Florida A to Z

by Susan Ryan Judson, Carol Tornatore (Illustrator)

Overview

This Florida alphabet book is packed with almost 200 facts about Florida personalities, history, geography, nature, and culture. Hundreds of photos and drawings illustrate the text written at grade levels 4 through 6. In H, you will learn about the Horse Conch, a marine mollusk whose pink and orange shell was named the state seashell in 1969. In L, read about Love Bugs that appear in Florida spring and fall and bump into cars, leaving a sticky mess. In V, learn about Vizcaya a villa built in 1916 in Miami and Valencia Oranges, which make up about half the Florida orange crop.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561646104
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	01/20/2014
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	64
Sales rank:	1,044,329
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Susan Jane (Ryan) Judson has been a Florida elementary school teacher for more than thirty years, as well as a consultant on several award-winning activity guides for Florida State University’s Energy and Environmental Alliance. She has also written several environmental books for children.

Read an Excerpt

Letter of the alphabet: G

Gopher Tortoise

The ancient-looking gopher tortoise has a dome-shaped shell, eats grasses, and lives in well-drained sandy areas in Florida. It makes its home in an underground burrow, which is also home to many other species such as rattlesnakes, Florida mice, and gopher frogs. A burrow can be as long as 30 feet. Tiny hatchling gopher tortoises number from an average of 5 or 6 per clutch to as many as 25. The gopher tortoise has been identified as a Species of Special Concern in Florida. The population of these reptiles has dwindled because of habitat destruction from man-made development.

Gainesville

The city of Gainesville, named for the Seminole War hero Edmund Gaines, was created in 1854. Gainesville was a citrus capital until freezes ended this agricultural industry for Alachua county. In 1906, the University of Florida opened in Gainesville and began classes with 102 students.

Jean Craighead George

Jean Craighead Geoge is a Newberry Award-winning children's author who writes books about nature. The Missing Gator of Gumbo Limbo and The Talking Earth are two of her books set in the wilds of Florida.

Gasparilla Pirate Festival

Every February "pirates" sail into Tampa Bay in hundreds of ships and take over the city in a three-day street party. The festival was named after José Gaspar, a pirate of legend or history -- no one knows for sure. Rumor has it that he buried over 20 chests of gold and jewels somewhere in Florida. Along with a parade of pirates, the city of Tampa celebrates Gasparilla Days with an art show, street music, lots of food, and fireworks.

Green Swamp

The Green Swamp, located in Polk, Lake, Sumpter, Hernando, and Pasco Counties, is one of the most important ground-water recharge areas in the state of Florida. This vital area is the beginning of several rivers, including the Hillsborough, Withlacoochee, Oklawaha, and Peace Rivers. In addition to providing a potable (drinkable) water supply, the Green Swamp is also habitat to many wildlife species.

Gulf Islands National Seashore

Gulf Islands National Seashore stretches from the Fort Walton Beach in the Florida Panhandle to Gulfport, Mississippi. The park has white sandy beaches, a nineteenth-century fort, nature trails, campsites, and rich coastal marshes.

John Gorrie

Dr. John Gorrie was a physician from Apalachicola, Florida. In 1851, he invented an ice-making machine to cool the hospital rooms of yellow fever patients. He was granted the first U.S. patent for refrigeration and worked on experiments to make ice. A statue of Dr. Gorrie was placed in the U.S. Capitol to honor this great Floridian whose invention was the model for what we know as air conditioning.

Table of Contents

Letters of the alphabet.
Samples:
G
Gopher Tortoise
Gainesville Jean Craighead George
Gasparilla Pirate Festival
Green Swamp
Gulf Islands National Seashore
John Gorrie
            Dr. John Gorrie was a physician from Apalachicola, Florida. In 1851, he invented an ice-making machine to cool the hospital rooms of yellow fever patients. He was granted the first U.S. patent for refrigeration and worked on experiments to make ice. A statue of Dr. Gorrie was placed in the U.S. Capitol to honor this great Floridian whose invention was the model for what we know as air conditioning.