Find It!

Learn It! SOLve It! Find It! was on our minds as we found 5 caches while geocaching in Arizona. This picture shows a unique container that I thought you guys would want to see. My husband was the lucky one to find it. There were five of us that spent about 45 minutes looking for "Out Front."

Where are the Rolling Hills?

You can look at the picture and know that you are not in Virginia. This landform would not be described as rolling hills. What region of Virginia do we live in?

Name That Geographic Region

Part of your studies for 5th grade include knowing the Geographic Regions of North America. This topography covers much of southwestern United States. Can you name the geographic region?

Salt River Project

This canal is part of Arizona's Salt River Project that was designed to distribute water from the Salt River among the various members living in the valley. Early settlers in Phoenix were forced to depend upon the flow of the Salt River to sustain agricultureal activies. Why would this project be important to the millions of people living in the valley? Can you name the longest river in Egypt that runs through the desert that was the

lifeline for the ancient Egyptian civilization.

Cash Crops

Several days ago you learned about the abandoned sugar plantation on the Big Island, but on Maui sugarcane is still being grown and harvested. There is one operational sugar refinery on the island that yields some 340,000 tons of raw sugar. The prediction is that in five to six years this refinery will also close. Maui has a second cash crop. Can you guess what that might be?

Road To Hana

The Hana Highway is a beautiful 53 mile road that snakes along the coast of Maui through a tropical rain forest. Areas along here receive 360 inches of rain per year, primarily in the “winter.” This coast of Maui is on the “wayward” side, meaning that the prevailing trade winds blow from the ocean onto the shore and push many storms onto the land. These winds help create the largest waves on Maui and here is where the best surfing is found on the island. We observed the surfers at Ho’okipa Beach. The ocean along here is a beautiful cobalt-blue. There are 56 one lane bridges and 617 hairpin curves on the Road to Hana with unbelievable waterfalls and ocean views all along the journey. Hawaii has only two black sand beaches and we enjoyed walking on one as well as exploring a lava tube located in the rocks beside it. We observed large pineapple fields, taro fields, some more sugar cane fields, and a bamboo forest. There is also a large ranch located at Hana and there are lots of beef cattle. We finished our drive at the seven hidden pools of Oheo at a National Park. It took 2 hours to drive the 53 miles back but it was time well spent. What was our average speed on our return trip?

Black Sand Beach

Honokalani Black Sand Beach is located in the Wainapanapa State Park along the Hana coast. This large beach is set among lava cliffs and the sand is actually small, smooth, lava pebbles. A small sea arch, sea caves, and seaside lava tubes are located in the beach area. There are only two black sand beaches in Hawaii. The other black sand beach is at the Big Island. This was one of my favorite things on the island. Why is the sand black?