Anybody from Alabama ? Help with Questions

[MomofIndigo]

For DD's Pre-K semester project, she has to give a presentation on a state randomly chosen for her. She got Alabama.

This project mostly factual info (yellowhammer, state flag, rabbit eye blueberries, pecans, etc..) with mixture of how they became a state and what are they known for now. But I want to convey to DD the culture of Alabama. What is it like to be an Alabamian? I don't want her to get that from a wikipedia page or Google. I have read some books about TX and I sometimes think "well that is true to an extent." So this is why I am asking for help.

So Let me tell you what I know first:

- Alabama the music group
-Plantation homes
-lots of state parks
- 8hr driving East on I-10 from Houston, you will reach Mobile, Ala.
-University of Alabama football, kinda a big deal...
-Space Camp

That's it. Aside from Civil War history and Civil Rights History.

This is what I want to know so I can spread it to DD:

-Why are there so many cities/towns with Native American names?
-What does the "Heart of Dixie" really mean?
-What does the flag mean? (I know its the crimson cross of St. Andrew but what does that mean?) (is this why Alabama football is the Crimson Tide?)
-Is the nickname "Heart of Dixie" or something else (like TX is "The Lone Star State") ?
-Is Space Camp near the Space Center? Is it a Rocket Center, a Space Center or both? Is this THE place to visit in Alabama? Or are there other seasonal/annual events that most people around the state know about and go visit at least once, several times, every year?
-Do state police wear cowboy hats? Or any kind of hat? ( I know I am wierdo but I am curious) (TX state troopers wear cowboy hats and I know Florida, California, and NJ police do not wear hats).

OK last thing: Anybody want to trade postcards? We do not have a printer and I know I could probably go to Kinko’s for some pictures and I will more than likely do that for some pictures but postcards are cool and offer another dimension on this posterboard. And DD is so into getting mail. If anyone is willing to trade me, I will send you postcards of TX too just PM your address and I will do the same. Same with a flag.

THANKS TO EVERYONE OR ANYBODY THAT CAN HELP!

 

[Deb & Bill]

We only lived in Alabama for one and a half years, but the biggest thing to us was football weekends. Cars would drive around town with flags/pennants on the cars with either Auburn or Alabama on it. And when they played each other, look out! The Iron Bowl (Alabama vs Auburn) was really big.

I did not like their barbeque (having moved from Texas), but I liked their fried fish. People are hunters and sportsmen in Alabama. And they were very friendly. Met some really nice people in Alabama.

 

[MomofIndigo]

AUBURN! I really didnt think Auburn was in Alabama (sorry people!!!)

When I traveled to Atlanta for my old job; everyone I met was an Auburn fan. I think I assumed it was in Georgia because it was the only time I heard of Auburn. At the time no TX team was in the SEC and I am not super up on my college football. I am strictly NFL and NASCAR.

 

[sewmess]

I've lived here for about 20 years now, let's see what I can help with...

I don't know about the flag, but I do know a story as to why 'Bama football is called the crimson tide..there was a football game, back in history sometime, where it was raining like the dickens. There's a lot of iron ore in the state and so our soil is very red and clay-ie. The players were covered in the red mud and the announcer called the Alabama team a "Crimson Tide". Or so the story goes.

Space camp is a program housed at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. I personally don't think that it is THE place to go, but that might be bias as I work at the state's largest science center located in Birmingham. Some might say that the Talladega Super Speedway (NASCAR) would be THE destination in Alabama, others might say the hidden treasures of our gulf coast. Birmingham itself has a some of cool places; the largest cast iron statue in the world (Vulcan) a turn of the century steel making plant (Sloss Furnaces) and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. In state, the MUST DO things (or at least extremely high on the bucket lists) are the Iron Bowl - the annual football game between the University of Alabama and Auburn University.

Alabama has a huge variety of terrains: the north east corner of the state is the tail end of the Appalachian mountains and the state just generally slopes down to the Gulf of Mexico to the south. This unique geography lends itself to fascinating paleontological finds. We are kind of the untapped prehistoric capital of the US from Dinosaurs (appalachiasaurus) to aquatic reptiles (mosasaurs) the state is full of fossils. (Did I mention I work at a Science Center?)

I'm not sure about the "Heart of Dixie" it may have come from when Montgomery was the capital of the Confederate States of America during the civil war.

I think our state police wear trooper hats...you know, the kinda flat, wide brimmed ones? Having never had the pleasure of meeting one (or displeasure - no tickets here!) I'm not sure.

As to postcards, I'd love to send you at least one. I'll send you a PM shortly.

 

[MomofIndigo]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Are there any current digging sites right now? These fossils and dinosaur bones that are found... do they go to one center or museum or do all the state museums share in the wealth?

