Ben

 Col  o r a do F la g - The Colorado State Flag was designed by Andrew Carlisle Johnson and adopted by the Colorado General Assembly on June 5, 1911. The flag specifications seemed clear enough when adopted but modification to the legislation was required in 1929 and in 1964. The field is comprised of three alternate stripes, the two outer stripes colored blue and the middle stripe white. At one fifth the length of the flag from the staff end is the letter "C". The color of the "C" is red. The diameter of the letter "C" is two thirds the width of the flag, the inner line of the letter being three fourths the width of its body and the outer line double the length of the inner line of the letter. The center of the letter "C" is filled with the color gold. It was also stipulated that the flag should have an attached cord of gold and silver intertwined with gold and silver tassels. It seems that certain specifications for the flag were not clear and some controversy arose over the precise shades of red and blue to be used in the flag. This issue was resolved by the General Assembly on February 28, 1929 when it stipulated that the red and blue colors in the flag were to be the same as the national flag.Again controversy developed over the specifications for the flag. This time at issue was the size of the letter "C". The General Assembly addressed this on March 31, 1964, revising the 1911 legislation to stipulate the diameter of the letter "C" and its distance from the staff. The colors used in the Colorado State Flag represent environmental features of the state. The gold represents the abundant sunshine enjoyed by the state. The blue symbolizes the clear blue skies of Colorado. White represents the snow capped mountains of the state and red represents the color of much of the state's soil. Facts off of: http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/co_symb.htm Son g- Where the Columbines Grow- During the summer of 1893, Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to write "America the Beautiful" while perched on the top of Pike's Peak in Colorado, gazing in wonder at the world all around her. Three years later, in 1896, A.J. Fynn came upon a beautiful mountain meadow covered with columbines. The waves of wild Rocky Mountain Columbines, white and lavender, were the inspiration for his song, "Where the Columbines Grow," the official Colorado state song. Arthur John Fynn was born (1857) and educated in New York. In 1889, he moved to Colorado to teach, first in Central City and later in Alamosa. In 1898, he joined the Colorado University faculty and received his doctorate. His inspiration for the song came while traveling by horse and wagon to visit Indian tribes in the San Luis Valley, Mr. Fynn happened upon Schinzel Flats, resplendent in blossoming columbines. This vision provided the inspiration, but he didn't put his inspiration to paper until many years later. His wife urged him to pick up his pen. And that, he finally did in 1909. Dr. Arthur John Fynn began to write. "Where the Columbines Grow" was first published by Mr. Fynn and first performed in 1911. "Where the Columbines Grow" was quite popular and received many favorable reviews and an endorsement from the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). In 1915, after legislative debate, "Where the Columbines Grow" was adopted as the official state song on May 8, by an act of the General Assembly. Citation: Senate Bill 308, 1915; Colorado Revised Statute 24-80-909. Critics complained that the song's lyrics did not contain the word "Colorado" and in 1916, the Colorado Federation of Women's Clubs unanimously voted for repeal. The actions of the clubs pushed the Colorado General Assembly to sponsor a song competition in 1917. Before a joint session of the legislature, four songs were offered for vote. "Where the Columbines Grow" won the competition handily with 34 votes. "Skies Are Blue in Colorado," by Jim Ramey, placed a distant second with 17 votes. The song's detractors weren't satisfied however and in 1947, Senator John J. Harpel proposed substituting a military march, "Hail Colorado." In 1960, Senator Allegra Saunders wanted to drop it, but the Daughters of Colorado protested. In 1969, Representative Betty Ann Dittemore initiated a bill to have "Colorado," also known as "If I Had a Wagon" made the state song. This bill also failed to dethrone "Where the Columbines Grow" and died in committee. In 1976, the state legislature wouldn't even look at a Colorado march song written by a member of the Territorial Daughters of Colorado. In the early 90s, a fourth-grade class in Fort Collins, wanted to change the Colorado state song from 1915's "Where the Columbines Grow" to 1972's "Rocky Mountain High," by John Denver. Then, in 1998, the Fort Collins fourth-graders were at it again. At Kruse Elementary School, they wanted to replace "Where the Columbines Grow," with "The Colorado Song" about the place "where I can walk a mile high." But there was also Johnson Elementary School in the same city, lobbying for John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High." Deja Vu! Facts off of: []
 * [[image:http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/flags/images/co_fi.gif width="328" height="190" align="right" caption="Colorado state flag"]] ||
 * [ LARGE PRINT [ LARGER PRINT ] [ COLOR ME ] ||

Sea Creatures If you think that ocean life is boring, think again! There are tones of odd creatures in the sea. The first creature is coral. Many people believe that coral is a sea plant, but it is really a fish. They are made of hundreds of tiny creatures that form one coral. The next type of fish is the giant squid. It is the biggest invertebrate and scientists believe it can get as big as a school bus. They live in and/or near the abyss level of the ocean and catch food with long tentacles with razor sharp suction cups. This helps them catch food at that depth because light is limited and not many creatures live there, so when it sees one, he better get it! Another creature is the octopus. It gets its name because octa means eight and pus means footed. It has no bones so it can squeeze into tight places, and a full-grown octopus can even squeeze into a glass bottle! Clearly, if there are aliens, there are in the ocean, not on Mars!

Those may be some cool ones, but there are so much more. There is the jellyfish. Jellyfish are a type of coral. They use stingers to shoot needles into prey and predators. Then there is the stingray. They stay on the floor of the ocean and when fish come by, dinner! If you step on one it’s stinger will stab into your leg. They can be very deadly. The last type of fish I’m gonna tell you about is the eel. The eel looks like a snake, but it has gills and fins on its body. They “sliver” under water and when they sliver it looks like they are on the sea floor, but really it is in mid-water. Clearly, there are too many sea creatures to list them all, so I only listed my favorites.

By: Ben