Colorado - School-Age
Colorado
38th State (August 1, 1876), the western U.S.
State Abbreviation: CO
Capital: Denver
Origin of name: The Spanish word colorado means “colored red.” The name was given first to the Colorado River, which flows through canyons of red stone. The state was named for the river.
Motto: Nil Sine Numine (Nothing Without Providence)
Nickname: The Centennial State (Colorado became a state in the year 1876, 100 years after the signing of our nation's Declaration of Independence. )
Size: 104,185 square miles
Colorado State Symbols
Colorado: State Seal
Animal: Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
Bird: Lark Bunting
Dance: Square Dance
Fish: Greenback Cutthroat Trout
Flower: Rocky Mountain Columbine
Fossil: Stegosaurus
Grass: Blue Grama Grass
Insect: Colorado Hairstreak Butterfly
Mineral: Rhodochrosite
Reptile: Western Painted Turtle
Rock: 2 - Yule Marble
Song: Where the Columbines Grow
Tartan: State Tartan
Tree: Colorado Blue Spruce
Video
Things to Know
United States Senators from Colorado.
The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range located in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from Canada, along the border of Alberta and British Columbia, through five states in the southwest U.S. The Rockies pass through the states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and New Mexico and form the Continental Divide of North America.
Colorado has the highest average elevation of any state. More than 1,000 of its Rocky Mountain peaks reach over 10,000 feet high, and 54 tower above 14,000 feet!
The most famous of the Rocky Mountains is Pike's Peak, discovered by U.S. Army Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike in 1806.
In 1893 "American the Beautiful", was written by Katharine Lee Bates At the summit of Pikes Peak she was inspired to pen the lines to her most famous poem, "America the Beautiful."
Major Rivers: Colorado River, Rio Grande, Arkansas River, South Platte River
Continental Divide
There is only one continental divide in the world and it runs through North America.
The Rocky Mountains is a continental divide. An imaginary line runs along the top of the Rockies. A line that separates the continent's river systems. it determines the direction that rivers flow. On the western side of the Rocky Mountains all the rivers flow into the Pacific. On the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains all the rivers flow into the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico (most flow indirectly through the Great lakes, or as tributaries of the rivers the Mississippi and Rio Grande).
Famous Coloradans
Clara Brown, 1800-1882
First African-American woman to cross the plains during the Gold Rush.
Kit Carson, 1809-1868
A mountain man, guide, scout, Indian fighter and Indian protector.
Ruth Handler, 1916-2002
Born in Denver, Colorado inventor of the Barbie Doll
M. Scott Carpenter, 1925-, astronaut
John Denver, 1943-1997, singer
Things to Do
Colorado Flag Map color page
Sites to See
Castle Rock Pueblo: A Trip Through Time
Solve the mystery in each time period.
Ghost Towns
Colorado has a lot of ghost towns.
