3rd Grade Social Studies

• Today you will learn about our state’s quarter, flag, gem, bird and many other facts about our great state of Idaho.

The United States

We live here in Idaho.

This is the shape of our state of Idaho.

Boise is our State Capitol.

Boise

These are some of the natural resources we have in our Gem State…

About our states name…

• Originally suggested for Colorado, the name "Idaho" was used for a steamship which traveled the Columbia River.

About our states name…

• With the discovery of gold on the Clearwater River in 1860, the diggings began to be called the Idaho mines.

"Idaho" is a coined or invented word, and is not a derivation of an Indian phrase "E Dah Hoe (How)" supposedly meaning "gem of the mountains."

The Star Garnet is Idaho State’s gem. This beautiful stone has a four-point star when it is polished (and sometimes a six-

point star).

Did you know?

•   Seventy-two different kinds of precious and semi-precious stones have been found in Idaho.  Africa is the only area in the world that has more kinds of gems than Idaho.  People come from many other states to hunt for Idaho gemstones.

 

The potatoe is Idaho’s state vegetable.

Our hard working farmers and workers have made Idaho famous for our potatoes.

Our state quarter and motto

Idaho became the 43rd state in 1890 - Idaho's state quarterfeatures the state raptor an outline map of Idaho with a star indicating location of Boise, and the state motto: "Esto Perpetua"(which means perpetual)

Our state fruit the Huckleberry.

Our state motto is Esto Perpetua

• "Esto Perpetua" (Let it be perpetual) 

Our state horse the Appaloosa.

The Hagerman Horse is Idaho’s state fossil.

Other Fossils found in Idaho.

Here is our state flag.

Here is our state seal.

Our state fish is the Cutthroat

• The Cutthroat, is native to Idaho. The Cutthroat's name comes from the distinctive red to orange slash on the underside of its lower jaw.

The Syringa is Idaho State’s Flower.

The Mountain Bluebird is Idaho’s state bird.

The Falcon is Idaho’s state raptor (peregrine falcon).

American Folk Dance is our state’s dance.

You’ve heard of the wonders our land does possess,Its beautiful valleys and hills.The majestic forests where nature abounds,We love every nook and rill

Chorus:And here we have Idaho,Winning her way to fame.Silver and gold in the sunlight blaze,And romance lies in her name.

Singing, we’re singing of you,Ah, proudly too. All our lives thru,We’ll go singing, singing of you,Singing of Idaho.

There’s truly one state in this great land of ours,Where ideals can be realized.The pioneers made it so for you and me,A legacy we’ll always prize.Chorus:

And here we have Idaho,Winning her way to fame.Silver and gold in the sunlight blaze,And romance lies in her name. Singing, we’re singing of you,Ah, proudly too. All our lives thru,We’ll go singing, singing of you,Singing of Idaho.

Idaho State Song

“Here We Have Idaho”

Here We Have Idaho

The Western White Pine is Idaho’s state tree.

The Monarch Butterfly is Idaho’s state insect.

These were just some of the Facts that makes Idaho a

wonderful state. Thanks for learning with us

today.

Now that you have seen some of our Idaho States wonderful sights. Let’s make a book to tell

your favorite parts. A picture is added to each box, your job is to finish the statement,”Idaho’s

state…is…”, then add to the picture that is provided. Don’t just color. Where would the

Mountain Blue bird be sitting, a nest, on a branch, on a tent? You decide and have fun.

Idaho’s State Bird is ____________________

Our booklet of interesting

Facts about Idaho

By____________________

Idaho’s state quarter is below.

Idaho’s state dance is ____________________

Idaho ‘s state fish is ___________________

Idaho’s state bird is ____________________

Our state flower is ____________________

Our state seal is below. Idaho’s state flag is below.

Idaho’s state fruit is the ____________________

Our state horse is the ___________________

Our state vegetable is the ____________________

Our state insect is the ____________________

Idaho’s state raptor is the ____________________

Idaho’s state tree is the ____________________

Our state fossil is the ____________________

Our state gem is the ____________________

Continue to learn about Idaho at these Web Resources

• <img src="http://county-map.digital-topo-maps.com/idaho-county-map.gif"><br>• Map Courtesy of <a href="http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/">Digital Map

Store</a>• State symbols usa

• http://education.boisestate.edu/compass/Idahohistory/TeacherIntro.htm• idaho.gov• States symbols usa• www.usgennet.org/usa/id/state1/alhn/state.html

Teacher information to read before the slide show.

