Colorado on Tour - Marrama Elementary School

The Marrama Mirror
Reflecting Student and Staff Success
January 2012
Volume 2
Merida Fraguada
Principal
Table of
Colorado on Tour: Garden of the Gods, Red Rocks Amphitheatre,
The Denver Zoo, Elitch Gardens
1-3
Contents
Marrama: A Happening Place:
Where in the World
3-9
11-12
Colorado on
Tour
Colorado is a wonderful place to live with many
exciting places to visit. In this feature, Colorado
on Tour, our staff reporters will write about their
favorite places to visit. Come along and get
excited about the many places and experiences
waiting for you in your own backyard!
Garden of the Gods Not Your Normal Garden
By: Irish May A. Avorque
Do you like to go to new places, love nature, or like the outdoors? If so, I know a great place you
should visit. Garden of the Gods! It is a wonderful place to visit in the summer. May 1 through October
31 is open 5am to 11pm. You can even go in the winter! It is open 9am to 5pm in the winter months.
Not interested yet? Well I know what will get you off your feet and ask your parents right now to drive
you there. Fun Activities! Horseback riding,
biking, guided walks, rock climbing, hiking, and
having picnics are activities you may do at Garden
of the Gods. Do you have a dog? If you do you may
bring your dog, but you will need to have a 6-foot
leash. The areas where dogs can run unleashed are
south of Gateway Road, west of 30th Street, and east
of Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site.
Do you really want to go but your parents say
they have no money? Well you don’t need to pay
because it’s FREE! This place is educational too.
You could learn while having fun. If you’re
interested but you need more information, go to
http://www.Gardenofgods.com.
Red Rocks Amphitheater Rocks!
By Leslie Andrade
The Morrison CO park was finished in 1941, and opened June 15 of that year. However, performers
had been performing there since the early 1900’s. The first opera singer to perform there had to ride a
burro to get to the amphitheater. The amphitheater looks like a large red rock pile but it is more than that.
Ship Rock and Creation Rock make up the rock
formation but underneath the seating area inside the visitor’s
center there’s a lot to see and do. One whole wall is covered
in posters of Shakyra, the Beetles, Manna, and many, many,
more musicians that performed here. They also have a hall
of fame which has little interactive kiosks to let you see
people who have played there and learn about them. There
are some posters and guitars signed by artists and much
more. Red Rocks was on TV recently as the start and finish
on the show The Amazing Race.
If shopping in the visitors center isn’t for you, hiking and
cycling is possible on the nature trails around the
amphitheater. There is also the Ship Rock Grille for a
unique dining experience. Parking there is free with lots of room. Admission is free for all. They are open
from May – September 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and October – April is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The park is not open
Christmas or Thanksgiving. Hope to see you there.
Just Lion Around? See the Denver Zoo
By Alexis Alvarez
Have you been to the Denver Zoo lately? You may have noticed construction going on there. Next
year the new Toyota Elephant Passage will open. Recently they moved the Asian elephants, pictured
here, into their new habitat. They moved the animals in big crates and used a crane to lift them into the
new exhibit. How cool was that!
The Denver Zoo was built in 1896 and has many different habitats to visit including Northern Shores
where polar bears live, Wolfpack Woods featuring wolves, Monkey Island built in 1936 home of
Capuchin monkeys and various birds, Sheep Mountain home to Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep and
Dall’s sheep., Bear Mountain currently home to grizzly bears and Asiatic black bears, an indoor Tropical
Discovery where fresh-water and marine fish and exotic turtles swim, and Predator Ridge which houses
the lion shown in the picture as well as African wild dogs.
Denver Zoo's Pioneer Train will take you to the different stops or you can walk through the 80 acre
zoo. It’s open year round, 10am-5pm during winter months. There is an admission fee to visit but the
money is used to help save animals all over the world. They even have special programs for kids during
school breaks and summer vacation and classes on animals and how to care for them. So come have some
fun and save animals at the same time. See you at the zoo!
The Best Place on Earth to Play—Elitch Gardens
By Brooklyn Johnson
Every summer Elitch’s has lots of crowds including
families, couples, and and single people that just want to
have some fun. This amusement park has the most
colorful, terrific, fantastic rides and rollercoasters. For
example, a colorful ride would be the Troika. A terrific
rollercoaster would be Twister, even though it’s jerky and
made of wood. A fantastic rollercoaster would be the
Boomerang.
