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Itinerary:

 

We will begin the day by reading “I See Something Grand” by Barbara Epstein-Eagle.  Then, we will locate the Grand Canyon on our maps.

 

Then we will look at some photographs of the Grand Canyon and discuss the human and physical characteristics of the Grand Canyon.  We will also take a virtual tour of the Grand Canyon.

 

After we have explored the Grand Canyon, we will make postcards from the Grand Canyon.  On the back, we will list three facts and one question about the Grand Canyon.

 

 

Where is the Grand Canyon?

 

Links:

Photographs of the Grand Canyon

Virtual tour of the Grand Canyon

 

 

Important Information about the Grand Canyon:

 

The Grand Canyon is a colorful, steep gorge in Arizona, Utah and Nevada. 

 

The canyon was carved by the Colorado River, and lies on the Colorado Plateau. 

 

 

It is about 277 miles long and ranges in width from 1/4^th of a mile to 15 miles.  It is over a mile deep in some places, and is 6,000 feet deep at it’s deepest point.

 

The Grand Canyon National Park is about 1,218,375 acres.

 

The first recorded sighting of the Grand Canyon by a European was recorded by García López de Cárdenas.  The first scientific expedition to the canyon was led by U.S. Major John Wesley Powell in the late 1870’s.

 

It is on the Seven Natural Wonders of the World list.

The Grand Canyon is estimated to be less than five to six million years old.

 

Higher elevations have forests while the lower elevations have desert basins.

 

There are five life zones in the canyon area.  These are the Lower Sonoran, Upper Sonoran, Transition, Canadian and Hudsonian.

 

Three of four desert types in North America are found in the canyon.

 

Over 1,500 plant, 355 bird, 89 mammalian, 47 reptile, 9 amphibian, and 17 fish species are found in the park.

The United States government made the Grand Canyon a national park in 1919.

There was a Grand Canyon stamp available through the U.S. Postal Service.