One of my favorite places I’ve ever been to in Arizona is the Petrified Forest National Park, which is just off of historic Route 66. In 1857, the United States government hired E. F. Veale to build a wagon road from Fort Defiance, New Mexico to the Colorado River. Beale experimented with using a Camel Corps to build the road.
The Petrified Forest is part of a natural travel corridor that has been used for over 10,000 years, and modern humans travel a similar path.
The first woman to ever serve on the U.S. Supreme Court recently passed away in Arizona. On March 26, 1930, this American icon was born in El Paso, Texas. She grew up riding horses and helping on cattle roundups on her parents’ ranch in Arizona. Although she was a good student, no one suspected that she would one day change the world. Her name was Sandra Day O’Connor. She would grow up to be the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court!
Doink! Everyone has heard that sound before and gone rushing to the nearest window only to find an injured bird lying on the ground outside of the glass. This is called a bird window strike. Sometimes the inside of your home looks like a warm haven to an unlucky bird, and sometimes their reflection looks like another bird and they try to attack it. Other times the surrounding environment reflects off of the glass, making it look like somewhere they can fly.
“Our Hidden Powers: Working Together for a Planet in Balance” is a story where we learn about different forms of renewable energy through the lens of five characters. The characters, Windy, Sunny, Terry, Kai, and Ignis, represent wind, sun, earth, water, and fire. They learn that they work together to make renewable, sustainable energy.
There is a place where teachers can find great resources and companies can make donations, a place dedicated to helping our community by serving educators and students and by helping the environment. It’s called Treasures 4 Teachers.
On my last trip to the Phoenix Zoo, I visited the new and exciting exhibit Predator Passage. Predator Passage has over five different animal species including African lions, a Fennic fox, and Ruppel’s griffon vultures.
You can get a birdseye view of these stunning animals from the 20-foot Predator Passage Tower or walk along the path to get up close and personal.
I recently read “Belly Up.” It is about a 12-year-old boy named Teddy Fitzroy who is living in America’s newest theme park, FunJungle (The name of the book series). Soon, Henry Hippo, the park’s mascot, turns up dead, and Teddy suspects somebody murdered him. Was it the owner? The clown? Even the chief of security could’ve done it.
The author of this misleading mystery is Stuart Gibbs. Gibbs is also the author of “Spy School” and “Poached.” “Belly Up” consists of 294 pictureless pages and I enjoyed every single one of them. I recommend this book for ages 10 and up.
Do you like the Mo Willems’ book “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”? Have you read “The Elephant and Piggie” book series? If so, you should visit the Children’s Museum of Phoenix where there is an exhibit hosted by the Pigeon. There are so many games and activities to enjoy with many of Willems’ books characters.