The scariest rollercoaster is the Half Pipe. The least
scary is the Matinee Marina. One of the thrill rides is
XLR8R (exhilerator). One of the family rides is the
Teacup. The Cactus Coaster is one of the kids rides. The
oldest ride is Twister, built in 1964. Ghost Blasters is the newest ride which opened in 2008.
Elitch’s has a lot of restaurants. The food court includes Big Boulder Pizza, Subway, Panda Express,
Starbucks, The Market, and Finger Lickin Chickin. Devour one of Amy’s funnel cakes or one of Molly
Shipwreck’s soft serve ice cream cones. Have an icee because there are six flavors to choose from.
The concerts this year included Mike Posner, Thousand Foot Krutch and Hawk Nelson, Los Tucanes
de Tiguana, Los Horoscopes de Durango, Third Day, Anberlin, Big Time Rush, and Miranda Cosgrove.
Concerts are free with the purchase of a ticket or season pass.
Fright Fest is a BIG part of the year. The admission to Fright Fest includes six shows, four haunted
houses named Blood Bath, Grind House, Face Your Fears, and Brutal Planet, and a pet costume parade.
Come to Fright Fest. Come for the rides. Come for the food and fun. Just come!
Marrama: A Happening Place
This section of the paper highlights the many interesting events that take place in our school. Sometimes
there are family events to report on and other times stories will be about programs that come to our
school. Our goal is to inform families about the important things that make our school a special place.
Bowling Brings Big Smiles
By Alara Levson
This year Mr. Ziska’s classroom and Mrs. Parks classroom took a trip to go bowling. The trip took
place on October 27th. When I talked to Mr. Ziska he commented that the students really enjoyed bowling
and the paras and teachers did as well. Mr. Ziska has taken his
students bowling every year for the past ten years and he plans on
going again next year.
The sponsor for this event is Special Olympics. It’s important
for both the kids and people around them to realize that special kids
can enjoy the same activities everyone else does. The kids bowled
two ways. They bowled by rolling the ball and then they did it with
a bowling server. The bowling server is a little ramp that helps
them push the bowling ball and point it the direction they want.
The kids don’t have special balls. They use regular bowling
balls and wear bowling shoes also. Mr. Ziska didn’t bowl this year
but his kids made up for it. It was a great outing for both
classrooms.
Space Robots Out of This World!
By: Irish Avorque
On December 2nd, 2011 the 4th and 5th graders who are in the GT program went to the Denver
Museum of Nature and Science. Mrs. Gilmore wanted to give the students a challenge beyond their
normal curriculum. That’s why she did this. This class was something she had never done before. Most
of the cost was covered by a museum grant so each student only had to pay $5 for the program.
There was a lot of preparation for the trip. The museum had to approve the date, the bus had to be
reserved, permission slips sent home and chaperones approved. The chaperones were Mrs. Weikle and
Ms. Grace.
This might seem easy to prepare, but it’s not. Mrs. Gilmore had to reserve the program to build the robots.
First, we went to the T-Rex exhibit. There were figures of dinosaurs such as a Velociraptor, a
Triceratops, and a T-Rex named Sue. These figures moved, roared, and talked. A student commented,”
They look so realistic!” Another activity we did is making robots. A lot of students exclaimed, “Making a
robot was the best part!” Each group had to build a robot that would do something in space. My group
made a robot that tried to find unknown life on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Other groups designed robots to
collect samples from Uranus and complete mining tasks on asteroids.
“The robotics lab teaches kids about the role of robots in space and gives them a chance to work in teams
to accomplish a goal of their own choosing. The kids did a great job and learned so much about motors
and engineering robots for specific tasks. I would definitely take kids back for this program experience,”
stated Mrs. Gilmore.
Pick a berry nice pumpkin!
By: Andy Jimenez
On November 9th Marrama’s first graders got on buses to Berry Patch Farms, located at 13785 Potomac St., Brighton, Colorado 80601. Each student had to pay $6.00 but it was worth every penny.
Berry Patch farm is an organic farm that raises fruit and vegetables. They also have a market in a barn
where you can buy eggs, honey, apples, cherries, pears, strawberries, raspberries, and many different
vegetables when they are in season.
Their harvest program is very different. The students went
through a straw maze and tried to find their way out. They
spent some time learning about honeybees such as what they
do and how bees make honey. They got a hayride and rode all
around the farm through the crops and fields. When they took
a break they made a very colorful pumpkin necklace. Finally
they watched a movie about pumpkins and most importantly,
they got to pick their own perfect pumpkin.