Idaho’s Flag

• Idaho's flag consists of the state seal on a field of blue. The words "State of Idaho" appear in gold letters on a red and gold band below the seal. The seal, in the center of the flag, depicts a miner and a woman representing equality, liberty and justice. The symbols on the seal represent some of Idaho's natural resources: mines, forests, farmland, and wildlife.

By Suzanne TaylorIdaho became a state on July 3, 1890 and that same summer a talented young woman came to the state capitol at Boise to visit relatives. Emma Sarah Etine Edwards (later she married mining man James G. Green) was the daughter of John C. Edwards, a former Governor of Missouri (1844-48) who had emigrated to Stockton, California where he acquired large land holdings, a beautiful French Creole wife, Emma Catherine Richards, and became Mayor of Stockton, in about that order.  Emma, eldest of a family of eight, was exceptionally well educated for a woman of that period and when she dropped into Boise, it was on her way home from a year spent at art school in New York. However, what was to be a very short visit turned into a lifelong stay, for she fell in love with the charming city and its people and opened art classes where the young pioneers of the community learned to paint.Shortly after her classes started, she was invited to enter a design for the Great Seal of the State of Idaho. Acting on Concurrent Resolution No. 1, adopted by the First Legislature of the newest state in the union, a committee was appointed from that body and instructed to offer a prize of one hundred dollars for the best design submitted.Artists from all over the country entered the competition, but the unanimous winner was young Emma Edwards, who became the first and only woman to design the Great Seal of a State.She was handed the honorarium by Governor Norman B. Willey on March 5, 1891. The state flag also carries the seal centered on a deep blue background.Emma Edwards Green had no children of her own, but assisted in rearing a nephew, Darell B. Edwards, a distinguished Oakland attorney. Ralph Edwards of "This is Your Life," also a nephew, shows a valid artistic strain flourished in the Edwards family.Mrs. Green died in Boise January 6, 1942. She was buried beside her husband in Oakland, California.

Idaho State seal and Flag

Description of the State Seal

• By Emma Edwards Green, the DesignerBefore designing the seal, I was careful to make a thorough study of the resources and future possibilities of the State. I invited the advice and counsel of every member of the Legislature and other citizens qualified to help in creating a Seal of State that really represented Idaho at that time. Idaho had been admitted into the Union on July 3rd, 1890. The first state Legislature met in Boise on December 8, 1890, and on March 14th, 1891, adopted my design for the Great Seal of the State of Idaho.

Description of the State Seal pg 2

• In regard to the coloring of the emblems used in the making of the Great Seal of the State of Idaho, my principal desire was to use such colors as would typify pure Americanism and the history of the State. As Idaho was a virgin state, I robed my goddess in white and made the liberty cap on the end of the spear the same color. In representing the miner, I gave him the garb of the period suggested by such mining authorities as former United States Senator George Shoup, of Idaho, former Governor Norman B. Willey if Idaho, former Governor James H. Hawley of Idaho, and other mining men and early residents of the state who knew intimately the usual garb of the miner. Almost unanimously they said, "Do not put the miner in a red shirt." "Make the shirt a grayish brown," said Captain J.J. Wells, chairman of the Seal Committee. The "Light of the Mountains" is typified by the rosy glow which precedes the sunrise.

 

Description of the State Seal pg 3

• The question of Woman Suffrage was being agitated somewhat, and as leading men and politicians agreed that Idaho would eventually give women the right to vote, and as mining was the chief industry, and the mining man the largest financial factor of the state at that time, I made the figure of the man the most prominent in the design, while that of the woman, signifying justice, as noted by the scales; liberty, as denoted by the liberty cap on the end of the spear, and equality with man as denoted by her position at his side, also signifies freedom. The pick and shovel held by the miner, and the ledge of rock beside which he stands, as well as the pieces of ore scattered about his feet, all indicate the chief occupation of the State. The stamp mill in the distance, which you can see by using a magnifying glass, is also typical of the mining interest of Idaho. The shield between the man and woman is emblematic of the protection they unite in giving the state. The large fir or pine tree in the foreground in the shield refers to Idaho's immense timber interests. The husbandman plowing on the left side of the shield, together with the sheaf of grain beneath the shield, are emblematic of Idaho's agricultural resources, while the cornucopias, or horns of plenty, refer to the horticultural. Idaho has a game law, which protects the elk and moose. The elk's head, therefore, rises above the shield. The state flower, the wild Syringa or Mock Orange, grows at the woman's feet, while the ripened wheat grows as high as her shoulder. The star signifies a new light in the galaxy of states. . . . The river depicted in the shield is our mighty Snake or Shoshone River, a stream of great majesty.

