Did you know that the distinctive insignia on our state's flag is the Zia Sun, which originated with the Indians of Zia Pueblo in ancient times? Did you know that New Mexico was the first to have an official state cookie? If you've lived here very long, you probably guessed the cookie – our famous anise and cinnamon bizcochito.

Maybe you know the unofficial state question – Red or green? And maybe you know that the Land of Enchantment calls both the chile and pinto bean its state vegetables. These questions may come easy for you, but do you think your kids would know the answers? Find out with a little back-to-school examination.

Back to school? Unfortunately (or fortunately) summer's last days are just around the corner. August brings an end to camps, pool parties, and summer vacations to be replaced with different kinds of adventures – like new school shoes, bus stops, and fresh crayons. A bittersweet close to a much-loved kid season.

And getting kids prepared to return to school can be an important part to the end of summer ritual, especially if it's been a homework-free couple of months. Ease them back into their fall reality of alarm clocks, schedules, and homework with a little New Mexico trivia – a great way to stimulate the brain and jump start learning again. Begin a week or so before the first day of school by getting the kids into a routine again. This can include going to bed earlier, getting school supplies ready and organized, doing some practice homework and even going on some exciting family field trips.

New Mexico has such a distinctive past. Arrowheads some 10,000 years old have been found on the same desert grounds where today's space age missiles are tested. There's no doubt that our state is one of the best places in the country to make history fun.

So help your kids learn some fun facts about New Mexico using these back-to-school quizzes. The information was taken from Gov. Bill Richardson's Kids Corner web page at www.governor.state.nm.us/kidscorner.php. Assist your kids in making a New Mexico folder to house their back-to-school project. They can add their own artistic flare with decorations of stickers, ribbons, and glitter glue.

In addition to the True and False and Multiple Choice, there are endless ways to pair up back-to-school fun with state factoids. Find state-specific images and make a collage. Your local chamber of commerce or visitor center is a great place to pick up colorful brochures.

Let the kids create and decorate flash cards to help them learn the state bird, flower and fish. Bake some bizcochitos or make magnets for the refrigerator with official state symbols.

And before summer is over, consider a visit to one of our many state historical spots like Pecos National Historic Park, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Coronado State Monument or Fort Sumner State Monument.

Make this an annual end-of-summer tradition. The possibilities are endless. As you and your family discover new facts and trivia, more stories are waiting to unfold. For instance, learning the state insect leads to the inevitable question: What is that?

True or False

1. Santa Fe is the highest (elevation) capital city in the United States.
2. New Mexico became a state in 1863.
3. New Mexico has the lowest water-to-land ratio of all 50 states.
4. Most of New Mexico's lakes are natural.
5. The world's first atomic bomb was designed and manufactured at the Trinity Site.
6. The world's first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945, on the White Sands Testing Range near Alamogordo.
7. Native Americans have been living in New Mexico for some 20,000 years.
8. One-tenth of New Mexico is forested.
9. New Mexico has the largest national forest in the country.
10. The largest fire in the New Mexico's history was ignited in 1985 in Bandelier National Monument.
11. Smokey Bear, the National Fire Safety symbol, was born in New Mexico.
12. The Pueblo people of the Southwest have lived in the same location longer than any other culture in the nation.
13. New Mexico's Constitution officially notes that New Mexico is a bilingual state.
14. One out of five families in New Mexico speak Spanish at home.
15. In some isolated villages, such as Truchas and Chimayo, there are descendants of Spanish conquistadors that still speak a form of 16th-century Spanish used nowhere else in the world today.
16. One out of four employees in New Mexico works directly for the federal government.
17. As late as 1888, there was not a single public college or high school in the entire territory that is now New Mexico.
18. New Mexico has far more sheep and cattle than people.
19. About one-quarter of New Mexico's roads are left unpaved.