Berry Patch Farms have been in business since 1991 but
you can pick your own food since 1994. It is 40 acres in size.
Wow that’s almost as big as 40 football fields. To contact them
for information, call 303-659-5050 or check them out on the web.
The History of Thanksgiving
By: Crystal Do
Today, we celebrate Thanksgiving as a national holiday. In this passage, we will travel into the history
of Thanksgiving.
In autumn 1621, the pilgrims celebrated their harvest. The pilgrims did not call their festival
Thanksgiving, but gave thanks to god. The first thanksgiving was held in 1623.
Long before settlers came to the East Coast of the U.S, many Native American Tribes inhabited the
area. The area surrounding the spot of the first Thanksgiving, now known as South Eastern Massachusetts
and Eastern Rhode Island had been the home of the Wampanoag people. Over 1,200 years, and had been
visited by other European settlers before the arrival of the Mayflower. The native people knew the land
well and had fished, hunted, and harvested for thousands of generations.
One day, Samoset, a leader of the Abenaki visited the settlers. Squanto also visited the settlers. He
knew English. Squanto helped the settlers grow corn and use fish to fertilize their fields. Finally, they had
an agreement to join together and to protect each other.
One day, that fall, four settlers were sent to hunt for food for a harvest celebration. The Wampanoag
heard gunshots and alerted their leader, Massasoit,
who thought the English might be preparing for
war. He visited the English settlement with 90 of
his men to see if the rumor was true. Soon after
their visit, the Native Americans realized that the
English were only hunting for the harvest
celebration. Massiot sent some of his own men to
hunt deer for the feast and for three days, the
English and Native men, woman, and children ate
together. Their meal consisted of deer, corn,
shellfish, and roasted meat, far from today’s
traditional Thanksgiving feast.
P90X Feel the Burn!
By Leslie Andrade
You might have heard of P90X in Bruno Mars’s song The Lazy Song, “Today I don’t feel like doing
anything, I just wanna lay in my bed, Don’t feel like picking up my phone, so leave a message at the tone,
Cause today I’m not doing anything, nothing at all, nothing at all. ”Well, Mr. Heck and Mr. Stowe
decided they were going to do it at Marrama. Only DPS staff is involved. It started after Mr. Heck and
Mr. Stowe talked about fitness and getting in shape. Then before you know it, they are doing it in the
gym three days each week.
According to Daniel Heck, previous Marrama student, he has tried it and it hurts. Ouch! Mr. Stowe
said the program includes weight training that targets muscle groups, a cardio workout, boxing, and yoga.
There are four people on the screen that do the workout at different fitness levels so you can pick the one
to follow that works best for you. Mr. Stowe says he feels stronger and more fit since starting the
program.
There is also Zumba going on in the auditorium four days a week after school for an hour for female
teachers. Mrs. Matthews, Mrs. Marshall, Mrs. Parks, Ms. Barner, and Mrs. Luna are getting in shape with
this active program that features conditioning and rhythmic movements set to music. Maybe some more
teachers will join them and get fit for the new year.
Free Books for Every Student!
By Alex Aguirre
Three times each year Marrama students receive a free
book through the RIF program. RIF stands for reading is
fundamental. It was created to allow students a chance to
create a home library. Each student picks one book to add
to their personal library. RIF was founded in Washington
D.C. by Mrs. Robert S. McNamara in 1966. The federal
government provides funding for RIF.
Marrama was allocated $3,564 to purchase RIF books
for the year. The second distribution of books was
December 13-15 so everyone had a new book to read over
the holiday vacation. The books are laid out in the library
for kids to choose from. There are nonfiction books, easy and hard chapter books, beginning reading
books for 1st graders, and picture books for ECE and kindergarten students. “I encourage kids to pick a
book for them rather than a brother or sister.” Ms. Metherd stated. “It’s important for kids to have their
own books they can call their own and read for themselves. We want all kids to start their own collection
of books at home.”
Balarat Home Away From Home
By Alara Levsen
This year the 5th graders took part in a trip to Balarat, the outdoor nature center owned and operated by
Denver Public Schools. Balarat is located
west of Boulder outside of Evergreen
Colorado. They have a special program
designed especially for fifth grade students.
Each year schools rotate seasons when they
go to Balarat. This year we only stayed for
one and a half days. Next year’s class will go
in the winter.
Each class got to do different activities
that teachers chose ahead of time. Mrs.
