas, finding water to grow crops was a problem for early settlers.

If you don't think geography is important, I bet you will when you read this! Kansan Andrew Wojtanik, 15, competed in the 2004 National Geographic Bee and came out on top!

Teacher Supplement