that will be admired, appreciated, respected, and honored by people from all around the world.
The Grand Canyon was “a deep gorge carved out of the Colorado Plateau.
More than 800 million years ago, an upheaval in the earth’s crust began forming the circular shaped Colorado Plateau. Six million years ago, the Colorado River carved a path through the plateau creating a gigantic gorge” (“Grand Canyon National Park”). Who would have thought that a huge gorge could become into a beautiful national park? When people saw the Grand Canyon’s beautiful and historic scenery, they though it was amazing. Do you want to know how it became a national park? The United States twenty- sixth, “President Theodore Roosevelt first visited The Grand Canyon in 1903. Teddy Roosevelt proclaimed it “one of the great sights that every American should see. The Grand Canyon was classified “as a national monument by Roosevelt in 1908 and became a national park in 1919” (“Grand Canyon National Park”). There were many national parks before The Grand Canyon in the United States. This monument “was the seventeenth national park to be established in the United …show more content…
States.
Primarily, there were many national parks before The Grand Canyon in the United States.
However, this monument “was the seventeenth national park to be established in the United States” (“Grand Canyon Fun Facts for Kids”). You are probably astonished by The Grand Canyon’s history, already. You are probably very studious and eager in knowing the fortunate, lucky, and blessed owner who gets to have this monument right beside them. Do not feel somber or disappointed that you cannot have this national park right beside you, because we should be very thankful and appreciated that The Grand Canyon is in our very own state. The Grand Canyon is located in the U.S. state, Arizona. Furthermore, the age of the Grand Canyon is pretty unclear. Although, it started forming little by little millions and billions of years ago, the age is still not accurate. Researchers still try to prove theories and give explanations, but they all state something different. Some say it was billions of years ago, while others say it was only a few million years ago. The Grand Canyon’s length “is 277 miles or 446 kilometers, its width is 18 miles or 29 kilometers across, its narrowest point is 4 miles or 6.4 kilometers across, and its depth is 6000 feet or 1,800 meters (“Grand Canyon Facts for
Kids”).
Did you know that The Grand Canyon was not given this name right away? The Grand Canyon “had previously been known as the Big Canyon or the Great Canyon? How did its name change to The Grand Canyon? “John Wesley Powell led the first tour down The Grand Canyon in 1869. He was the first to use the name Grand Canyon” (“Grand Canyon Facts for Kids”). Afterwards, that was the selected name of that national park. If you never saw The Grand Canyon up close, but saw pictures of it, you might have noticed the color of it. It has a mixture of beautiful and prepossessing colors showing on the canyon. The canyon walls colors change often, due to the weather and time of day. “At sunset, the canyon turns almost blood red and then deep purple (“Grand Canyon National Park”). Also, this monument has two borders. Why does a national park have two boundaries? I conclude that probably, since The Grand Canyon is enormous, they wanted to separate both sides, so people could enjoy seeing two both viewpoints. What are those borders or rims called? “The South Rim of The Grand Canyon is part of the Coconino Plateau, which is approximately 7,000 feet or 2,135 meters high. The North Rim of The Grand Canyon is part of the Kaibab Plateau. It is colder and wetter than the South Rim. The boundaries “are 9 miles or 14.5 kilometers apart” (“Grand Canyon National Park”). Most important, everyone thinks that where there are animals and plants, that place is the best place related to nature. The Grand Canyon has a plant life and animal life. A few of the plants that lay on the South Rim are "Ponderosa pine, pinyon pine, and Utah juniper” are there in large amount. “Shrubs such as, cliffrose, mountain mahogany, and fernbush” lay there as well. A few of the plants that lay on the North Rim are “Ponderosa pine, spruce, fir, and quaking aspen”. There are plants that lay on both rims, such as desert plants. “Desert plants such as banana yucca and claret cup cactus” prosper and grow in both edges (“Grand Canyon National Park”). The animal life in the national park included variety of mammals, such as “squirrels, coyotes, foxes, deer, badgers, bobcats, rabbits, chipmunks, and kangaroo rats”. The Grand Canyon is a domicile to a genus of birds, such as “raptors, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and the California condor”. The Grand Canyon is also a habitat to the fish species and creatures, such as “trout” (“Grand Canyon Biological Past and Present”). Reptiles also live in The Grand Canyon in large amount, such as “colorful lizards, snakes, turtles, frogs, toads, and salamanders” (“Grand Canyon National Park”). Additionally, The Grand Canyon is considered by many people all around the world “to be one of the seven wonders of the natural world” (“Grand Canyon Facts for Kids”).
I agree with this fact, because this national park has everything a famous monument should have to be admired and inspired by people all around the world.
