Illinois
 What do you know about
your state?
 Why is Illinois so flat?
“Illinois is a state which, at the very heart of the
“Corn Belt,” contains fields as fertile as any
to be found anywhere in the world, and yet
under its richly productive soil lie bituminous
coal reserves greater than those of any other
state. Nature has placed Illinois at the center
of the waterways represented by the Great
Lakes and the Mississippi River System,
and man in slightly more than a century has
added a vast railroad network and a series of
highways totaling thousands of miles.”
-Source: The Heartland: Pages from Illinois History
Illinois – Illiniwek - Algonquin for
“Tribe of superior men” (Tribe of the Illini
name given by the French)
Geography
60% prairie, 30% hills with prairie, and 10% hills
 Illinois Great Lakes counties counted nearly
170,000 acres of prairie prior to European
settlement. Today, only 671 acres of that
original prairie habitat remain.
Thornton Quarries
About 425 million years ago, the land that is
now our Village was a clear, shallow
sea. The sea grew coral that became
immense reefs. The Thornton quarry covers
550 acres of the coral reef, and Silurian age
animals and their fossils can still be found
there today!
Illinois State Dinosaur
No dinosaur remains
have ever been
found in the Chgo
Southland
because glaciers
scraped away the
geologic layers
where dinosaur
bones would be
preserved.
Shark fossils discovered in IL
http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-78816192/
Tully Monster
(Tullimonstrum gregarium)
Moraine Valley
 When you travel south on Archer Ave after
turning off 95th Street, the high hill on your left
is an edge of a moraine!
 The greenish boulders found around Maple
Lake originated in Wisconsin, were
transported by glacier to Illinois, and left
behind when the glaciers melted.
New Madrid Fault
http://www.weather.com/news/science/thanks-active-new-madrid-fault-zone-midwest-earthquake-risk-still-looms-20140124
History
Illinois was discovered in 1673 by Joliet & Marquette
How Does Illinois Compare to
Other States?
 Size: ____ out of 50
 Highway system: ____ out of 50
 Railroad system: ____ out of 50
 Soybean production: ____ out of 50
 Corn production: ____ out of 50
 Coal: ____ out of 50
 Oil: ____ out of 50
 Population: ____ out of 50
385 miles long
218 miles wide
25th largest state
Temperatures generally
vary by 10 to 12
degrees from one end
of the state to the other.
Cold, fairly dry winters
and warm, humid
summers with ample
rainfall allow the land to
support many kinds of
crops and livestock.
Illinois ranks number 1 in total value of truck
shipments and the value of shipments originating
in the state
3rd Largest
Highway
System
nd
2
Largest Railroads system
nd
2
Busiest Airport
Illinois ranks 5th in the nation in the number of
manufacturing plants
#1 Leading Soybean Producer
#2 Corn Producer
7th Leading Coal
Producer
14th OilProducing
State
5th Most Populated State in the
Country
In the Chicago area…
 Highest Point – Charles Mound
 Lowest Point – 4 miles west of Morris 475ft
 Lake Michigan is 580 feet above sea level
 Oak Lawn is 615 feet above sea level
 Illinois Facts
 http://dnr.state.il.us/education/CLASSRM/Illin
oisFactsFinal.pdf