Terrel’s class did mining and Colorado
history. Mrs. Vela’s class also did Colorado
history. They got to make biscuits, dip
candles, build a teepee and try to make fire.
Mrs. Roche’s class did the mining experience
and a six-mile hike. Mrs. Gilmore commented, “I chose this challenge because it was personal for the
students and proved they were capable of accomplishing anything.” At the mining experience we got to
go into an old gold mine, pound holes into solid rock to see what miners had to do, haul and sift soil for
gold and weigh rocks to see their value just like old miners would.
Most people said the time spent at Balarat
was short. The lodges and food were great.
The night hike was scary but everyone did it
and beat their fears. After asking several 5th
graders about their experience at Balarat
everyone agreed, “Balarat was awesome!!!!”
When you’re in fifth grade I hope you have
as much fun as I did at Balarat.
Green Valley Ranch Gobble Wobble
Saturday November 20 dawned bright and beautiful for the annual Green Valley Gobble Wobble. This
5K and fun walk through the picturesque back nine of the Green Valley Ranch Golf Club benefits the Far
Northeast Principals Leadership Council (PLCzone.net) serving 19 local schools and over 12,000
students! The $20 adult and $10 youth registration fee included a T-shirt, professional race timing
(*chip), awards, and a light lunch.
The t-shirt is why this story is important.
Ashley Cardona, 4th grade, was the Marrama art
student that won the t-shirt design contest for the
elementary division. Her design, along with the
winning high school design, adorned the front of
the t-shirt worn by each of the 237 racers that
competed. Ashley’s entire family and art teacher,
Mrs. McKenna-Collum, were there to support her
at the award ceremony where she was awarded a
$50 gift card. For promoting the project in her art
classes, Mrs. McKenna received a check for $200
to be used for her art program at Marrama.
It was a great event. Racers were encouraged to
bring a can of food for the Food Bank of the
Rockies. There was a bounce house and face painting for the kids and child safety id kits were given out
to parents for their children. Congratulations Ashley!
Nutcracker Makes Holidays Special
By Takiya Stevenson
The 2nd grade and kindergarten went to Heritage Square Children’s Theatre December 7th to see
Santa’s Nutcracker, a comedy/musical play for children featuring the story of the Nutcracker's gift. The
story is a new adaptation of the timeless tale about the brave Nutcracker and his battle against the Mouse
King ~ all to save a lovely young girl and whisk her off to the land of the Nutcracker.
I talked to Mrs. Kelly and got the scoop about the trip. The show was an hour long. The kids were
very interested in the interactive show. They had a lot of energy during the play. The kids got to go on
the stage. The dancers came out five times
and picked four kids each time to participate.
There were no costumes but they were very
excited about being in the show. “It was
really exciting for the kids to be involved. I
would definitely come back again because the
kids have the chance to experience the world
of theatre and dance,” Mrs. Kelley said.
The theatre will also present Alice in
Wonderland, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The
Princess and the Pea during its 2012 season.
To learn more, visit
http://www.hsmusichall.com/childrens.htm.
Music Teaches Math—What?
That is the question kids were asking each other when the string quartet and percussionist from the
Colorado Symphony Orchestra introduced their program to the crowd gathered in the auditorium on
December 15th. How can music teach math they wondered.
Each of the members taught a different math lesson through their music. A string quartet is made up
of two violins, a viola, a cello, and the percussionist narrated some of the program. Kids learned how the
musical scale resembled number lines because number lines go from the lowest number to the highest
number and musical scales do the same. Fractions exist in music as well. There are whole notes, half
notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, etc. just like their fractional friends. The quartet played
Flight of the Bumblebee to demonstrate fractions.
Multiplication is used when music is composed. Patterns are repeated and create musical rhythms.
Ludwig Von Beethoven and Johan Sebastian Bach were famous for featuring patterns of three and four
beats in their music. The students even learned how to be conductors and lead the quartet in a three beat
and four beat melody. Ratios were also demonstrated when the quartet played the same notes twice and
three times as fast as they were written. They played a
song that depicted a thunderstorm to demonstrate ratios.
Pythagoras, the ancient mathematician, also thought music and math was related and believed numbers
were the key to everything. He proved it by experimenting with string instruments. By dividing the
strings and making them shorter, he proved the pitch changed with the length of the strings. The
symphony played the Star Wars theme song to demonstrate this idea.
