1. Our country is a democracy, which means people over the age of 18 get to vote in public elections to help choose the leaders that will ultimately make our laws.

2. Our president is George W. Bush, his father was also a U.S. President. We will elect a new president in November. We elect a new president every four years, and a president can only serve 2 four year terms.

3. Women in our country have equal rights as men. That means that women can hold the same jobs as men, make as much money as men, and can vote, attend college, and play sports.

4. The first permanent English settlement in America was Jamestown. It was founded in 1607 and is still a historical site to visit today. This is located in Virginia.

5. The oldest rock in the world, 3.8 billion years old, was found in the Minnesota River Valley in Minnesota.

6. Virginia is a unique state because we border the Atlantic Ocean and beaches that people can visit, but we also have mountains in the Western portion of our state, so people that enjoy hiking and getting out into the country can also visit the more mountainous region of our state.

7. Virginia has a very mild climate. We get some very hot days during the summer and some very cold days during the winter. During our hot summer days-it is very uncomfortable because we have a lot of humidity. When it snows during the winter time we usually don't have school until all the roads the school buses have to travel on have been plowed by the snow plows and are no longer icy. Sometimes we get 2 or 3 days off in a row depending on how much snow we got. Two years ago we had a whole week off because of snow. Our spring and autumn seasons are usually very pleasant. Right now it is autumn and we have had lovely weather in the seventies.

Entertainment

8. In the United States, Americans spend billions of dollars a year on sports. This includes tickets to sporting events and buying sports gear. An average NFL ticket is somewhere around $85.00. This is also the price for NASCAR tickets.

9. Every fall the World Series in baseball is held. The first World Series was played in 1903 between Pittsburgh and Boston. Baseball is one of the favorite sports to watch among Americans.

10. Television and movies are a big part of entertainment in the U.S. In fact every year awards are given to actors and actresses to recognize their skills. These awards are called Oscars and Emmys. Musicians are awarded Grammys for utstanding musical performances.

11. Everyday, Americans buy 62 million newspapers and throw out 44 million. That is equivalent to dumping 500,000 trees into a landfill every week.

12. Americans love pets. There are over 60 million pet dogs in the United States and over 68 million pet cats. 58% of American homes have at least one pet.

13. Many Americans travel long distances each day to get to work, but the state of Alaska has the highest percentage of people that walk to work. Many of the parents of students in our school work in Washington, D.C. since we are not that far from it. They run into a lot of traffic, because there are so many people trying to get from one place to another in this area.

14. Most of you probably know what types of food Americans eat-chicken, beef, pork, etc. We have lots of restaurants in America specializing in all sorts of different cuisine. We have Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Thai restaurants, just to name a few. We also have a lot of American restaurants as well. Many Americans eat out once or more a week.

15. American recognize many small holidays throughout the year. For example, in January, we recognize Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. He was a famous civil rights leader. Government offices, schools, and banks are closed on this day. We also recognize Veteran's Day-a day to remember those who have bravely fought in our wars. Columbus Day is also a big day, because Columbus is given credit for discovering America.

16. The tallest building in America is the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois. It is 110 stories high. It is 1,730 feet tall including the 280 foot antenna. You may have noticed that we give our measurements in feet, that is because the United States is one of the few countries that don't use the metric system for everyday measurements.

17. According to the 1998 census, America has more than 263 million people, which makes it the third most populous country in the world behind China and India.

18. The United States is the country with the most telephones in the world. We even have cellular phones that we carry around in case we want to talk on the go. More than 24 million people have cellular phones in the United States.

19. There is a very tall building in New York City called the Empire State Building, and on a very clear day you can see five states from the top of this building. They are New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.

20. In the state of Virginia, we have about 2 months off for summer vacation. We get out of school in mid June and return towards the end of August. We also get about a week off at Christmas time and Easter time.

21. Students in our school start arriving at 8:30 in the morning and classes begin at 9:00. We are in classes until 3:15 and then we start getting ready to go home. We have a lunch break, which is 25 minutes and we eat in our school cafeteria. We also get recess, which is 30 minutes a day.

22. Our school is a public school, which means that students do not have to pay to go to school. We do not have to wear uniforms to school. We can wear whatever we like as long as it is appropriate.

23. Our school had grades Kindergarten through fifth grade in it. We do not have afterschool sports in elementary school, but we do have other activities like Student Government, Battle of the Books (the different schools in our county read the same books and then at the end of the year we compete in a question and answer session about them), and Chess Club.

24. The state we live in has certain requirements or standards that must be taught to us each school year. We are tested on these skills at the end of certain grades.