Road Trip USA: Hawaii

Hawaii is comprised of a chain of 132 islands. After several attempts Hawaii was finally named the 50th state of the U.S. on August 21, 1959. It is nicknamed “The Aloha State” which is the Hawaiian word for “hello”. It is the southernmost state in the U.S. and is also home of the world’s most active volcano, Kilauea on Mauna Loa.

Here are some of the things we learned about this week:

• Located Hawaii on our wall map
• Read our National Geographic Atlas and located Honolulu, HI using the map coordinates.
• Worked on our 50 States and Capitals song
• Learned about the state and it’s flag
• State Bird: Nene Goose
• State Fish: The humuhumunukunukuapua’a (pronounced: hoo-moo-hoo-moo-noo-koo-noo-koo-auhp-oo-ah-ah) also known as the Reef Triggerfish
• State Flower: Hibiscus
• State Insect: Kamehameha Butterfly
• State Landmarks: USS Arizona and Pearl Harbor
• Food: The Dole Pineapple Plantation

Here is my white board for the week, we use this to review all of the state facts and symbols each day.

We made designed a postcard from Hawaii, and wrote a fictitious letter to a friend.

Sorry for the gray boxes on the back side of the post card, but Strawberry Shortcake’s fictitious letter used her real name and address LOL!

We read through all of the fun facts on Hawaii from our Which Way USA Highlights Subscription. If you can, this is a really fun United States subscription. The magazines have fun games, and the fold out you see below has pictures with lots of fun facts along with a full sized map of the state on the other side.

After learning about the animals symbols for Hawaii, we classified and added the animals to our USA animal wall!

Tinker Bell added Hawaii to our United States Bulletin. After that we reviewed all of the states we’ve learned so far on our travels.

We took turns locating Honolulu, Hawaii in our National Geographic Atlas. Then we all completed the Hawaii state worksheets as we read through all of the Hawaii state facts in our curriculum:

Then Turbo had the honor of adding the state to our wall map. I’ve had lots of questions on this, and the directions are in the curriculum, but we purchased two of these Trend USA Wall Maps and then simply cut one up into states, then used small velcro dots to attach them as we travel through our state study.

US Presidents: Barack Obama, the 44th President of the U.S. (2009-Present) was born August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, HI.

The Dole Pineapple Plantation is one of Hawaii’s main attractions. In 1922 James Dole purchased the island of Lanai and developed it as a vast pineapple plantation which became the world’s largest plantation with over 200,000 acres. Take a field trip to the grocery store and pick out a fresh pineapple. Fresh green leaves at the top signify a ripe pineapple, the body can be any color on the outside. It should smell fragrant but not too sweet. Avoid soft pineapples and ones that smell overly sweet, this may indicate that the pineapple has begun to ferment.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Established in 1916, the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is a U.S. National Park located on the island of Hawaii. It is made up of 5 volcanoes, and encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world’s most massive volcano. Kilauea is an invaluable resource for volcanologists who are able to study it up close due to its non-violent activity. Below is a map of the five volcanoes that form the island Hawaii.

Pearl Harbor: At 6:00am on December 7, 1941 six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 181 planes composed of torpedo bombers, dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. The Japanese achieved complete surprise when they hit American ships and military installations on Oahu shortly before 8:00 a.m. They attacked military airfields at the same time they hit the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. 21 ships were sunk or damaged including the Battleship USS Arizona which is still visible from the ocean surface. Click here for more information on the attack at Pearl Harbor

Hawaiian Luau: A Luau is a traditional Hawaiian fest. It features foods such as poi, Kalua pig, poke, lomi salmon, sweet potatoes, tropical fruit plates and haupia. They also have traditional Hawaiian entertainment such as music and hula dancing. A Lei (garland) is presented to guests upon arriving or leaving as a symbol of affection. (Click here for more Luau recipes)

We are still working on the history portion of the curriculum by reading through “If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon” by Ellen Levine. And finally we concluded our week by adding the Hawaii state flag to our Travel Log.

And that wraps up our Hawaii study! If you’d like to come along with us on our Road Trip USA journey, click the image below to learn more!