Striking It Rich
This is the name of the precious yellow metal that was discovered in California, sparking the huge historic rush in 1848.
Gold
This is the thick, green upper layer of the rainforest where the tops of trees meet like a giant umbrella, housing most of the wildlife.
The canopy
This is the most common sound a happy, content cat makes when it is relaxing or being pet.
A purr (purring)
This type of energy is what we use to plug in a toaster, turn on a lamp, or charge a Chromebook.
Electricity
This is the literary word for the lesson, moral, or big message that an author wants you to learn from reading a story.
The theme
He was the carpenter who first spotted the shiny metal in the tailrace of a sawmill on the American River.
James Marshall (Sutter's Mill is also acceptable)
This massive South American river basin is home to the largest and most famous tropical rainforest on Earth.
The Amazon
Cats use these long, sensitive hairs on their faces to feel their way around and judge if they can fit through tight spaces.
Whiskers
Sound waves travel through the air by creating these fast, back-and-forth shaking motions that our ears pick up.
Vibrations
Words like "BANG!", "POP!", and "SPLAT!" that mimic real-world sounds are an example of this fun figurative language word.
Onomatopoeia
Because thousands of eager fortune-seekers rushed to California in a specific year, they earned this famous numerical nickname.
The Forty-Niners (49ers)
Known for being incredibly slow, this furry mammal spends almost its entire life hanging upside down in the rainforest trees.
Sloth
Unlike dogs, cats have these special claws that can pull back inside their paws when they are walking or resting.
Retractable claws
Light waves are unique because they can do this when they hit a mirror, bouncing right back at you.
Reflect (or Reflection)
When an author writes a story from the perspective of a character using words like "I," "me," and "we," the story is told in this "point of view."
First person
This basic, shallow metal tool was used by miners to swirl water and dirt around, separating heavy gold from light sand.
A gold pan (or panning)
This bright, colorful rainforest bird is famous for its ridiculously large, banana-shaped beak.
A toucan
This is the fast, fierce, spotted big cat known for being the absolute fastest land mammal on Earth.
Cheetah
This type of energy is stored inside a stretched rubber band or a skateboard parked at the top of a ramp, just waiting to move.
Potential energy (Stored energy)
If you are writing an essay, this is the name of the very first sentence of a paragraph designed to grab the reader's attention.
The hook (or topic sentence)
Instead of mining, this smart businessman made a fortune selling sturdy canvas pants to the miners—a brand still worn today.
Levi Strauss
Because they take in carbon dioxide and release massive amounts of oxygen, tropical rainforests are often given this "breathing" nickname.
"The lungs of the Earth"
A group of adult lions is called a pride, but this is the specific, adorable name for a group of young, playful kittens.
A kindle
When light waves pass through a glass of water or a camera lens, they bend and change direction, a scientific process known by this "R" word.
Refraction
This is a comparison between two things that says one thing is another, such as "The classroom was a zoo!"
A metaphor