Moreover, there were lots of people before and now that visited The Grand Canyon, but there were a few people who also lived there as well. Thus, Scientists and Researchers concluded that “American Indians have been living in and around the canyon for thousands of years” (“Grand Canyon Facts for Kids”). Their quantity was not that many, but “three Indian reservations: Navajo, Havasupai, and Hualapai also joined The Grand Canyon” (“Grand Canyon Biological Past and Present”). There are lots of people including President Roosevelt, John Wesley Powell, and John Muir who visited and inspired The Grand Canyon in the past, but people today in massive groups, still visit this national park. “Nearly five million people travel to The Grand Canyon each year”. Most people first see this national park “from the South Rim”. Why do they see it from the South Rim? The South Rim has a breathtaking and astonishing view, because it is “into the deep inner gorge of the Colorado River” (“National Geographic- Grand Canyon National Park”). When people visit this national park today, not only do they adore and enjoy the magnificent scenery, but they also have fun “sightseeing, hiking, and rafting, which are popular in this area” (“Grand Canyon Facts for Kids”). When people first drive to the Grand Canyon, they think they arrived at the wrong destination. Likewise, it is like that, because “the road to The Grand Canyon from the south crosses a barely rising plateau that gives no clue at what is about to open”. Suddenly, “a huge gorge, a mile deep and up to eighteen miles wide opens up” (“National Geographic- Grand Canyon National Park”). As a result, even though The Grand Canyon was created and discovered several years ago, people still remember this national park and visit it from all around the world.
Mainly, when people look at The Grand Canyon, either it is up close, or in some picture, they always want to know about all that rock in the canyon and how the canyon formed into a huge historic monument. Scientists and Researchers are still unsure about when the rock started forming and when it got built into a huge canyon. One of the predictions is, “the rock found in the bottom of the canyon is around two billion years old and the rock found in the upper edge of the canyon is around 230 million years old” (“Grand Canyon Facts for Kids”). There are some guesses and predictions on how the canyon was formed, but nobody is certain for sure. One of the predictions is, “the most powerful force to have an impact on The Great Canyon is erosion, basically by water, ice, and wind”. Also, other forces that gave the canyon its development “are the course of the Colorado River itself, volcanism, continental drift, and small variations in the earth’s orbit” (“The Geology of the Grand Canyon”). Many people predict that there are many ways the rock could have formed in the canyon. “There were a number of forces at work and continental drift, volcanism, and climate changes” are some of them.” Primarily, “the earth’s continents are not fixed in place and move around quite a bit”. “The surface of the earth is produced of twenty of these plates which structure its crust.” Also, “the plate which encloses The Grand Canyon was once at greatly further south than its current location and thus had a much different climate”. Additionally, “the rocks that made up the mountains are approximately 1.7 billion years old” (“The Geology of the Grand Canyon”). Lastly, there are many questions and concerns about The Grand Canyon that cannot be answered with 100% accurateness, but our Scientists, Researchers, and Geologists do provide people with a likely close guess or prediction.
Consequently, was there a reason or purpose of making this national park? What would happen if we did not have The Grand Canyon? Basically, there was a useful purpose of making The Grand Canyon into a national park and that was nature. If we did not have The Grand Canyon, our eyes would have been very unlucky, unfortunate, and star- crossed, because we would have missed seeing a glimpse of the most beautiful and scenic landscape ever known. I believe that The Grand Canyon and all those other astounding national parks out there are not something we should disregard. We should be proud and content that our own state owns this monument. When people from all around the world come to Arizona and see The Grand Canyon, they not only see the love for that national park, but they also feel respect and honor for the United States of America. What did you learn from the history of The Grand Canyon? You must have learned how important and significant this monument is to everyone around the world and what a big achievement, accomplishment, and fulfillment this is to the United States of America. You must have perceived that The Grand Canyon is no ordinary national Park. Remember, if you ever go to Arizona; do not forget to visit The Grand Canyon.
(Works Cited Page)
Encyclopedias:
"Grand Canyon National Park." Grolier Online/ Http://go.grolier.com/. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. <http://go.grolier.com/>.
"Grand Canyon Biological Past and Present." Encyclopedia Britannica/ Http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/241178/Grand-Canyon/2814/Biological-past-and-present. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/241178/Grand-Canyon/2814/Biological-past-and-present>.
Websites:
"Grand Canyon Facts for Kids." Science Kids. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. <http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/earth/grandcanyon.html>.
"The Geology of the Grand Canyon." Grand Canyon Explorer. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. <http://www.bobspixels.com/kaibab.org/geology/gc_geol.htm>.
"Grand Canyon National Park." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. <http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/grand-canyon-national park/>.