America the Beautiful Tutorial

America the Beautiful Online is a comprehensive program about the states and territories of the United States. The program is designed especially for students although the content will be useful for anyone.

It has information, maps, graphics, essays & quizzes on all U.S. states and territories.

The section for each state contains eight maps, covering economy, topography, geography, parks, major highways, history and exploration.

The U.S. Topics section includes biographies of explorers and all American presidents, information about major Native American tribes, and articles about hundreds of places within the United States. The places are divided into three groupings: cities, natural wonders and sites where historic events occurred.

Chronological information on U.S. History, World History, Science & Technology, Arts & Entertainment, and the Written Word is included in the Timelines section while biographies of hundreds of American men and women from Hank Aaron to Zitkala-Sa are found in the Profiles section.

The Almanac section is a collection of tables and lists on a wide range of topics including Economy, Education, Geography, Government, History, Parks, Population and Symbols of the States & the U.S.

Access to America the Beautiful is available in all Timberland Regional libraries and remotely from home, school or office with a Timberland Library card.

The home page features a large map of the United States. Click on the name of any state, or Washington, D.C., on the map, and you’ll be taken to the section dealing with that state.

At the lower right of the Home Page are buttons that will take you to information about Puerto Rico or the major U.S. Territories (Virgin Island, Guam, American Samoa).

At the top of the Home Page are five red bars offering special features: U.S. Topics, Timelines, Profiles, Games and Almanac.

At the upper right corner of the Home Page are the Search options. You may select to search “All Grolier Online” or “America the Beautiful Only.” Type a word or phrase into the “Find it Fast” search box and click on “GO” to begin your search. This will bring up a list of all the places in ATB in which the word appears. For more specific searches, click on Advanced Search.

On the opening page for the state you have selected you will find the following information:

An introductory text.

• A map of the U.S., highlighting the state you are reading about. (Clicking on the map brings you back to the ATB Home Page. There are also Home buttons at the top and bottom of each screen.)
• A menu, to the left of the screen, listing all the sections of the state module: Introduction, Fast Facts, History, Geography, Economy, Culture, Government, Cities, Spotlights, Profiles, State Timelines, Word Find, and What Do You Know. Clicking on any of these items will bring you to the first page of that category. In some cases, the menu will expand to offer additional choices within the category.
• A geopolitical map of the state. Click on the map to enlarge it, and then click on major cities and features on that map to bring up specific text about that city or feature.
• A photograph. Click to enlarge it and read a fuller caption.
• Maps & Media button. Clicking on this button brings up a list of all the maps, illustrations, and multimedia features pertaining to the state. Multimedia features include audio slide shows and panoramic photos.
• Web Links button, at the top of the right-hand column. Click on the button to find a carefully selected list of outside sites that provide additional information about the states.
• Print/E-mail button, also at the top of the right-hand column. Click on the button to see instructions for printing or e-mailing.
• Find It Fast! and Advanced Search options are at the upper right. Search options include: All Grolier Online, America the Beautiful Only, and Search This State Only.
• Special feature options (U.S. Topics, Timelines, Profiles, Games, and Almanac) may be accessed by clicking on the red bars at the top.
• About, Help, Further Reading, and Teacher Resources options are at the bottom of the screen.
• List of States, at the top of the screen, allows you to move quickly to a different state. Just click on the name of the state you want to bring up. If you prefer, you can go back to the Home Page and click on the map to go to another state.

Each state module contains the following material:

• Introduction, giving an overview of the state's people, history, and contributions.
• Fast Facts, a capsule presentation of important statistics and information. Pictures of the state bird, flower, seal, and flag are usually shown.
• History, presented in several segments beginning with Native Americans and explorers and proceeding up to modern times.
• Geography, covering the regions, resources, flora and fauna, and scenic highlights.
• Economy, which tells how people earn their livings.
• Culture, focusing on the state's people and the way they live. Ethnic backgrounds, religion, education, artistic accomplishments, and recreation are all covered.
• Government, a report on the state's governmental structure and its role in national politics.
• Cities: essays on four or more of the major cities in each state.
• Spotlights: features on many of the famous places, historic sites, and natural wonders of the state, all of which may be visited today.
• Profiles, offering capsule biographies of important people, past and present, who are associated with the history or accomplishments of the state.
• State Timeline, a chronology of the key events in the history of the state. Accompanying the state timeline is a chronology of U.S. history.
• Word Find, a puzzle challenging you to locate and highlight words associated with the state.
• What Do You Know?, a multiple-choice quiz about the state.
• Maps, eight per state. Included are geopolitical, historical, and topographical maps, as well as others covering exploration, natural resources, cities and routes, parks and forests, and population density.
• About 50 historic and modern illustrations per state.
• Web Links to additional sites that will help you in your research on the state.
• Seven or more bibliographical citations, fully annotated, accessible via the Further Reading link.

