My husband and I have been on a mission to visit all fifty US States since we retired. It will be ten years next summer, and we have four states left.
We just returned from Idaho, and we were blown away by the beauty of this state. It is truly a gem. We also had the best potato chips ever in the “Potato State!”
We knew Idaho was known for potatoes, but we didn’t expect all the beautiful mountains. The photo above is of the Sawtooth Mountains, well named for their sawtooth appearance. (If you are reading this as a subscriber, you may need to go to my blog to see the photos I attach.)
As we have travelled the United States, I’ve been continually surprised by the difference in the mountains. Growing up in South Florida (aka flat), I assumed all mountains looked the same. They do not! From the volcanic rock mountains of Idaho, to the granite mountains of Colorado, the shale mountains in the east that match up with mountain ranges in Africa… So many different materials that compose mountains.
There are also so many different ways mountains are formed. The main types of mountains include fold, fault-block, volcanic and dome.
And then there’s erosion. The older and smaller Apalachians of the east used to be higher than the Rockies, but erosion has worn them down over the millenniums.
There are so many authentic projects to do about mountains. Formation, composition, economic impact…. How in the world did early settlers traverse these majestic landforms? Are mountains still forming, eroding? Why do the mountains of the east coast of the US match up with mountains on the west coast of Africa? What is mined inside mountains, on mountains? How do mountains attract tourists?
Can you breathe on top of a 14,000 foot high mountain. (Barely! I went to the top of Pikes Peak. First gift shop I ever skipped in my life. Not enough oxygen for me to shop!)
Remember, you don’t need to visit a mountain for a project to be authentic. You just need to let your students approach the project in a way that incorporates their needs and interests. Sixth-grade me would like to plan a gift shop, at an elevation low enough that I can breathe, that sells beads made from all the different rocks and materials found in and on mountains. My first-grade husband would definitely want to create charts with the heights of all the mountains in the world.
Mountains of authentic project possibilities…
The Educational Journey 