Growing up along the lakeshore of Wisconsin in Manitowoc, I never saw fireflies. Maybe it was too cold by Lake Michigan. I always wondered about it. The following "Only in Wisconsin" site had a recent article that notes fireflies like warm, wet conditions and that last year was one of the best years ever in Wisconsin to view them. I thought about how fascinating this article information was and how students would love to learn about this as well.
I found the Only in Wisconsin site last year and wanted to share it as a great resource when teaching about our state. While not a site specifically for educators, I have found many cool things that fit with what we're learning and that kids find pretty amazing. This site works best as a point of interest to get kids engaged when teaching about specifics in our state. With lots and lots of pictures and a quick paragraph or two, it's easy to get students excited. It has everything from little known state parks to aspects of state history, geographical features, and lots of interesting state trivia, to name a few.
I found the easiest way to use this site was to subscribe to it and then mark relevant pictures and/or pieces to share with students when they fit in. At times, I just focus on a single picture or two instead of the entire article. The site provides fascinating facts, trivia, and pictures to get students (and you!) interested in Wisconsin. In addition, it has many articles that you may personally enjoy on topics such as great restaurants, fun recreational spots to visit, must-see scenic areas, and even some creepy haunted houses. One thing for sure is that you will learn a few things you didn't know!
The other cool thing about this site is that other states can be accessed as well. So if you are teaching other regions of the United States and want to find some interesting things about another state or even if you are planning your next vacation, check it out...
Last spring I referenced this article as a resource to use when teaching latitude and longitude. The site is just west of Wausau. At 45 North parallel and 90 West meridian, it's pretty interesting to think that this is one of four such "Center of the World" locations on Earth. Two are located in oceans and the other is in a hard to get to mountainous region of China.
Back in June, I made my way out to 45 North and 90 West. It was a fun quick little adventure. It's located near Poniatowski on Meridian Road. The "Center of the World" is kind of in the middle of nowhere but is easily accessible if you are up to walking about a quarter mile on a well maintained gravel trail along the edge of a farmer's field. There is also a parking lot available...in the middle of nowhere.
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Way off in the distance where you can barely see something white sticking up is where 45 North and 90 West intersect.
Pretty wild flower scenery along the walk.
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Signage at 45 North and 90 West.
I made my way to the "Center of the World"!
Here are a few more examples of Only in Your State articles. Each has a quick few paragraphs and pictures to connect students with some feature of Wisconsin.
This first example takes us to the southwest part of the state to give us some mining history. The location of this one is in Platteville which sits in the Upper Mississippi Lead-Zinc District. The article explains how in 1845, a vein was discovered 50 feet underground and produced 2 million pounds of lead ore in its first year. Read more about it here:
Here is a link to 9 historic sites around the state. There is a picture and caption for each of the 9 different locations. This is a picture of Mineral Point where the town proudly boasts "Where Wisconsin Began" back in 1827. Pictures and information such as this can be shared with students as a spring board to create excitement about teaching geography and history of Wisconsin.
Jeremy Atherton/Flickr Mineral Point
Did you know there are prehistoric reefs located in Wisconsin? If you have ever been to a Brewers game at Miller Park, you have been very near these reefs. This article explains that during the Silurian Period, 400 million years ago, there was a shallow tropical sea with lots of marine life and fossils that can now be seen in museums around Wisconsin. Check out this link to see more pictures. This is an interesting way to plug into the geological history of our state with students and see what is on and near these reefs today.
Flickr/Teemu008 This is a picture of an ancient tree covered reef.
There are a number of waterfalls in the state and this next article highlights Big Manitou Falls. Discovered by Native Americans who thought they were hearing the voice of the Great Spirit, the article goes on to say that the brown tint to the water is from all the minerals in the area.
Doug Kerr/Flickr Big Manitou Falls
One more thing to note...
Be sure to look at the bottom of each Only in Wisconsin post to find a special feature. Wisconsin Image of the Day always displays a gorgeous photo of somewhere around the state. Kids could have fun writing captions for these or using their oracy skills in discussions.
And those fireflies? They have inspired me to check out Only in Indiana, my birthplace and where I spent my first two years of college...and of course I'm sure to feel as if I'm "Back Home Again In Indiana".
Please share if you have been on this site before and any specifics you come across that we can all use!
