Coding and Designing the Alaskan Flag

1 How many images are defined in the code?

2 How many images are placed using put-image in order to generate the flag?

3 Why do your answers to these questions differ?

4 The code for the flag could have been written without defining any images. What are some reasons why defining images makes the code easier to work with?

Benny Benson holding the flag of Alaska that he designed The Alaska state flag is based on a design created in 1926 for a Territory-wide contest for schoolchildren. The thirteen-year-old seventh-grade designer was Benny Benson from the Aleutian Islands. (At the time, Alaska was not yet a state; it had been a US Territory since the land was purchased from Russia in 1867.)

On the design submission, Benny had written the following explanation:

"The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaska flower.
The North Star is for the future of the state of Alaska, the most northerly in the Union.
The dipper is for the Great Bear — symbolizing strength."

Benny’s flag was officially adopted by the legislature in 1927.

Alaska was officially recognized as a state on January 3, 1959.
5 How old was Benny when Alaska achieved statehood?

6 Think of someone you know who is old enough to remember 1959. (Your teacher is not old enough!). Find a time this week to visit or call and ask them if they remember anything about when Alaska became a state! Record what you learn below.