Download Lesson 5 - Into the Wild

Teacher’s name: Stern
Date: November 1, 2007
Student ID: 103368045
Subject: Social Studies/English
Grade Level: 9
Topic: Into the Wild
Essential Questions/Big Ideas:
How does geography affect humans?
How do humans know exactly where they are on Earth?
General Objective[s]:
1. NCSS Theme III: People, Places, and Environments:
a. Refine mental maps of locales, regions, and the world that demonstrate
understanding of relative location, direction, size, and shape
b. Create, interpret, use, and synthesize information from various representations of
the earth, such as maps, globes, and photographs.
c. Use appropriate resources, data sources, and geographic tools such as aerial
photographs, satellite images, geographic information systems (GIS), map
projections, and cartography to generate, manipulate, and interpret information
such as atlases, data bases, grid systems, charts, graphs, and maps
2. Virginia SOLs: Virginia and United States History:
a. WG.1: The student will use maps, globes, photographs, and pictures in order to
a.) Obtain geographical information and apply the concepts of location, scale, and
orientation; b.) Develop and refine his or her mental maps of world regions and
c.) Create and compare political, physical, and thematic maps.
Learning Outcome[s]:
As a result of this lesson students will:
Understand the basic concept of longitude and latitude.
Know how to use longitude and latitude to find coordinates of specific locations in the world.
Be Able To track the journey of Christopher McCandless throughout North America.
Value the effect that geographical climate has on humans and their mobility.
Assessment: Methods of Evaluating Student Progress/Performance:
Formative: The hook that asks the students to record all the various stops during Chris’ journey
is meant to find out what the students already know and which students have a better
understanding of the book’s content. This information will help the teacher choose groups
during the Mapping Activity portion of the lesson. When the teacher discusses longitude and
latitude they should ask questions and take volunteers to walk them through the steps required to
find a location’s coordinates. The teacher should feel very comfortable that the entire class
understands how to do this before going on to the examples.
Summative: The group work mapping activity will be used as a summative assessment. This will
show their understanding not only of the content of the book, but also their mastery of the
concepts of longitude, latitude, and coordinates taught in geography class. Students will be
graded on their ability to work in a group, the overall clarity of their labeled map, the
thoughtfulness of their answers regarding climate and the organization of their presentation to
the rest of the class (See materials section of lesson plan for rubric).
Future Summative: The students should be tested on the book Into the Wild in their English class
very quickly after this lesson. The English teacher could choose to have them write an essay or
answer questions regarding the book’s content. This should be done soon after this geography
lesson because the information will be fresh in their minds and have a personal picture in their
heads. Eventually, after learning more geography concepts such as topography and map scale, a
future assessment of map interpretation should be conducted in their geography class.
Content Outline:
Prior to this lesson students will have a basic understanding of maps including legends, the
compass rose, and discerning political versus physical maps. They also have learned specific
climates and where in North America each are present. This geography work, in coordination
with their English class which had them read Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild will provide the
background knowledge necessary for this lesson. Note: This book is a true story and just
recently became a major motion picture.
Krakauer, J. (1996). Into the Wild. New York, New York: Random House, Inc.
Plot Summary:
The purpose of Jon Krakauer’s book is to address the matter of young Christopher McCandless
and his odd seclusion from society and a lifestyle that was all most people could ask for. Coming
from a well to do background in the Washington D.C. area, McCandless always had privileges
that few can claim. McCandless was just entering society, having graduated from Emory
University, with more than $25,000 in savings and a family that loved him. The question of why
he would completely break contact with all that he knew, give away everything he owned, and
disappear to the Alaskan wilderness as a homeless man for two years drives Krakauer’s work.
Throughout the many years he spends on the road, McCandless meets and affects many people,
though never long enough have a lasting impact or be lured away from his wandering. Citing
classic hermits and renouncers of society such as Henry David Thoreau and John Muir,
McCandless decides to live in the wild, without the advents of human society. Living in a bus in
the midst of the Alaskan wilderness with nothing more than some basic supplies, McCandless
keeps a careful diary of his time, his thoughts, and his reasons for fleeing from society.
