Are You Smarter Than A Flying Gator? Read Free

Flip Flop Island
because I lost a flip flop when we were on the island the first time—and we never found it.”
    Jessie got a sad look on her face. “A lost flip flop. That’s
so
tragic,” she said, looking gloomy for a few more seconds then cracking a big smile and laughing.
    Doc tried to sound serious. “Chad, we can look for your lost flip flop when we get there if you’d like.”
    â€œThat’s all right. I’ve gotten over it,” Chad said, making a face at his friends. “Besides that, I’m afraid you guys would come up with another ridiculous
new
name for the island like
Chad Lost His Flip FlopBut Now It’s Been Found Island.
It’s just too much for me to remember.”
    â€œMe too,” said Nick. “I like the name Chad’s Lost Flip Flop Island.”
    â€œMe three,” added Mike.
    Kevin giggled. “Me, three and a half.”
    Prez sped up and they headed through Big Pass. Minutes later, they had to slow down again as they passed under the Ringling Bridge and traveled out into Sarasota Bay. After that, they traveled north along Longboat Key for ten minutes until they approached Chad’s Lost Flip Flop Island.
    â€œLand ahoy!” called Kari.
    â€œWe’ll drop anchor in the shallow water off that small beach up there,” said Prez, pointing.
    After they were anchored, Prez grabbed his portable DVD player. They all walked ashore in water barely knee deep. Once ashore, they walked nearby to an open area surrounded by trees.
    Prez set his DVD player on a tree stump. As everyone gathered around, Prez explained, “This is what we watched on TV in school last week. It’s the governor of Florida speaking to all the students and teachers in the state.”
    Prez pressed the
play
button.

    â€œGood morning students and teachers in Florida. I’m Governor Charlie Trust, the governor of this great state. I feel so privileged to be able to speak to all of you this special morning, the last day of school for many of you.
    â€œI’d like to talk to you about a special challenge. It’s a challenge that any of you can start working on—maybe even use a portion of your precious summer vacation.
    â€œBefore I do that, let me say I’m very proud of your improvement on our state achievement test, the F-DOG. I know many of you don’t like tests like this. They’re tough and they make you very nervous. But Florida schools have made excellent gains in the past several years in math, reading, writing, and science. That’s partly because of the F-DOG, but mostly because of your hard work.
    â€œAlso, we recently added physical education to all of our public elementary schools. You’ve been exercising and getting in better shape, and that’s extremely important for you as young Floridians.
    â€œNow, I’d like to help you lead an effort in some other important subject areas that we may be neglecting here in Florida. Think for a few moments about what those might be.
    â€œLet me give you some hints. A study that came out last month revealed that fewer than half of all Floridians know the name of our country’s Vice President. Sadly, only about one third of all Floridians know the name of their governor—that’s me, Charlie Trust. Only one fourth know the European explorer who discovered Florida. Only about one out of ten know the states that border Florida. Would you believe only one out of 20 know how many amendments there are to the U.S. Constitution or how their own hometown got its name?
    â€œYou’ve probably guessed by now what subject areas we need to work on. I think we need to be focusing more on teaching and learning
geography
and
history
here in Florida. Beyond that, somehow we need to get all Floridians involved, not just those in school.
    â€œHow can you help? Well, I’m asking all of you to spend some time—maybe even part of your summer—on this