Teaching a unit on the AT

imported
#1

I’m a high school special education teacher (U.S. History) in a rural Virginia county. With the school year winding down and standards-based tests almost behind us, I find myself thinking very seriously about teaching a unit on the AT to “fill in” the last week-and-a-half of the school year at the beginning of June.

I have not hiked the entire AT, but have hiked over 800 miles toward Katahdin; I am, like many of you, obsessed with the AT. I find myself often referring to my attempted '98 thru-hike and other trail excursions during class – particularly in terms of geography – and have a AT map on the wall of my classroom. None of my students had ever heard of the AT prior to the start of the school year, but now ask questions about the trail whenever I mention it. They all are excited about the prospect I may teach a unit on the AT; seeing kids excited about learning – especially when we are talking about tough-to-motivate kids and the very end of the school year – makes me feel this unit would be worthwhile.

All that said, I am wondering if any of you – teachers and non-teachers alike – would share any ideas you have for how I could make this unit meaningful. I know there’s a video on the trail out – I can’t remember its name or how to order it – and am thinking this could be a good part of the lesson. For those of you who have watched the video, is it “clean” (in terms of language, references, etc.)? Any and all ideas are appreciated!

Ozone

#2

Wow, that sounds like a great idea! Good luck to you. I would check out the film TREK. Its a fabulous film about 4 friends (college aged) who set out to thru-hike together. I really don’t remember there being bad language or references. I show this movie to my friends and it makes them all want to do it. Great scenary shown and the featured hikers are fun to follow along with.

2000 miles to Maine is the other popular current film, but it has adult refrences (guys smoking pot) so I wouldn’t show that one. A good flick otherwise and very funny.

A-Train

#3

Also: Appalachian Impression,a DVD documentary can be ordered from ATC via (888)287-8673 or www.atctrailstore.org. The film is by Mark Flagler www.flaglerfilms.com.

margie

#4

yes, what you need is some mature advice from some experts like us.

you said unit. huh huh

Just kidding, good question.

Tha Wookie

#5

Just an idea, but … when I’ve done presentations about the A.T., with slides, one thing I’ve found that people really seem interested in, are the different types of people who hike the A.T. (and I don’t mean just thru-hiking). Young and old, professional and non. Supreme court judges to college students to the perpetually unemployed. Blind people, hearing-impaired people, people with prosthetic limbs, with MS. You name it, they’re out there. And I think that’s pretty motivating–that just about anyone can do just about anything if they put their mind to it. So that’s just a thought about something you might include. And there are some very notable personalities in A.T. history that you can include.

Oh yeah, and being located where you are, I’d bet it wouldn’t be hard at all to find an A.T. hiker with plenty of slides to show, stories to tell and questions to answer. So many a guest speaker would be fun for your students. (But I’m not suggesting me; I live in Arizona now. Just in case anyone thought this was a personal plug. Noop.)

Sounds great, though, whatever you do. I’m sure it’ll be a hit with the class.

ramkitten

#6

This isn’t important, but…

I didn’t mean “questions to answer.” I meant, answers to the questions your students might come up with. I always loved guest speakers when I was a kid. (No offense, but after a whole year, it’s nice to have a break from lookin’ at your teacher. :slight_smile: )

ramkitten

#7

A former high school teacher myself, I have given many presentations since my 2004 thru-hike. I have found that high school kids love handling all of the gear. I bring as many types of water filters that I can find and let them compare them all.
I show them my cookpot,meals, and various water containers.
That age group is also fascinated by trail names and the characters on the trail. Good luck to you!
Ladybug

Ladybug

#8

(sorry if this posts twice)
Have the students search the Gallery for pictures of contrasts - like the “pros and cons” of long trail hiking, or Katahdin in different seasons, fav and least fav pic, etc - such as these two from the journal of GANJ:
http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=55828 http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=73902

One of my favorites from GANJ, “solitude” and a “crowd” from a gallery search:


Or, whatever day you are choosing to have the presentation, do a search of that day in the journals, for a “On This Day on the AT…” project. Or search their own birthday and pick a hiker to summarize.

Wild Hare

#9

I have had a lot of teachers contact me for this kind of info, and from the feedback I have gotten, the most engaging way was for the class to follow my journals.

I would find a trail journalist who lives around your area and check out their journal. Then you can have the class follow along. Since the hike would be in the summer, you could take a previous hike and ask the journalist if you could use his writings for the class. maybe you could break it up into sections, or only present a portion of the journals. But I think it’s important for the kids to learn about who the hiker is, so they see that these are real people out there, not Robert Redford and Bill Bryson. i.e. your kids in the class can do it also.

Another similar strategy could pair with ramkitten’s idea, by mixing a variety of hikers. You could “hike the trail” with the class, using journals from different hikers for separate sections (even years). The students could be assigned a reading section (like GA to VA or whatever) for a particular or even different hikers, and then write a short summary of how it relates to them and what they think about it. With some carefully crafted guiding questions, the responses could be quite interesting.

