America the Beautiful Coins

Grand Canyon National Park

 In 2010, the United States Mint started releasing a new series of state quarters depicting national parks, memorials and historic sites. The series is called the America the Beautiful Quarters and will continue through 2021. 

Grand Canyon National Park was the featured design on the fourth quarter released in this series. The Grand Canyon was first established as a national site on February 20, 1893. Read more about the Grand Canyon on our previous blog post: Happy Birthday, Arizona—100 Years of Statehood.

2012 America the Beautiful Quarters

Fifty-six different designs make up the America the Beautiful Quarters series. There will be a quarter for each state, the District of Columbia, and each of five US territories. The designs are depicted on the reverse or tails side of the quarters. 

Each year, the U.S. Mint will release five new quarters with national site designs. These quarters will be issued in the order in which the featured site was first established as a national park or site. 

These are the five designs released in 2012 as part of the America the Beautiful Quarters series:

Puerto Rico	El Yunque National Forest
New Mexico	Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Maine	Acadia National Park
Hawaii	Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Alaska	Denali National Park and Preserve

Each quarter in this series features a the same obverse (heads side) with the 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan. This side is inscribed with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.

In Excel Math, we teach students how to recognize and add coins and make sense of monetary calculations.  Excel Math Lesson Sheets contain problems supporting the Daily Lesson, short Basic Fact Practice (when appropriate), in-class Guided Practice, and Homework. Take a look at one of our Grade 2 Student Lesson sheets featuring coins (we've even given you the answers): 

Excel Math Grade 2 Student Lesson Sheet

These are the quarters scheduled to be released this year:

Ft. McHenry National Monument
Read more on our blog post: The Star-Spangled Banner

2013
NH	White Mountain National Forest (released in January)
OH	Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial (to be released in April)
NV	Great Basin National Park
MD	Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
SD	Mount Rushmore National Memorial

The U.S. Mint has put together lesson plans by grade level for Kindergarten through Grade 12 to complement the historic sites shown on the new quarters. View and download the free lessons at http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers/lessonPlans/atb/

Visit the U.S. Mint to see a map that shows where all 56 of the national sites chosen for the America the Beautiful quarters are located: http://www.usmint.gov/kids/coinNews/atb/.

You can see the complete release schedule and the dates each historic site featured on these quarters at the U.S. Mint: http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/atb/?action=siteRegister

New to Excel Math? Learn more here. Then take a look at our sample lessons.