Cassidy's Word Find Game

Try to find these Alaskan words in the following game. Watch out, the words can be backwards, upside down, or on a diagonal. Once you find the words, try to find out more about them. Use the Web to search for them (for example, check out "Iditarod" on the Web), or your library (for example, where does the word "cheechako" come from?).

THE 16 WORDS TO FIND:

ALASKA, BALTO, BEAR, CARIBOU, CHEECHAKO, DENALI, FIREWEED, GOLD, IDITAROD, LYNX, MOOSE, MOSQUITO, NENANA, RAVEN, SOURDOUGH, WOLF

 
  O  T  N  R  A  V  E  N  G  M  I
  C  H  E  E  C  H  A  K  O  O  D
  A  R  N  D  A  Q  S  O  L  S  I
  R  A  A  R  E  I  S  D  D  Q  T
  I  E  N  A  M  E  N  U  V  U  A
  B  B  A  L  T  O  W  X  A  I  R
  O  L  K  A  Y  C  D  E  E  T  O
  U  S  T  S  L  N  M  W  R  O  D
  A  Q  L  K  O  R  X  S  U  I  P
  D  E  N  A  L  I  F  L  O  W  F
  S  O  U  R  D  O  U  G  H  C  H

Definitions:

Alaska: My home, our state. From an Aleut word meaning "The Great Land."

Balto: One of the lead dogs for the famous dog team that saved a whole bunch of children by bringing medicine for diptheria to Nome, Alaska in 1925. (A statue of Balto can be seen in downtown Anchorage and in Central Park, New York, and the real Balto is preserved an on display in a museum in Cincinatti, Ohio).

Bear: A fierce creature that roams around our state.

Caribou: Wild reindeer (actually, this is the other way around).

Cheechako: (Pronounced, "Chee-chak-o") A new comer to Alaska or the north country.

Denali: From a Tanina Indian word meaning, "The Great One."

Fireweed: A tall wild flower that grows all over Alaska. The flowers are purple-pinkish.

Gold: There's a lot of gold in Alaska, at least there used to be.

Iditarod: A village and a dog sled trail from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. And it's a famous dog sled race that starts in March and races over 1,000 miles.

Lynx: A big wild cat. They are furry and have fur on the tips of their ears.

Moose: They come into our backyard. They are big and furry and have antlers.

Mosquito: An insect with wings that sucks blood. We have so many big ones in Alaska we call them our "state bird."

Nenana: A river near Denali National Park where people go rafting.

Raven: A black flying bird, usually seen in Anchorage in winter. Many Native people have stories about ravens. Ravens are very smart, and we like to watch them play games.

Sourdough: An old timer in Alaska.

Wolf: They are beautiful and graceful and have big paws. They howl to talk to each other. They are furry and shed a lot, and they are very smart. We have a wolf-dog named Banshee.