Eventually, he makes the decision to return to society, but is unfortunately forced to return to his
bus by a swollen river. In his final days, McCandless is weakened by hunger and the cold. He
spends a little more than 100 days in the wild, all the while being suspected of causing damage
on local cabin owners’ land, and finding himself stuck in his situation. He writes often of his
reasons but eventually decides that nature is only a refuge for a short while, that true happiness
can only be shared with others. In 1992, moose hunters in the Alaskan wild found McCandless’s
body partially decomposed in his bus, the diaries and meager supplies still nearby. Initially,
many thought he died from confusing potato seeds with a poisonous type of pea.
Alaskans derided the foolishness of his endeavor, thinking he could possibly survive in the harsh
Alaskan wilderness with nothing but his wits. There were many who spoke out adamantly
against anyone who was foolish enough to try and survive in such conditions without survival
equipment. Alongside the heartbreak of his parents and the public disdain for his ignorance,
many try to make an example of him in a negative way.
The author though believes he has lived a similar life and undergone similar instances as
McCandless. With that belief, he offer his own personal story and attempts to parallel what has
happened in his life with McCandless’s. In the process, he touches on many themes that cross
everyone’s lives. There is the matter of the parent-child conundrum, and in it Krakauer manages
to maneuver enough perspective into McCandless’s story to make it more about the general
condition of youth than about McCandless’s individual situation and decisions.
Hart, D. (2006). Geography Alive!: Regions and People. Palo Alto, CA: Teacher’s Curriculum
Institute.
Lines of Latitude Parallel the Equator:
The global grid system is made up of two sets of imaginary lines. The first set of lines, parallels
of latitude, run east and west around the globe. The equator is the most important parallel of
latitude. It circles Earth exactly midway between the North and South poles. All other lines of
latitude are parallel to the equator. Parallels of latitude are measured in degrees, with the equator
marking 0 degrees latitude. Other parallels are measured with reference to the equator.
Lines of Longitude Run from Pole to Pole:
The other set of lines in the global grid are half-circles, called meridians of longitude, that run
from the North Pole to the South Pole. These lines are not parallel to each other, so the distance
between them varies. The most important of these north-south lines is the prime meridian which
runs through Greenwich, England. Like parallels of latitude, meridians are measured in degrees,
with the prime meridian marking 0 degrees longitude. The prime meridian is a reference for
measuring other meridians.
Latitude and Longitude Mark Absolute Location:
The numbering system of the global grid helps make it easy for you to locate any place on Earth.
Moving north from the equator, the parallels of latitude increase in number form 0 degrees up to
90 degrees North at the North Pole. A similar thing happens moving south of the equator, where
the numbers of the parallels increase form 0 degrees to 90 degrees South at the South Pole. One
degree of latitude covers about 69 miles or 111 kilometers.
Meridians of longitude start form 0 degrees at the prime meridian. Traveling east from there, the
numbers on lines of longitude increase until they reach 180 degrees at the International Date
Line. These numbers are labeled east. The same thing occurs going west from the prime
meridian. The numbers increase until they reach 180 degrees at the date line and are labeled
west.
The absolute location of any place on Earth can be described as the meeting point of a parallel of
latitude and a meridian of longitude. The numbers of these lines are the geographic coordinates
of a place. These coordinates are like a street address for your house. They tell exactly where
that place is located.
Student and Teacher Activities with Estimated Time Blocks:
Actions of the Teacher
Hook: (~15 minutes)
Student Response
Ask the class to take out their copies of Into
the Wild. Then on a separate sheet of paper,
have them write down each of the numerous
locations that Christopher “Alex” McCandless
stopped along his journey to Alaska. This
should mostly come from their memory due to
the fact that they recently completed reading
the novel in their English class. However they
may use their books if they want to. These
locations do not have to be in chronological
order at this time. Allow the students 7
minutes to formulate this list.