Idaho Gem

• Idaho.--Alluvial deposits of almandite garnet were discovered in the early 1880's near Fernwood in Benewah County, but commercial gem and industrial mining did not start until the early 1940's. The deposits are on Emerald, Carpenter, and Meadow Creeks about 6.4 km from a mica-garnet schist formation. The garnet-bearing gravels are about 1 m to about 1.2 m thick and contain 8% to 15% garnet. These deposits are the basis of the largest industrial garnet mine in the nation and also produce gem garnet. Additionally, star garnets are produced from the placers of Purdue Creek in Latah County.

• Idaho's deposits also are the only ones in the world, besides India, that produces significant amounts of star garnets. These almandite garnets are translucent, purplish-red stones that show four- or six-ray stars when cabochon cut, or are transparent, deep red stones that can be faceted. The asterism is the result of silky rutile inclusions.

• Gem-quality garnets also are produced commercially from an area of the Little North Fork and North Fork of the Clearwater River in Clearwater County. They range from purplish rose-red to a highly prized "special pink." Gem-quality garnets occur at a number of other locations in Idaho and are periodically mined by hobbyists or professional collectors for the gemstone market.

Teacher information Star Garnets

• Star garnets are supposedly found only two places in the world, Idaho and one location in India.  In all our years we have never seen one that was definitely from India.  We have been told that both locations produce 4 ray stars, but only Idaho produces any 6 ray stars.  We sell stones cut from Idaho material.  They are mined in a region a little Northeast of Moscow and Southeast of Couer D'Alene.  The Forest Service controls digging on public lands in this area.  For a small fee you can use a pick and shovel to dig a hole.  Get muddy up to your armpits washing and screening this material and work hard all day to find your limit of 5 pounds (if you are lucky).  Most of the material that produces star stones is nearly opaque and dark reddish/purple color.  Some very large crystals can be found (3 to 5 inch diameter), but are commonly fractured and will be cut into smaller cleaner stones.  Large sizes and really good quality stones are hard to come by.  About half of all the rough you could dig will not cut a stone worth trying to sell.  Only about one in 100 pieces of cuttable rough will cut a stone that is free of internal flaws.  Many stones have weak stars that are only visible in sunlight or under a good spotlight.  About 95% of all the stones we cut  produces a 4 ray star.  Many try to be a 6 ray but don't quite make it.  They have 4  good arms and (if you look close), 2 weak arms.  You would have to work this material for a long time to realize how rare a larger size, sharp 6 ray stone really is.

Mountain Blue Bird

• The Mountain Bluebird is a medium-sized bird weighing about an ounce, with a length from 15-20 cm (6-8 in). They have light underbellies and black eyes. Adult males have thin bills. They are bright blue and somewhat lighter beneath. Adult females have duller blue wings and tail, grey breast, grey crown, throat and back.

• The Mountain Bluebird is migratory. Their range varies from Mexico in the winter to as far north as Alaska, throughout the western U.S. and Canada. Northern birds migrate to the southern parts of the range; southern birds are often permanent residents. Some birds may move to lower elevations in winter.

• These birds hover over the ground and fly down to catch insects, also flying from a perch to catch them. They mainly eat insects and berries. They may forage in flocks in winter.

• Their is open country across western North America, including mountain areas, as far north as Alaska. They nest in pre-existing cavities or in nest boxes. In remote areas, these birds are less affected by competition for natural nesting locations than other bluebirds. Females usually build the nests themselves.

• This is the state bird of Idaho and Nevada.

Syringa

• The history of the Syringa, or Lewis Mock Orange, as a representative of the State of Idaho, began in the summer of 1890. Idaho had just been admitted to the union in July. As a new state, Idaho was in need of an official state seal. Concurrent Resolution No. 1, of the First Idaho Legislature, directed that a committee be formed to sponsor a design contest for the seal and that a prize of $100.00 be awarded for the best design. The First Legislature also agreed to identify Syringa as the official state flower.

• That summer, Emma Sarah Etine Edwards arrived in Boise to visit relatives. A talented artist, Emma had spent the previous year at art school in New York and was on her way home to California when she stopped in Idaho. Emma fell in love with Boise and decided to stay, offering art instruction to the residents of the city. Her talents were substantial and she was invited to enter the state seal design contest.

• Incorporated in her winning design of The Great Seal of the State of Idaho was the Syringa. In her design description, Emma notes the presence of the state flower.

• "The state flower, the wild Syringa or Mock Orange, grows at the woman's feet, while the ripened wheat grows as high as her shoulder."