U.S. TOPICS

Clicking on the red U.S. Topics bar at the top of the ATB screen brings up a list of six options:

• Cities. If you choose this topic, you'll see a list of more than 200 major U.S. cities. Click on any one to read an essay about that city's history and features.
• Explorers. Clicking on this title brings you to the names of the adventurers who played key roles in the European discovery of what is now the United States, as well as other American explorers of note.
• Places and Events. Battlefields, homes of famous people, historic sites and events, unique museums or other attractions—all are listed here. Read about any one by clicking on the name.
• Native Americans. This option provides information about more than 40 of the most important and interesting Native American groups.
• Natural Wonders. America's spectacular scenic attractions are described here. Click on any wonder to read about its history and uniqueness.
• Presidents. If you choose this topic, you'll see a list of the 42 men who have served in the highest U.S. office. Click on any one to access a biography and portrait of that President.

TIMELINES

Clicking on the red Timelines bar at the top of the screen allows you to choose from a selection of topics and time periods. The key dates and events in American history are divided into four eras: before 1750, 1750–1849, 1850–1949, 1950 to the present. Click on any period for a capsule view of the nation's progress.

You may also view any one of four other timelines along with the U.S. chronology:

• Science & Technology
• Arts & Entertainment
• The Written Word
• World History

Another special feature allows you to compare the timelines of any two states. Just choose two states from the lists provided at the bottom of the screen and click on the Compare button.

PROFILES

Brief biographies of more than 900 important American men and women, plus all the presidents, may be accessed here. Simply select a letter from the alphabet at the top of the Profiles screen to generate an alphabetical list of all Profiles beginning with that letter. Then just click on the name of a person you wish to read about.

GAMES

Here's your chance to show how much you know about America and have fun at the same time. Click on the red Games bar at the top of the ATB screen to bring up one of these games:

• Discover America challenges you to uncover a photo of an American scene by answering questions about one of the 50 states.
• Liberty Lights is a hangman-type puzzle. By choosing the right letters and finding the correct answer to the questions, you'll light up Lady Liberty's torch. Wrong answers douse her light!
• What Is This? asks you to identify something by looking at a small section of an object that has been greatly enlarged.
• Which Came First? allows you to create your own timeline by putting events in the order in which they happened or people in the order in which they lived.
• Which State Am I? gives you a chance to firm up your knowledge of the state capitals.

ALMANAC

Click on the red Almanac bar at the top of the screen and you'll find a fascinating and useful compilation of facts about all the states and the country. What's the highest mountain in the U.S.? How many states regard the cardinal as their state bird? Where is Jarvis Island, a U.S. dependency? Who is the current governor of Hawaii? You'll find the answers, and much more, in the Almanac. Sections include:

• Economics
• Education
• Geography
• Government
• History
• Parks
• Population
• Symbols
• U.S. Dependent Areas

SEARCH OPTIONS

The search engine of ATB allows you to search the full text of state articles and all the special features. Searches can be limited to one particular state by using the "Search This State Only" option. They can also be limited to article titles by using the Advanced Search page. Advanced search techniques include Boolean logic operators (AND, OR, NOT) and wildcards.

To extend your search to other Grolier products, click on the "All Grolier Online" button. (For more information, read the Grolier Online general help section.)

Full-Text Searching

Type a word or phrase in the "Find it Fast!" search box at the top of the screen. Select the "American the Beautiful Only" button and click on "GO" to begin your search. The search engine will perform a full-text search of the encyclopedia articles, returning a list of all that contain the search word. Scroll through the text to locate the highlighted search word(s) in the article. The ATB search engine also contains a powerful "stemming" function that will automatically look for plurals and other variant forms of the term you have specified.

Search This State Only

Searches can be limited to a particular state. For example, to conduct a search on Portland, Maine, click on "Maine" on the map on the ATB Home Page. The "Maine: Introduction" page will appear. Under the Search options at the top of the screen select "Search This State Only." Click on the "GO" button. The search engine will display a list of ATB articles relating to the city of Portland, Maine.

Search Results

Once a search is complete, a numbered list of articles is displayed on the Search Results screen. Article titles are displayed in order of relevance and are provided as hyperlinks—that is, you can click on the title and go right to the article.