1. The Midwest
A Crop Duster Tour…

2. What color should we click for the Midwest?

3. Good!
Welcome to the Midwest!

4. St. Louis, Missouri “The Gateway to the west”
St. Louis was originally settled by French traders
St. Louis was a frontier town or one where unsettled country begins
Located at the fork of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers
The arch was built to honor the pioneers who first explored the west

5. Iowa: “The Corn state”
Almost every inch of Iowa is covered by farms! This is why it is sometimes called the corn state
Iowa is mostly prairie or flat rolling land
Iowa is rich in fertile soil that is able to produce crops
Iowa produces huge crops of corn, soybeans, oats, and hay
Many crops are fed to livestock like chickens, cattle, or hogs

6. “America’s Breadbasket”
The Midwest is know as America’s breadbasket because of its massive production of grain
Grain is used to make other products, with the most common being bread

7. Dodge City, Kansas Kansas produces more wheat than any other state
Meatpacking is preparing meat for sale and is an important industry in the Midwest
In the 1870’s cowboys would drive cattle to Dodge City to be packed and shipped east for sale

8. “Home on the Range”
Home on the Range is the state song of Kansas written in 1870
The author sings of the beauty of the great plains
Click to play song
Alvin and the Chipmunks version

9. South Dakota’s Heroes
Carved into Mt. Rushmore are the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln
Each head is six stories tall
Sioux Indian chief Crazy Horse is carved into the black hills
The Black Hills are sacred to the Sioux and they fought the United States for them
Native Americans lost most of their land and were forced to live on reservations or special areas for their use

10. Soo Locks, Michigan The Soo Locks are the two longest in the world
The locks are capable of lifting heavy ships 21 feet from Lake Huron to Lake Superior
Some of the largest ships are called “salties” because they come from the Atlantic Ocean
Video of a salty passing
through the locks

11. Motor City: Detroit, Michigan
Henry Ford started an automobile factory in Detroit
Ford had a problem of high costs to produce his cars
Ford cut cost by having all of his parts made at one time, this is called mass production
Ford then installed his parts on a moving assembly line so each worker only had to do one task
The time it took to make a car dropped from 12 hours to 93 minutes
Click for Video on the Ford assembly line

12. Midwest Weather: Blizzards
The Midwest frequently experiences storms with heavy snowfall and freezing winds called blizzards
Blizzards can cause damage to property, can shut down transportation, and be expensive to clean up

13. O’Hare International Airport, Chicago
This airport is a transportation hub or center for moving goods and people
O’Hare is one of the busiest airports in the U.S.
Transportation is very important to the economy of the Midwest and the U.S.

14. Wrigley Field: Chicago, Illinois
Wrigley Field is home to Chicago’s Major League Baseball team the Cubs
The field is the second oldest park in America
Babe Ruth once hit a legendary home run here

15. Mall of America, Minnesota
The largest indoor shopping mall in the United States
The mall protects shopper from Minnesota’s harsh blizzards, tornados, and hailstorms
The mall has 520 stores, 50 restaurants, 14 movie theaters, and an amusement park

16. Mall of America
86 hours is the length of time it would take to complete your visit to the Mall if you were to spend just 10 minutes in each store!
Here is a video of all the mall has to offer in 60 seconds
Mall of America Video
Mall of America Facts (By the numbers)