As we wrap up our discussions about different economies, my students recently took a closer look at the six regions of Arkansas. Students were asked to analysis their region based on specific criteria related to economics, such as: natural resources, major source of income, tourist attractions, etc… Students were then asked to take their information and present it using a powerpoint, word document, or a blog post. Please take a moment and check out some of their work.
____________________________________________________________
Everyone who has lived in the state of Arkansas has heard of the Ouachita Mountain Range. But nearly nobody knows what it truly is and what lies in the land where there aren’t just mountains.
In the Ouachita Mountain Range in Arkansas, there are many natural resources that contribute to our states well being. There are many trees that provide lots of lumber for our state. This is important because without that our state doesn’t have a large, steady, reliable source of trees and lumber. So without all of the trees from this area, we wouldn’t have the steady lumber. There is also a natural spring in this region. This spring is located in Hot Springs, Arkansas. This city thrives off of the tourists that come for their spring. Without it, the city of Hot Springs, and its overall community, would significantly change. And also there is a Public Diamond mine the Ouachita. It is the ONLY public Diamond Mine in the entire world! If you come and find a diamond, you take it home for yourself. How cool is that? It truly makes this region more unique then any where else in the state.
There are two major tourist attractions in this region. Those are both the natural spring in Hot Springs, and the Diamond Mine in Murphysboro Arkansas. The spring is truly amazing. The rain water from the Ouachita Mountains soaked into the soil thousands of years ago. After it did that it became compressed by gravity and heated up. After that, it shot out of the land at 147 degrees farenheight. It is truly spectacular! The diamond mine is another important tourist attraction in this region. It is, literally, the ONLY public diamond mine in the ENTIRE WORLD where if you show up and find a diamond, you can keep it. You could show up and find a diamond the size of your head, and there is nothing stopping you from keeping it and bringing it home with you. It is amazingly cool!
Now for the really really cool stuff about this region. There is a church in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where their St. Elizabeth’s Church has only one entrance. And that entrance is through the bell tower. When it was built in 1904, the whole church was above ground (kind of like a deck) so the bell tower was level with the normal church. However now that the church is on the ground, the bell tower is still in the air. Its extremely cool. Also, in the city of Hope, Arkansas, there is a MAJOR watermelon festival that takes place every year. This city is also home to Bill Clinton (my cousin), and he was a major participant of the watermelon festivals activities that take place annually. Also, the first woman from the state of Arkansas, to win Miss USA, was from Cabot Arkansas. Her name was Terri Utley.
The state of Arkansas has many interesting aspects to it, however the ouchita mountains are a very underated, important contributing factor to making our state great. Without these mountains and their surrounding land, our state would be majorly different from what it is today.
Andrew
_________________________________________________________
Students did a great job on these projects and our next unit of study we will be focusing on world history starting with the Renaissance.
Mr. McClung