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Aligns with standards C.2.3.1 and C.2.3.2 for third

grade Social Studies. Created 1/16.

http://www.arkansasheritage.com

Photo by Ken Slade (1)

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What is a symbol? What symbols can you

think of? Why do you think Arkansas has

state symbols?

What is a motto? What mottos can you

think of?

Where have you seen the Arkansas state

flag?

Conversation

symbol

A thing that represents some-

thing else

Vocabulary

native

Person, plant or animal origi-

nally found in a certain place

tribute

An act or statement used to show

respect or being thankful

bushel

A measurement that equals

35.2 liters

navy

A branch of the military who work

on the seas

industry

Hard work or a type of busi-

ness where things are made

Fun fact: Our state motto is regnat popu-las, latin meaning “the people rule.”

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Symbol Song

Craft and game

Cookie cutters in the shape of our state symbols and a memory card game are both available

for classrooms at the Department of Arkansas Heritage’s website.

Arkansas wind chimes

Use a salt-dough recipe to create the shapes of

the Arkansas symbols.

1) Use dough to create 3 Arkansas symbols. Be

sure to include a hole at the top of the

shape.

2) After baking the shape, paint it.

3) Distribute tin pans of Styrofoam plates that

have 3 sets of double-holes punched out and

3 strings of varying lengths.

4) String the symbols to the pan/plate.

Our state tree is the pine Our gem, the diamond, shines Our rock, bauxite, can be mined We are the natural state White-tailed deer is our mammal The instrument is the fiddle Pink tomato, vegetable And fruit. It tastes so great. Bees give us honey Mockingbirds Can sing for hours Apple blossom Is our flower Can’t you see I know my symbols?

To the tune of “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen

Hey! Arkansas is The 25th state Quartz is our mineral And we are awesome! We like to square dance and drink milk Regnat populus, And we are awesome! Hey! First Arkansans

Were Caddos, Quapaws, And also Osage.

Arkansas is awesome! We have six geographic regions

Delta, rivers, mountains And we are awesome!

Can you come up with another verse?

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Arkansas designated apple blossoms as the

state flower in 1901 as a tribute to how im-

portant apples have been to our state. Farm-

ers first started growing apples, mostly in

northwest Arkansas, in 1822. In 1920, the

peak of apple growing in Arkansas, Wash-

ington and Benton counties produced five mil-

lion bushels of apples. Apple growing is de-

clining in Arkansas, but we still are known for

a type of apple grown mostly in Arkansas:

the Arkansas black apple. Maybe you have

tried one before!

In 1929, Arkansas voted to make the

mockingbird the state bird because of how

important the birds were to farmers. Mock-

ingbirds can be found year-round in Arkan-

sas. They may know up to thirty-eight songs

and can sing for many hours at a time. Males

even sing at night, maybe when you are try-

ing to sleep. They are very bold about de-

fending their nest, and have been known to

attack cats and humans who get too close!

The pine tree became the state tree in

1939. Arkansas timber is an important

part of Arkansas’s economy. There

are four species of pine

native to Arkansas, and the loblolly pine is the

more common tree in the whole state. Our trees

go on to make paper, build houses and serve

as homes for many animals.

Diamonds were de-

clared the state gem in

1967. We often think

about diamonds in jewel-

ry, but they are used to

make many important

things, such as tools for surgery, glass-cutting,

drilling and metal-cutting. That is because dia-

monds are the hardest naturally-occurring ma-

terial on earth! Arkansas is one of the few

places in North America where diamonds are

found, and the only place where anyone can

look for them.

Bauxite became the state rock in 1967. Pu-

laski and Saline county are home to bauxite,

which can be used to make aluminum. Alumi-

num is used for transportation, packaging, con-

struction, cooking tools and even toothpaste!

During World War I and World War II, Arkan-

sas had the largest amounts of bauxite mined

in the nation. After the wars, bauxite wasn’t as

needed, and it mostly stopped being mined in

Arkansas by 1982.

