(upbeat music) Hello, my dear, sweet, beautiful, brilliant Rise and Shiners.

I am Stacey McAdoo, your forever 2019 Arkansas Teacher of the Year and whew, it is a hot day to be gardening.

But I love apple blossoms.

I love, love, love these.

Did you know that this is our state flower?

But did you know why or how it became our state flower?

In the early 1900s, we were one of the top apple producers in the United States.

Even now, we still have an Apple festival every year in Lincoln, Arkansas.

There are a ton of other natural resources here in Arkansas.

Wait.

Do you know what a natural resource is?

A natural resource is a substance that's found naturally or organically in the environment.

Things like air and wind and plants and trees and rocks and animals.

All of these things are natural resources.

Can you think of a natural resource unique to Arkansas?

I mean, we are the natural state, after all.

You're right.

Things like trees, lots of lakes and rivers, diamonds, watermelon, peaches, rice, cotton.

All of these things are unique to Arkansas, but we also have livestock and deer and rabbits and flowers and natural gas and soil.

We have all of these resources.

Now, Let's talk about how we use them.

Let's start with trees.

Trees give us oxygen.

But what else do they give us?

That's right.

They give us shelter and paper.

Our natural water resources like springs and lakes and rivers, they give us places to go swimming and camping.

But what else do they give us?

You are brilliant.

You're right.

They give us a place to fish.

When it comes to land, that's where many of us get our food and jobs.

And what about rocks?

Or these diamonds?

We all know that stones and diamonds are used for jewelry.

But did you know that indigenous people even use them for tools and to cook with?

I didn't either.

Now let's play a game.

Can you match the natural resource to its final product, or can you tell me how we utilize this natural resource?

Let's let's start with the cotton.

What do we use cotton for?

Yeah, to make clothing.

What about gas?

Oh, my.

You guys are brilliant.

We use gas to make cars go.

Vroom, beep beep.

(laughs) What about soil?

Yeah.

The soil, they help our plants grow.

This plant is actually a tomato plant, so we can also get food from plants.

We are so lucky to have so many natural resources, right here in the natural state of Arkansas.

Just like I pull these things from around me.

There are natural resources around you.

Why don't you go and look around and show some of them to your parents?

All right.

I think that's it for today.

I hope you guys have an absolutely wonderful rest of your day.

Take some time to enjoy the natural resources around you and share it with a friend.

All right.

See you later.

(upbeat music) Get up off your feet.

Ah, ooo, ooo.

It's time to rise and shine.