Volume 12 Volume 12, Number 1, September/October 2009
Volume 12, Number 1, September/October 2009
Join us as we tour North Carolina past and present. Known as the Tar Heel State, it was the 12th state to join the Union, leaving the Union during the Civil War and rejoining seven years later. It is a southern state with a more tropical climate and a long coastline.
During our tour of this state, we discovered interesting people like Floyd McKissick, an African-American who made history during the era of the civil rights movement. Find out more about his life and accomplishments and map out the many places he lived and traveled in North Carolina. Also, meet Elizabeth Dole and find out about her leadership qualities in politics and with the Red Cross. Make a Red Cross kit like those made during World War II. Also, find out about the Cone brothers and their contributions to the jeans you wear today. Put those old jeans to use making a jeans pocket planter.
There is also a sweet side to North Carolina with honeybees, donuts, and sweet potatoes. Find out about each and play a honeybee game, do a sweet potato word search, and bake some delicious donuts! You will also discover the important role of honeybees and why they are vanishing.
This state has mysteries about pirates and a lost colony. Explore the secrets of the Outer Banks and create a pirate action figure. Recreate the lost colony of Roanoke with paper dolls from that time period.
Complete your tour of the state as you discover the ferry routes and build your own ferry boat. Read some great fiction books with North Carolina connections and create a pressed flower bookmark. Discover the inside story about the gray squirrel, the state mammal, and create your own acorn book filled with king-of-the-treetop facts. As you wrap up your tour, remember, learning makes Crinkles in your brain!
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Meet Elizabeth Dole by Glenda Frasier
John and Mary Hanford welcomed their second baby into the world on July 29, 1936. They were excited that it was a girl. They already had a son, who was thirteen years old. The new parents had different ideas about the baby's name. They compromised, and Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford was baptized on Easter Sunday, 1937. Learn about Elizabeth Dole's work in politics and her with the Red Cross. Then you can create your own Red Cross Kit for a soldier, just like children in the past have done.
Floyd McKissick: Civil Rights Leader
by Tanua Templet
Floyd Bixler McKissick was born on March 9, 1922, in Asheville, North Carolina. He was an African-American civil rights leader, lawyer, and businessman. He served as a role model and devoted most of his life towards improving the lives of others. Learn about Floyd McKissick's extraordinary life and his activism. Label a map of important North Carolina cities and locations and see which ones connect to Floyd McKissick's life.
North Carolina Folktales
by Mary Ann Satterfield
What if a tale had no exclamation points and no words in all capital letters? Think about a story with no interesting or colorful words like "gumption" or "fiddle-dee-dee." Imagine a giant saying, "Fe, fi, fo, fum," in a squeaky voice instead of bellowing "FE! FI! FO! FUM!" Discover how stories and storytelling have changed and learn about the different kinds of stories. Go to your local library and check out some books of folktales, then make Roanoke paper dolls and have them act out the stories.
North Carolina through Fiction
by Diana Erbio
Join Valor on her dangerous journey during the Civil War. Follow Littlejim Houston through his hard work and perseverance and go along with a pair of teenagers as they follow Blackbeard's light back in time. Find out what happens to all these characters and more by visiting your local library. To keep your place in these exciting stories, create your own pressed flower bookmarks.
Secrets of the Outer Banks by Joanne Mattern
The Outer Banks are a beautiful part of North Carolina. Looking out over the sandy beaches and the rolling waves, it can be hard to believe that this area is also a place of mystery, danger, and tragedy. Let's look deeper into the secrets of this unique part of the state. Find out what's so dangerous about places like the Diamond Shoals and learn about pirates like the infamous Blackbeard. Next, make a Blackbeard action figure of your own. Download this article for FREE!
From Here to There on North Carolina Ferries
by E. Renee Heiss
For thousands of year, ferries have carried people and their vehicles across water from one side of the land to the other. In the fourth century, oxen turned a wheel inside a Roman ferry. The motion of that wheel through the water moved the ferry. In the nineteenth century, horse-powered ferries brought travelers across Lake Champlain. Today, gas engines power most ferries. Find out about the different ferries that operate in North Carolina before making your own ferry to carry passengers across a route of your choice.
Honeybees: "Vanishing!" by Robin Pickens
The honeybee is the official state insect of North Carolina. Recently, honeybees have been mysteriously vanishing all over the country, including in North Carolina. Commercial beekeepers have lost about one-third of their bees in the last three years. About 30 billion bees have disappeared! No one knows exactly why. Learn about Colony Collapse Disorder, how it can affect food crops and what might be causing it. Once you find out about honeybees, play a game to "find" the bees.
Donuts!
by Joanne Mattern
In 1937, a man named Vernon Rudolph bought a top-secret recipe from a French chef in New Orleans. This recipe described how to make a donut using yeast to make the dough rise. Rudolph rented a building on South Main Street in a neighborhood now known as Old Salem, in the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. On July 13, 1937, he started selling his sweet, puffy donuts to local grocery stores under the name Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Things took an interesting turn that would change Krispy Kreme forever. Find out about the long history of donuts before making your own delicious treats!
Denim
by Glenda Frasier
Denim is a cotton textile that is very durable. It is widely used to make jeans and other clothes such as jackets, shirts, and skirts. Denim is so durable because it has a unique weave called twill weave. Originally denim was made entirely of cotton threads. Today denim fabric often contains other types of threads, such as stretch threads. Discover how the Cone Denim Company became one of the leading producers of denim in the world. Then, use an old pair of jeans to create a pocket planter for growing a favorite flower.
Not a Potato, Not a Yam by Diana ErbioDid you know that sweet potatoes aren't actually potatoes? Potatoes are tubers and belong to the nightshade family. Also included in this family are peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants. People sometimes confuse sweet potatoes with yams, but they are not related. Discover many more facts about the state vegetable of North Carolina and the fun dishes you can make with them.
King of the Treetops by Tanua Templet
The gray squirrel became North Carolina's official state mammal in 1969. These squirrels feel at home any place in this state, from the cities to the swamps! The frisky stashers are highly thought of they rank second on the nature lover's list. Bird watching is the number 1 activity for outdoor enthusiasts. Find out interesting facts about these fascinating animals and then make an acorn book to fill with your knew knowledge.
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