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1967 was also the year in which quartz be-

came the state mineral. Quartz is found in the

Ouachita Mountains. Quartz makes up nearly

25% of the earth’s surface, but there are only a

few places where the rock is good enough to be

mined. Arkansas is one of them!

Arkansas declared the honeybee as the state

insect in 1973. While we may think of bees as

being scary, they are important to helping flow-

ers and food grow. In fact, 15 other states call

the honeybee their state insect! Europeans

brought bees to the United

States in the 1600s, and early

Arkansans enjoyed hon-

ey with their food. A

beehive was used on the

territorial and state seal

to symbolize industry. You may have heard the

saying, “busy as a bee,” meaning bees are al-

ways willing to work to better their world, just

like Arkansans.

The fiddle became our state instrument in

1985, and the square dance became our state

dance in 1991. Fiddle playing and square

dancing were important to the culture of early

Arkansas. Square dancing gets its

name from four couples standing in

a square facing each other. A fiddle

often plays music for the

square dance. While square

dancing is not as popular now

as it once was, it is still prac-

ticed around the state. You may recognize

some of the calls, like “swing your partner

round and round” and “do-si-do.”

Also in 1985, milk became the state bever-

age because of how healthy it is and how im-

portant dairy farming is to Arkansas. Milk

farms have always been important in Arkan-

sas. In 1940 there were 439,000 milk cows in

the state! Milk has protein and important vita-

mins, so drink up!

In 1987, Arkansas voted the south Arkan-

sas vine-ripe pink tomato

to be the state fruit and

vegetable. Arkansas set-

tlers were quick to plant

tomatoes when they

moved here. Tomatoes are

mostly grown in southeast Arkansas, and the

majority of farmers in Bradley County chose

to grow pink tomatoes. In the 1960s, Arkan-

sas was even one of the top growers of to-

matoes in the United States. Today it is the

state’s top vegetable crop.

Arkansas declared the white-tailed deer

its state mammal in 1993. Deer were in Ar-

kansas before people; American Indians

used all parts of the deer to survive. In

1916, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commis-

sion (AGFC) began the first deer season, but

in the 1930s the deer were almost all gone.

The AGFC had to buy deer from other states

to increase the numbers. It worked! Today

there are around a million deer in Arkansas,

and having it as our state symbol celebrates

this victory and how important deer are.

Not all of these symbols are unique to Ar-

kansas. For example, Michigan’s state flower

is the apple blossom, and four

other states claim the mocking-

bird as their state bird. But

they do show a little about

what is special about our

state. What other symbols

would you add? (1)

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Label the symbol, then color them.

Coloring guide sheet

__Quartz_____________ is the

_mineral __________________.

_______________________ is the

___________________________.

________________________ is the

____________________________.

________________________ is the

____________________________.

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________________________ is the

____________________________.

________________________ is the

____________________________.

________________________ is the

____________________________.

________________________ is the

____________________________.

________________________ is the

____________________________.

________________________ is the

____________________________.

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In 1910, the U.S. navy began to build a new

boat: the USS Arkansas. It took 3 years to

build. In 1912, when the boat was close to

being finished, a group of ladies in Pine

Bluff, Arkansas, decided the boat should

have three flags: the United States flag, the

U.S. navy flag, and the Arkansas state flag.

There was just one problem. The ladies soon

discovered that Arkansas didn’t have a state

flag!

The ladies worked with the secretary of

state to do a statewide flag contest. 65 peo-

ple sent in designs for the state flag. Some

were crayon drawings. Some were miniature

silk flags. Many of them had apple blossoms

on it, some had outlines of the state on it,

and some had many stars on them. A group

of people judged the flags and decided that

Miss Willie Hocker of Wabbaseka, Arkansas,

had the best design.

Her design is a little different than the flag

we have now, which you can see in the top

picture. What do you notice is different?

Miss Hocker said the red, white, and blue

symbolized we were a part of the United

States of Ameri-

ca. The white dia-

mond symbolized

we were the first

diamond-

producing state.