Multiple Choice

1. What city hosts the world's largest International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta?
A. Taos
B. Santa Fe
C. Albuquerque
D. Las Cruces

2. What city makes the world's largest enchilada every October?
A. Taos
B. Santa Fe
C. Albuquerque
D. Las Cruces

3. What is New Mexico's longest river?
A. Pecos
B. Rio Grande
C. Chama
D. Gila

4. White Sands National Monument is a desert of __________.
A. common white sand
B. basalt
C. quartz
D. gypsum

5. What city is known as the Green Chile Capital of the World?
A. Deming
B. Silver City
C. Hatch
D. Gila

6. What city was once known as the Carrot Capital of the Country and more recently as Uranium Capital of the World?
A. Grants
B. Gallup
C. Silver City
D. Las Cruces

7. New Mexico was named by 16th century Spanish explorers who hoped to find __________.
A. gold and wealth equal to Mexico's Aztec treasures
B. ancient petroglyphs and pictographs
C. a trading route
D. fertile ground for growing wine grapes

8. The Palace of Governors in Santa Fe, one of the oldest public buildings in America, was built in __________.
A. 1540
B. 1610
C. 1680
D. 1775

9. Name the amazing civilization whose people were the ancestors of Pueblo Indians. Their great classical period lasted from 1100-1300 AD.
A. Apache
B. Navajo
C. Mogollon
D. Anasazi

10. What town calls itself the Indian Capital of the World and serves as a trading center for more than 20 different Native American groups?
A. Grants
B. Gallup
C. Farmington
D. Carlsbad

11. The word Pueblo is used to describe a group of people, a town, or an architectural style, and there are __________ Pueblo groups in New Mexico.
A. 12
B. 19
C. 25
D. 32

12. The nation's largest Native American group is the __________ and they have a reservation that covers 14 million acres.
A. Anasazi
B. Apache
C. Pueblo Indians
D. Navajo

13. New Mexico has about __________ people per square mile.
A. 5
B. 12
C. 50
D. 100

14. The town of Deming is known for its annual __________ races.
A. dog
B. horse
C. duck
D. turtle

15. Fill in the blank for the lawless Old West quote from the Las Vegas Gazette. "Everything is quiet in __________. Nobody has been killed in three days."
A. Cimarron
B. Raton
C. Las Vegas
D. Mora

16. Founded in 1869, what is the state's fourth largest city?
A. Grants
B. Las Vegas
C. Farmington
D. Roswell

17. Moon Rocks can be found at the International Space Hall of Fame that is located in which city?
A. Albuquerque
B. Roswell
C. Alamogordo
D. Silver City

18. What is considered to be one of the oldest continuously occupied communities in the United States with people still living in some of its 900-year-old buildings?
A. Taos Pueblo
B. Jemez Pueblo
C. San Juan Pueblo
D. Gila Cliff Dwellings

Projects

1. Truth or Consequences was once called Hot Springs. Find out why the town changed its name in 1950.
2. Tens of thousands of bats live in the Carlsbad Caverns. Do you know how long and how high the largest chamber is?
3. New Mexico is one of the four corner states. What other three states border it at the same point?
4. Find out what New Mexico's largest city is, when it was founded, and what is was named after.
5. Research a bit about the Santa Fe Trail. Where did it start and end? How long is it?
6. Learn to sing and/or play the state song. Or make up your own.

What is the official state symbol for each of the following

1. Flower
2. Mammal
3. Gem
4. Insect
5. Fish
6. Bird

ANSWERS Multiple Choice answers:
1. C, 2. D, 3. B, 4. D, 5. C, 6. A, 7. A, 8. B, 9. D, 10. B, 11. B, 12. D, 13. B, 14. C, 15. A, 16. D, 17. C, 18. A

True or False answers: 1. T; 2. F (Congress drew up the boundaries for present-day New Mexico in 1863, but it didn’t become a state until 1912.); 3. T, 4. F (Most New Mexico lakes are man-made reservoirs.); 5. F (The Trinity Site is just north of where the first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945, but it was designed and manufactured in Los Alamos.); 6. T; 7. T; 8. F (It’s actually one-fourth and includes the nation’s largest national forest — the 3.3-million-acre Gila.); 9. T, 10. F (The largest fire in the New Mexico’s history was ignited in Bandelier on May 4, 2000.); 11. T, 12. T, 13. T, 14. F (One out of three families in New Mexico speak Spanish at home.); 15. T, 16. T, 17. T, 18. T, 19. F (Since the climate is so dry, three-fourths of New Mexico roads are left unpaved.)

Name the state symbol: 1. Yucca, 2. Black Bear, 3. Turquoise, 4. Tarantula Hawk Wasp, 5. Cutthroat Trout, 6. Roadrunner