Introduction Paragraph Please do not use the above as a title for your introduction paragraph. Make it interesting! Something like Welcome to California or something like that Start the introduction of the state here (font no larger than 12 size font please and in a font that is legible). The introduction should be at least 2-3 paragraphs long and should tell the reader why you chose this state, what you hope to learn, what makes it interesting to you? Have you ever been there? Why is it special? Give a brief overview/introduction of what you will be telling readers about. Create a new paragraph for each topic (one paragraph for why you chose this state, another paragraph for why it is special, etc). Paragraphs are more than 3 sentences long! In 5 th grade, you should write more than 3-5 sentences per paragraph. Include details, a short summary of the history, etc. Notice that this report is double spaced! To do this, highlight the text, right-click and select the PARAGRAPH option. Choose DOUBLE S from the drop-down menu under LINE SPACING. This allows the teacher to read the report easily and make comments. Remember, we are reading 30 or more reports 1
Statistical Paragraph Please do not use the above as a title for your statistical paragraph. Make it interesting! Something like All About California or something like that Where is the state located? What is the state bird, flower, song, dessert, dance, motto, etc. What is the area population, size, and ranking? What is the capital? What is the largest city? How does the state make its money? What is it s nickname? When did it become a state? What are the major colleges or universities? What does the state look like (shape)? What bodies of water border this state, types of landforms (deserts, mountains, rivers, lakes, etc), how are people affected by the type of land where they live? How big is the state compared to other states? Draw a picture of the state flag and include it in the report on a separate page. Remember, create a new paragraph for EACH TOPIC (one paragraph for the state flower, another for the state ranking, etc.). 2
Why it is Important Paragraph Please do not use the above as a title for your this paragraph. Make it interesting! Why is this such an important state? Was it first or last to do something important? Is it the biggest, the smallest, or wettest, driest, hottest, or coldest? Were there a lot of presidents born there? Does it have the most of something or grow the most? What is special about it? Are there famous parks or attractions there? 3
Paragraph Choice #1 (climate, animals, what people do, or natural disasters) Please do not use the above as a title for your this paragraph. Make it interesting! 1. What do people do?: What are the major jobs people have? What do they do for recreation? Do they make things or grow things? Do they have great parks, zoos, museums, or sport teams? Is there great hiking, camping, mountain climbing, fishing, boating, or surfing? 2. Climate: Is it really rainy, sunny, snowy, humid, hot, or cloudy? How much? What is the average temperature? Is it really smoggy? What are the record temperatures? Things like clothing, jobs, agriculture, recreation can all be affected by the climate. Explain this. It may be different in certain areas of the state. Explain what the temperature is like. You can break it down by season or month by month. 3. Natural Disasters: Do they have lots of earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, floods, etc.? How do people prepare for them? What damage do they do? What was the last one or the biggest or the worst? Are there warning systems in place for tsunamis, hurricanes, or other such disasters? 4. Animals: Are there a lot of land animals? Are there wildlife refuges or nature preserves? Are the animals big or small? Do they fly, crawl, or swim? Are there any animals special to this state? What is the state animal? Include the history of animals that went extinct. You do not list every single fauna here, but just the major ones. Choose one of these to discuss. Answer the questions. 4
Paragraph Choice #2 (climate, animals, what people do, or natural disasters) Please do not use the above as a title for your this paragraph. Make it interesting! 1. What do people do?: What are the major jobs people have? What do they do for recreation? Do they make things or grow things? Do they have great parks, zoos, museums, or sport teams? Is there great hiking, camping, mountain climbing, fishing, boating, or surfing? 2. Climate: Is it really rainy, sunny, snowy, humid, hot, or cloudy? How much? What is the average temperature? Is it really smoggy? What are the record temperatures? Things like clothing, jobs, agriculture, recreation can all be affected by the climate. Explain this. It may be different in certain areas of the state. Explain what the temperature is like. You can break it down by season or month by month. 3. Natural Disasters: Do they have lots of earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, floods, etc.? How do people prepare for them? What damage do they do? What was the last one or the biggest or the worst? Are there warning systems in place for tsunamis, hurricanes, or other such disasters? 4. Animals: Are there a lot of land animals? Are there wildlife refuges or nature preserves? Are the animals big or small? Do they fly, crawl, or swim? Are there any animals special to this state? What is the state animal? Include the history of animals that went extinct. You do not list every single fauna here, but just the major ones. Choose a second one of these to discuss. Answer the questions. 5
Conclusion Write a brief summary of your information. What did you learn? What was the most interesting thing that you learned? What do you like best about the state? Try to convince your readers that this is the best state and should visit it. End with a good closing sentence about the state. 6
On separate pieces of paper, please draw the state flag, create a population chart/graph, and draw a physical map. Look at the samples provided online for further details. The physical map should include the major rivers or water sources, states that border it, bodies of water that border the state, capital and major cities, major landmarks if any, etc. Color it. Use the physical map from an online source or atlas for ideas. Provide a legend or key to the map. 7
Bibliography Use the citation maker from our classroom website to help you create the citations for each source you used. You should have used at least two books and two internet sources. This means you will have at the very least, four sources to list in the bibliography section of your report. www.mrspechan.com/students.html Scroll down the TECHNOLOGY column to the CITATION MAKER link. 8