The 25 stars around the diamond symbolized

we were the 25th state created. The three

stars in the middle symbolized we had belong

to three different countries: France, Spain, and

the United States. The committee asked her to

include the word ARKANSAS in the middle.

She did, and Arkansas had a state flag to put

on the new ship in 1913.

Fun fact: The USS Ar-kansas participated in World War I and World War II.

Ten years later, the state wanted to show

that we were also a part of the confederacy

during the Civil War, so they added one more

blue star on

top to symbol-

ize this. The

design of our

state flag has

flown all

around the

state since

1923. (4)

Photo by Curtis Perry (3)

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Design a flag Design a flag for your classroom. Include at least 4 symbols, such as colors

or shapes. Explain what the symbols are in the box beside the flag.

Symbol Guide

1) ____________________

____________________

____________________

____________________

____________________

2) ____________________

____________________

____________________

____________________

____________________

3) ____________________

____________________

____________________

____________________

____________________

4) _________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Color the Arkansas flag.

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Flag etiquette Salute to the State Flag:

"I Salute the Arkansas Flag With Its Diamond and Stars. We Pledge

Our Loyalty to Thee."

Virginia Belcher Brock

Author

There are many rules about how to display and take care of

the Arkansas State Flag. Here are a few:

1) When the Arkansas flag and the U.S. flag are flown to-

gether, the Arkansas flag should be close to the same size

as the U.S. flag, but never larger.

2) The flag should not touch the ground.

3) The U.S. flag should be flown highest, with the Arkansas

flag below it. If there is more than one flag pole, the Ar-

kansas flag should be to the right of the U.S. flag as you

would normally view it.

Read more at the Secretary of State’s website.

State nicknames Have you ever heard someone call New York City “The Big Apple” or Chicago “The Windy

City?” Sometimes places get nicknames. Arkansas has had several nicknames. What would you

nickname our state?

“The Bear State,” because in the earliest days, Arkansas was known for its bear population.

“The Toothpick State,” because early settlers would carry “Arkansas toothpicks,” or bowie

knives, to eat and hunt.

“Rackensack,” a funny name Arkansans used to show how wild the state was in the 1800s.

“The Wonder State” was officially adopted in 1923, to show Arkansas’s beauty and re-

sources.

“Land of Opportunity,” replaced “Wonder State” in 1943.

“The Natural State,” replaced “Land of Opportunity” in 1995.

Photo by Hunter Desportes. (5, cropped)

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Write it out

Have you ever seen an Arkansas state flag? Where have you seen it? How did it make you

feel? Why do you think it is important to have a state flag?

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

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More resources

Sources

1) Slade, Ken. Northern Mockingbird. 2014. Flickr. Web. 05 Dec. 2015 .

2) Ware, David. It's Official!: The Real Stories behind Arkansas's State Symbols. First ed. Little

Rock: Butler Center, 2015. Print.

3) Perry, Curtis. Arkansas Flag. 2002. Flickr. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

4) The Story of the Arkansas Flag. Little Rock, AR: Office of the Secretary of State,

n.d. Secretary of State. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. <http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/educational/

students/documents/the_story_of_the_arkansas_flag.pdf>.

5) Desportes, Hunter. EK000023. 2015. Flickr. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.

Ware, David. It's Official!: The Real Stories behind Arkansas's State Symbols. First ed.

Little Rock: Butler Center, 2015. Print.

Butler Center lesson plan:

http://arstudies.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/lessonplans/id/59/rec/1

N is for Natural State, written by Michael Shoulders, illustrated by Rick Anderson

Arkansas symbols computer game: http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/us-state-

games/arkansas/arkansas-state-symbols.html

Website about all state symbols: http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/states/united-

states/arkansas

Symbol activity: http://diaryofateachaholic.blogspot.com/2013/03/texas-symbols-and-

freebie-yee-haw.html?m=1

Arkansas Crayola coloring sheet: http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-

pages/print/arkansas-coloring-page/

Allison Reavis Education Coordinator allison.reavis@arkansasheritage.org 501-324-9346 www.arkansasheritage.com