Kansas - School-Age

Kansas

34th State (January 29, 1861), great plains U.S.

State Abbreviation: KS

Capital: Topeka

Origin of name: Named after the Indians that the Sioux called the Konza, meaning "people of the south wind".

Motto: Ad Astra Per Aspera (To the Stars Through Difficulties)

Nickname: Sunflower State, Wheat State, Jayhawker State, and Midway, USA

Kansas State Symbols

Kansas State Symbols Information Sheet and Color Pages (pdf)

Kansas Map USA

Kansas: State Seal

Amphibian: Barred Tiger Salamander

Animal: American Buffalo

Banner: Kansas Banner

Bird: Western Meadowlark

Fish: Channel Catfish

Grass: Little Bluestem

Gemstone: Jelinite

Insect: Honeybee

Kansas State Symbols

Red Wine Grape: Chambourcin

Reptile: Ornate Box Turtle

Soil: Harney Loam Silt

Song: Home on the Range

Tree: Cottonwood Tree

White Wine Grape: Vignoles

Flag of Kansas

Kansas Video

Things to Know

Senators from Kansas.

Kansas became a U.S. territory in 1803, as part of the Louisiana Purchase when the United States bought land from France.

In the southeastern corner of Kansas is part of the Ozark Plateau.

The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854, it was to organize the remaining territories of the Louisiana Purchase before admission to the Union as states. It had the idea of popular sovereignty that any new state added to the U.S. should be able to decide for itself whether it was a slave state or a free state, This lead to tension and violence. Violence erupted in the Kansas territory and the territory became known as "Bleeding Kansas".

Fort Leavenworth, in northeast Kansas is the oldest continuously operating U.S. Army fort west of the Mississippi River.

Kansas is the number one wheat producing state in the United States.

Arkansas River, Kansas River, Missouri River, Republican River, Smoky Hill River