You say the hidden treasure of Alabama is the gulf coast. Why?

 

[JillyBean1899]

For DD's Pre-K semester project, she has to give a presentation on a state randomly chosen for her.

Your daughter has to give a presentation in *PRE-K*?!? Jeeze, at 4 I could barely remember my own address, much less stuff about a state I'd never been to.

 

[minkydog]

This does not sound like a pre-K project. It sounds like someone's middle school homework.

If indeed this is your child's pre-K project, you need to back off--making it your project, not hers. Help her find Alabama on a map of the U.S. and call it a day.

 

[tink20]

*Something your DD might like

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azalea_Trail_Maids
My DD tried out, but didn't make it

*Here in Mobile, we like to fish, hunt, go to the beach (family friendly beaches in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach), water sports, watch and play football (and other sports LOL) also, known for our seafood.

*Before becoming a state, there were a lot of Native American tribes here in AL, that is why so many places have NA names.

*Helen Keller, first deaf/blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. She was born in Tuscumbia, AL.

*The first Mardi Gras was here in Mobile, AL. (and is still celebrated today, my DH is actually in a MG organization, they parade next Thurs. )

 

[MomofIndigo]

This does not sound like a pre-K project. It sounds like someone's middle school homework.

If indeed this is your child's pre-K project, you need to back off--making it your project, not hers. Help her find Alabama on a map of the U.S. and call it a day.

OK..

1. yes it is a pre-K project. It is a private school. Thier curric is not like others which is why we chose them. They decide the projects and we do them. Regardless of whether it "sounds like what it should be" the reality is she is graded on this. Her last project was just as high level last semester. Each of these projects are family projects. They encourage parents to get involved.

2. She cant read. I will find the info, she will color, we will talk about the pictures and tell her the stories that I learned about the state and she will say what she can. If I show her Alabama and call it a day then what will she say for the next 4 minutes and 58 seconds while she is standing up in front of her peers?

But thanks for the judgement, Parent of the Year. All I really need to know about is ALABAMA. According to your info, you are in Georgia. NOT ALABAMA.

 

[Southernmiss]

OK..

1. yes it is a pre-K project. It is a private school. Thier curric is not like others which is why we chose them. They decide the projects and we do them. Regardless of whether it "sounds like what it should be" the reality is she is graded on this. Her last project was just as high level last semester. Each of these projects are family projects. They encourage parents to get involved.

2. She cant read. I will find the info, she will color, we will talk about the pictures and tell her the stories that I learned about the state and she will say what she can. If I show her Alabama and call it a day then what will she say for the next 4 minutes and 58 seconds while she is standing up in front of her peers?

But thanks for the judgement, Parent of the Year. All I really need to know about is ALABAMA. According to your info, you are in Georgia. NOT ALABAMA.

I am a mom of 4 teens and my initial thought was also that your questions were overkill for a pre k 4 project.

If I remember correctly, Minkydog is from the Alabama Gulf Coast and could have shared much with you. From reading her posts I also know she's an amazing mom of a severely handicapped 19 or 20 year-old.

I am from a neighboring state and also could have replied with info on Alabama.

But wow...

 

[minkydog]

OK..

1. yes it is a pre-K project. It is a private school. Thier curric is not like others which is why we chose them. They decide the projects and we do them. Regardless of whether it "sounds like what it should be" the reality is she is graded on this. Her last project was just as high level last semester. Each of these projects are family projects. They encourage parents to get involved.

2. She cant read. I will find the info, she will color, we will talk about the pictures and tell her the stories that I learned about the state and she will say what she can. If I show her Alabama and call it a day then what will she say for the next 4 minutes and 58 seconds while she is standing up in front of her peers?

But thanks for the judgement, Parent of the Year. All I really need to know about is ALABAMA. According to your info, you are in Georgia. NOT ALABAMA.

Not that you would know, but I grew up in Alabama, graduated HS and college in Alabama, and my mother still lives there. So I'd say I know a lot about the state.

 

[MomofIndigo]

*Something your DD might like

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azalea_Trail_Maids
My DD tried out, but didn't make it

This looks really cool... THANKS SO MUCH! This makes so much more sense now.

My cousin had a baby girl and they named her Azalea and I asked why they chose that name. All he said was Lori (his wife) was from Alabama. He shrugged like I was suppose to know what that meant. Now I have to txt her and ask if she was a Trail Maid.

Ok that is on the list. Helen Keller is on the list too. Lots of coloring pictures of her.

I bet she will want to cover her posterboard in feathers once I tell her about Native Americans used to live in Alabama.

I like this project. I learned States and State Capitals. That is it.