Again, I agree that Ramkitten’s idea would be very nice to apply. The overall point in it to get across is that all kind of people can do great things, every one has a different perspective on life, and everyone in the class is just as capable as the people on the trail doing it.

Also, it would be ideal to select hikers in your area who might be willing to visit the class and make it that much more real, with their gear and a short slide show or maybe just a conversation.

Sounds like a great unit.

Tha Wookie

#10

you could bring in maps, books from library, the gear suggestion, cook a snack on a pepsi can stove, or give each other trail names. total incorporation may be the best learning tool, esspecially adding the hike, even if it is a small field trip or during class time for an hour, it is a great idea. if you show a video, be sure to screen it, may shock you when your kids hear the often lip-slips we hikers just overlook.

burn

#11

Check out my website, has pictures, video clips, journals etc…and its student friendly…my film does have a few choice words, but nothing more then PG13…promise.

www.walkingwithfredom.com

Film at trail days on May 13th, 6-8 at the Rock School, come on out now ya’ll.

LionKing

#12

sorry, I mis-spelt. :wink:

No edit…

LK

#13

Ozone, where are you located in Va? When my sister finished up her thruhike she did a presentation to my mother’s grade school special ed class. The kids really enjoyed playing with the gear and hearing about the people. As an added bonus they got to meet someone from Australia. Aussie Brian stayed with my sister (Tangent) and our family after they finished their thru and did the presentation with her. She said they really liked his accent. I think its very important to let special ed kids know that these are just regular people and that they can do things like this too. They may never do 2000 miles but something as simple as just getting out on a local trail can mean a lot. If they are like my mom’s class a lot of them come from bad home situations and the outdoors could become a great place to get away from that for them.

wvrocks

#14

I’m a high school teeacher too and am always looking for ideas, so i thought I’d share a few thoughts. I might break the trail up into sections and have the kids use big blow ups of their section, pick camping spots, towns to go into, motels etc to stay at. Copy the guidbook pages, wingfoot, the companion and have them research the different historical sots on the trail (ie Audie Murphy, the cemetaries) then they could present their “hike”. They can also reference journals for things to see and do on the trial. If the record their mileage and expenses you can get cross-curricular and incorporate math. They could also decide on the gear they would want to carry etc and look at weight vs cost. Meal planning (not ramen every night) could rbing in nutrition if they had to plan food pyramid meals that provided enough calories but didn’t provide too much weight. you could bring in a dehydrator and let them dehydrate fruit etc.

Just a few ideas.
Grassy Ridge

Grassy Ridge

#15

Hey Ozone,
I used to teach high school English in Botetourt County at LBHS. I also walked the trail in 03 and still think about it everyday. When I was on my way through Daleville, I stopped through and talked to the kids. I convienced a bunch of them to get involved in trail magic since their school is located so close. They really seemed to get a lot out of the experience, and the hikers of course loved the grub.
Good Luck! Learn em’ smart…

Space Monkey

#16

There are so many topics you could cover using the AT as a focus:
history: how did the trail get started, etc.
biology: study flora and fauna of 2000 miles of trail
geology: why does it get rockier as you walk north?
microbiology: what is giardia anyway? and what can you do to prevent getting it?
psychology: why are people motivated to hike the AT?
nutrition: as mentioned above
health and fitness: what are the physiological requirements of hiking?
physics: how does a pepsi can work, anyway?
math: as mentioned above, mileage, counting calories, etc.

Have a great class!

Rainbow

#17

Years ago, I taught elementary gifted students & did an AT unit. Although your students are at a more advanced level, the concepts would be the same. Some have already been mentioned in previous responses, but as I recall, I included:
Math: calculating mileage, weights, measurements, altitude
I brought in my stuff for them to weigh.
History & Geography of the Appalachians
Geology & types of terrain, rocks, etc.
The water cycle, including the importance of controlling the contamination of ground water. I shocked them by filtering water from the toilet, but it got their attention!
Health, nutrition, exercise as it relates to a successful hike.
If you have independent learners, you might have them work on group projects & then present(Less work for you!).
Definitely don’t forget Thoreau!
Good luck! There’s absolutely no limit to what you can teach around an AT unit!

landcruiser

#18

I also teach US History to at-risk high schoolers…
I don’t do a unit on the AT, but if I did, I would definitely pick a person’s journal (like mine for example from 2001) and I would follow them for a week in an area where there IS quite a bit of historical signifigance. For example, I know that as I was walking through Pennsylvania all I could think of was George Washington marching his troops through there with no shoes and those horrible rocks… and there are many environmental issues that you can discuss as well. I know that many thru-hikers will tell you that the clear-cutting, telephone wires, etc… along with that dead mountain in PA all made us more aware of our role in protecting the environment. You may also compare the trek of doing the AT to other treks around the world. Another thing you could do is a lesson on national parks and their creation and then focus on the special circumstances of national scenic trails and such.
Email me if you want to… I plan on doing a unit on the AT one day too.
Currently the only way that I use the my thru-hike is in a unit I do on civic responsibility because I did my thru-hike for charity. I have a really detailed slide show that allows the students to really get a feel for the trail.
Good luck!
windex 01

windex