A Step by Step Guide to the Sunshine State By: Leila Villacorta The ABC’s of Florida A Step by Step Guide to the Sunshine State By: Leila Villacorta

Alligator and Biking Trail B is for Biking Trail The Pinellas Trail is a 47 mile hiking/biking trail connecting St. Petersburg with Central and north Pinellas County, is the longest urban linear trail in the eastern United States. A is for Alligator The state Reptile

Census and Disney World C is for the 2011 Census State population in 2011: 19,057,542 D is for Disney World One of the State main attractions

Economy and Forests E is for Economy Agriculture: Citrus, vegetables, nursery stock, sugarcane, dairy products Industry: Tourism, electric equipment, food processing, printing and publishing, transportation equipment, machinery F is for Forests in Florida The National Forests in Florida protect more than 1.2million acres in North and Central Florida The National Forests in Florida also manages the 1,400-mile Florida Trail, one of eleven National Scenic Trails in the United States. These include the Apalachicola, Osceola and Ocala.

Gatorade and Hurricane Season G is for Gatorade Gatorade was named for the University of Florida Gators where the drink was first developed H is for Hurricane Season The six-month hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30 and Floridians have learned to be ready when a storm threatens the area. More Information: Nation al Hurricane Center

“In god we trust” and NFL Jaguars J is for the Jacksonville Jaguars The NFL football team for Jacksonville I is for “In god we trust” which is the state motto

King George and Legoland K is for Old Kings Road The first graded road built in Florida was Old Kings Road in 1763. It was named for King George of England. L is for Legoland A theme park in Winter Haven, FL One of the main attractions in Florida

Mockingbird and State Nickname M is for Mockingbird The state bird for Florida is the Mockingbird An individual mockingbird can know hundreds of different songs. The mockingbird's scientific name, Mimus polyglottos means "Mimic of many tongues" in Greek. N is for the state Nickname Florida’s nickname is “The Sunshine State” because the weather is always sunny

Orange Blossom & Palmetto Palm P is for the Palmetto Palm The palmetto Palm is Florida’s state tree O is for the Orange Blossom The orange blossom is Florida’s state flower

Quarterbacks and Rick Scott G is for Florida’s NFL Quarterback Jaguars Starting QB Is Blaine Gabbert R is for Rick Scott Rick Scott is the Governor of Florida

Stone Crab and Tallahassee T is for Tallahassee Tallahassee is the Capital of Florida S is for Stone Crab Stone crab is one of Florida’s delicacies

University of Florida & Vince Coleman V is for Vince Coleman Vince Coleman was born in Florida and he was a great MLB base stealer who set many base stealing records U is for the University of Florida The University of Florida (UF) is a major, public, comprehensive, land-grant, research university. The state’s oldest and most comprehensive university, UF is among the nation’s most academically diverse public universities.

Width East to West & Gulf of MeXico X is for the Gulf of MeXico The Gulf of Mexico borders Florida W is for Width East to West Florida’s width is 361 Miles

HistorY and Florida Zoological Park's Z is for Florida’s Zoo’s The zoo’s in Florida H is for Florida’s History People first reached Florida at least 12,000 years ago. Florida began with the arrival of the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León in 1513. Between April 2 and April 8, Ponce de León waded ashore on the northeast coast of Florida He called the area la Florida, in honor of Pascua Florida ("feast of the flowers"),