One of the things on our bucket list is visiting Talladega Speedway. I think we might need to spend a week instead of just a weekend to visit all the cool stuff. We only pass through Alabama and just stop in Mobile on the way to WDW.

 

[cabanafrau]

OK..

1. yes it is a pre-K project. It is a private school. Thier curric is not like others which is why we chose them. They decide the projects and we do them. Regardless of whether it "sounds like what it should be" the reality is she is graded on this. Her last project was just as high level last semester. Each of these projects are family projects. They encourage parents to get involved.

2. She cant read. I will find the info, she will color, we will talk about the pictures and tell her the stories that I learned about the state and she will say what she can. If I show her Alabama and call it a day then what will she say for the next 4 minutes and 58 seconds while she is standing up in front of her peers?

But thanks for the judgement, Parent of the Year. All I really need to know about is ALABAMA. According to your info, you are in Georgia. NOT ALABAMA.

A four year old is graded on a project for which she must speak, I assume extemporaneously since she cannot read, for five minutes? Yowza.

 

[momof1princess]

I've lived in Alabama all my life (43 years). Our state troopers wear Canadian mountie-type hats. Our terrain is hilly, and, in many areas, the soil is mainly clay, or chert. I live in the northeast, and it is very wooded and mainly rural. We have two large, metro areas-Birmingham and Huntsville. Our capital, Montgomery, is larger than my hometown, but not as big as Birmingham. We're very friendly, and will talk your ear off, if given the chance. There are churches everywhere-385 in the county I live in alone. The only thing that comes close to God in Alabama is Alabama football. It is as close to a religion as you can get. Nick Saban comes in third only behind God and Bear Bryant (Alabama's legendary coach).

 

[chs27]

Oh wow! Where to start...Jesse Owens placed 3 gold medals as a sprinter 1936 Olympics in Berlin, overseen by Hitler, blasting his Arial superior belief.

NASA is located in Huntsville, where they have space camp at the Space and Rocket Center. Very similar to what you have in Houston.

We have the BEST barbeque in these United States. We serve white sauce on chicken. Decatur Alabama has Big Bob Gibson's, which wins national awards.

Our beaches have white sand and crystal clear water.

When you meet someone, you ask where he goes to church, not if. Everyone is a member and we have a lot of churches.

Inbox me your address, I'll get you some postcards.

 

[MomofIndigo]

Not that you would know, but I grew up in Alabama, graduated HS and college in Alabama, and my mother still lives there. So I'd say I know a lot about the state.

No I did not know. You gave no indication that you knew anything but being high and mighty and judgemental on what I should do as a parent. Which makes your comment earlier even worse. You could have been helpful and show how much you knew about your state and why are you so proud of being from Alabama. But instead you chose to be rude.

So that choice is now yours. You can give me more information that I can share with DD to get her more excited about presenting Alabama to her class or you find another thread to be judgemental and trollish on.

 

[cabanafrau]

No I did not know. You gave no indication that you knew anything but being high and mighty and judgemental on what I should do as a parent. Which makes your comment earlier even worse. You could have been helpful and show how much you knew about your state and why are you so proud of being from Alabama. But instead you chose to be rude.

So that choice is now yours. You can give me more information that I can share with DD to get her more excited about presenting Alabama to her class or you find another thread to be judgemental and trollish on.

As the mother of HS & college aged children, I found her response completely understandable because I think the project sounds ridiculous and I'm not sure I find it credible. I can vouch she wasn't trolling for anything. . . .

 

[NaLisa]

Should the report include history? How about discussing George Washington Carver and his work at Tuskegee? I've always been inspired by his story.

 

[MomofIndigo]

NASA is located in Huntsville, where they have space camp at the Space and Rocket Center. Very similar to what you have in Houston.

We have the BEST barbeque in these United States. We serve white sauce on chicken. Decatur Alabama has Big Bob Gibson's, which wins national awards.

Inbox me your address, I'll get you some postcards.

Best BBQ huh? You say that but then the example you give is chicken with white sauce? What is the white sauce? is it gravy or alfredo like? Is Alabama BBQ only chicken or is other meats involved in Alabama BBQ?

Thanks for the info on food. I don't have anything under that category. I love history so my mind definately gears towards how things started, why, what was it like before this, etc...

 

[taylor3297]

Tuskegee Airmen, Little River Canyon National Preserve. Desoto State Park and Desoto Falls, USS Alabama, Space Center, and Sequoyah Caverns are all interesting things in Alabama.

My dad and stepmom live in Mentone which is in the mountains, sister lives in Spanish Fort, which is near the coast and cousins and best friend live in Birmingham area.

If you need some more specific information, send me a pm and I will be glad to help.