The last mathematical concept tied to music was graphing. Mozart was a prolific writer and the cello
player helped students graph the number of pieces Mozart would write in a single day. Reading music is
like reading a graph. After graphing the data the violinist transformed the data on the graph into the song
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Several students helped the quartet demonstrate their ideas, as pictured here.
The Colorado Symphony received a grant from Target Stores Inc. to provide all Title I schools in
Colorado a chance to experience their Mathnotes program. The performance would normally have cost
$600 but Marrama didn’t have to pay because of the grant funding. Everyone had wonderful time
learning about music and math.
Food Drive Collects 2,061 Cans!
By Irish Avorque
Everyone knows the student council holds a canned food drive every
year; but do you know the history behind it? This all started 20 years ago.
A teacher that used to teach here named Michael Tascium got this started
in Marrama. We do this in loving memory of him. Don't you think that
this is a great idea?
Guess who we give the donated food to? The Sharing and Caring food bank! This food bank gives
cans to over a thousand families in Denver. Each year there is a contest to see which classrooms donate
the most food. This year Mrs. Stager’s class won with over 200 cans of food donated and Mrs. Ragan’s
class won for the intermediate grades with 172 cans of food. It’s such a nice thing to bring cans to help
needy families, especially during the holiday season.
Make It Take It Craft Expo
By Crystal Do and Alara Levson
This year Marrama held an arts and crafts night. It’s a night when friends and family come together to
make crafts with each other. The purpose of the night is to spend time with your family and celebrate the
holidays. Mrs. Matthews stated, “Preparing for the night is fun but not so much fun cleaning up.
Watching the students do the activities is so much fun.” Two of the activities students did were making
edible Christmas trees and homemade Christmas ornaments.
Preparations made for this night include deciding what crafts to have and shopping for the items,
setting up the cafeteria, and scheduling teachers to assist with the different projects. Teachers volunteer to
help out with this exciting event and Mrs. Matthews participates as much as she can.
Mrs. Matthews started this event seven years ago when she was still the art teacher at Marrama. The
school has done it in December every year since. It is usually scheduled on the same night as the holiday
music concert for a really great holiday event. I think we can all agree this night sounds like a lot of fun!
Holiday Extravaganza
By Gabe QadiElIdrissi
Choir and band has a long history at Marrama. Choir has been a tradition since before Mr. Heck
taught here. Then band was added in 2004 and string class in 2008. Today there is close to 100 students
involved in the music program at Marrama.
The first Christmas concert was in 2000 and it’s been a tradition ever since. Although it may seem
easy for Mr. Heck, think again! He has to arrange times for concerts, put kids in their places for choir,
and schedule practice time plus deal with all of the students. Mr. Heck finds the songs the choir sings
from the music books in his classroom or songs he’s heard on the radio that he likes.
Choir and bank students wear Marrama T-shirts because Mr. Heck said, “I like to have some type of
uniform, plus for the holiday concert the T-shirts are green so it shows a little bit of holiday spirit.”
Students are able to be in all three groups and there are a few students in string, band, and choir. Students
can get kicked out because of behavior but the number of students in the band and choir is unlimited.
This year’s string group is the largest ever. Strings class is limited to 20 students. Choir practice is
Tuesday after school, band is Monday and Wednesday after school and string class is Thursday after
school. Music takes a lot of practice but the two performances for the school and the evening
performance for parents December 16 was proof that practice pays off. It was enjoyed by everyone.
By Brooklyn Johnson
If you missed the Marrama Holiday Dance on Friday December 9th, you missed a great event. Mrs.
Fraguada came up with the idea of hosting a holiday dance. Last year’s dance at the end of the school
year was so popular that she decided to have another one in the middle of the year. “It’s nice to get
together as friends and families once in a while and just have fun” said Mrs. Gilmore.
I-Tunes is the place to get the latest music. That’s where Mr. Heck, our DJ for the event, got the
music. He purchased only songs with appropriate language. Everyone was dressed nice and danced
under the disco lights from the disco ball with their friends and family members. There was even a Conga
line! Students could go if they were with an adult nineteen years or older. There was ice-cream and cake
(pictured above) for refreshments. That’s what I call a night!
If you missed the holiday dance, make sure you are a Mighty Mustang because you will be invited to
the spring dance. See ya there!
2011-12 Marrama Mirror Newspaper Staff
Front Row: Crystal Do, Alexander Aguirre, Andy
Jimenez, Gabriel QadEllDrissi, Irish Avorque, Alara
Levson.
Back Row:
Takiya Stevenson, Brooklyn Johnson, Leslie Andrade,
Tyler Ray, Alexis Alvarez.
Not Pictured: Natalia Davis
Where in the World
is…
This year the Marrama Mirror will feature a geography page with stories about different countries around
the world. The reporters will find the most interesting information about their country but will not
disclose the name of their country. You, the reader, must guess the location and check to see if your
answer is correct. The answer will be hidden somewhere else in the newspaper. Enjoy the challenge!
By Alex Aguirre
Guess what country I am in? It’s in Asia and it was established
5000 years ago! The languages spoken here are hamgyondo,
p’yong’ando, and Hwangyondo. Their religions are Buddhism,
Confucianism, and shamanism, chondbgyoand, and Christianity.
The people here are under Communist rule which means people
don’t have any rights. They must do what the government tells them
to do.
The interesting fact about is country is there was a civil war. North
and south fought against each other in 1951. This country has the
fifth largest military force in the world. The official name is
democratic peoples of _____ (DPRK) for short. The government has
decided to proceed with uranium enrichment program which means
they make nuclear bombs to protect their country. Right now the
North and South are threatening to start a civil war between them
again.
In early spring it is sunny but chilly. In summer its warm but
sometimes it rains. In autumn its somewhere between hot and cold
like about 50 degrees. Winter there is clear skies. It doesn’t snow a lot
but it’s still cold.
By Andy Jimenez
My land is cold and it snows a lot. The native people are Inuit. Inuits are native people that come from
artic regions. It has about 839,999 square miles in total, about three times larger than Texas. It is located
between North America and Europe and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. It is the largest island in the
world and the world’s second largest icecap. At times you can see the bright northern lights. The capital is
Nuuk.
Another clue is that the flag colors are red and white the flag's symbolism shows the white of ice and
snow and the red circle as the sun. The national flower is the French Willow. Most villages have at least
one church. The religions they practice are Catholicism and Christianity. Most of the food they hunt is
fish and seals, and they mine lead, zinc and gold. They use these resources to manufacture food and
jewelry. They must raise vegetables in
greenhouses and they also raise
reindeer. It is so cold they cannot farm
so many people raise sheep. There are
also no roads between cities. People
travel by air or sea rather than by car.
There is only one major seaport.
Danish is the official language. Only
57,670 people live in this country. So
where am I in the world?
By: Leslie Andrade
My country is in South America. They speak Mayan, and Garafiuna. Some famous people are Carlos
Meridian (a painter), and Miguel Angel Asturias (novelist). It has a forest and inside it has the ancient city
of Tikila hidden for century’s. They had the Jade Rush.
They have over 250 species of animals including the howler monkey, spider monkey, resplendent
quetzal, puma, and jaguars. It is also home to the Blue sea turtles and their eggs.
The money they have there is Quetzal. They have really busy markets. They sell bananas from their
plantation and also ship all different kinds of fruits. They also have lots of livestock, cereals, tropical
crops, and forestlands.
Some holidays they celebrate are Epiphany (a religious holiday), Holy week, All Saints Day (mostly
celebrated November 1st) and Easter. On Easter the streets are lined with carpets as shown in the picture.
You can tell their different from ours! Were in the world am I?
By Tyler Ray
My country is in Central America, slightly smaller than the state of West Virginia, and its capital is
San Jose. The population in July was 4,576,562 people. It is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and the
North Pacific Ocean. This country does not observe daylight savings time. They are one time zone ahead
of us or only one hour. This country has a dry season and a rainy season and the temperature averages 80
degrees. There are occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along the coast; frequent flooding of lowlands at
onset of rainy season and landslides; and active volcanoes.
This country hosts over 1,000 species of butterflies, 850 species of birds, and 130 species of freshwater
fish. This country has the Monteverdi Forest which holds over 400 species of birds. They grow bananas,
pineapples, coffee, melons, ornamental plants, sugar, corn, rice, beans, potatoes; beef, poultry, dairy; and
timber. This country manufactures medical equipment, textiles and clothing, construction materials,
fertilizer, plastic products, and food processing.
This country celebrates many of the same religious holidays as the United States. They also celebrate
their independence over Spain in Fiestas de Palmares, •Juan Santa Maria Day, •San Isidro Labrador's Day,
and All Souls Day. The president is Laura Chinchilla and the national language is Spanish. Where am I?
North Korea
Costa Rica
Greenland
Guatamala