Using their copy of Into the Wild as a
reference, students should record each of the
many stops Christopher “Alex” McCandless
made along his journey. This should be done
on a separate sheet of paper.
Using the overhead projector, construct a class
list of the numerous locations that Chris
stopped throughout North America. Once the
class list is complete have them set this list
aside and take out a blank piece of paper to
take notes.
Students should raise their hands and volunteer
answers. This should continue until all the
answers the students came up with have been
recorded on the class list. Students should
copy down any locations that they did not have
on their lists.
Longitude and Latitude: (~20 minutes)
Explain the terms longitude and latitude to the Students can ask questions as they need. They
students. This can be done either by drawing
should be taking notes on using longitude and
visual representations on the overhead
latitude in their INB’s.
projector, or by finding the information online.
Students should know that every specific
location on Earth has its own specific longitude
and latitude (or coordinates). Practice finding
the longitude and latitude including the
locations minutes and seconds. Below are
examples of sites you could have the students
look up and practice with.
Using a basic map of the U.S. have students
find the coordinates of New York City (40° 43’
0”N, 74° 0’ 0” W), Las Vegas, NV (36° 10’
30”N, 115° 8’ 11”W), Dallas, TX (32° 46’
58”N, 96° 48’ 14”W), and their hometown or
city (answers will vary). These coordinates
can be approximated to the nearest 0.5°.
Using either Google Earth on one of the
laptops from the traveling internet center or
their textbooks with U.S. and specific state
maps, students can work in pairs to find the
coordinates for each of these locations. They
should write the steps it takes in order to find
them in their INB’s.
Go over the coordinates as a class clarifying
any wrong answers or misunderstandings.
Remind students of the steps they should
follow when determining coordinates of
specific locations:
1. Starting at the equator move either
North or South. The number of degrees
increases as you get farther away.
2. Start at the Prime Meridian and move
either East or West. The number of
degrees increases as you get farther
away.
3. Estimate to the nearest 0.5° the
location’s coordinates
Students should volunteer their answers and
correct any they got wrong. If they do not
understand how a particular coordinate was
determined, then they should ask the teacher to
show them the process by which the location’s
coordinates can be found.
You can have the students practice by one of
two ways: have them find the coordinates of a
place you choose. Or give them the
coordinates of a location and have the students
determine which city you’re referring to.
Group Work: (~45 minutes)
Using the previously constructed list of
locations that were visited by Chris on his way
to Alaska, have the students break up into
groups of three or four and begin a mapping
activity. The groups will trace the route that
Chris took during his two-year trip starting in
May of 1990 when he graduated from Emory
University in Atlanta, GA. Let the students
know they should not only find the coordinates
of each of the locations on the list, but put
them in chronological order as well. The
Using laptops students should work with group
members to find the coordinates of the
numerous locations that Chris visited along his
journey. Students should use Google Earth,
the internet and their textbook for help if need
be or raise their hand to ask a question.
groups need to also write a short blurb of
information about the climate of the location
Chris visited. Group work locations should
include at least
1. Atlanta, GA
2. Fairbanks, AK
3. Carthage, SD
4. Salton Lake, CA
5. Detrital Wash, AZ
6. Gulf of California, Mexico
7. Grand Canyon,
8. Colorado River
9. Salvation Mountain (Slab City), CA
10. Stampede Trail
11. Abandoned Bus#142.
Once the groups have located the locations via
Google Earth and the internet, then they are to
label a map of North America with the location
names, coordinates, and some sort of
organization that puts each one in its correct
chronological order (i.e. arrows to show which
places were visited and in what order). Have
the students write out a brief paragraph about
each location’s climate on the back of this
map. Remind the students that they can also
use the internet to find images of each of the
locations if they have extra time.
Students can use crayons or markers to label
and color the map or to show Chris’ path
through North America. The information they
include should be organized and legible. Their
labeled maps need to be turned in by the end of
class.
Once the students have begun, pass out copies
of the Internet Mapping Activity Rubric (see
materials). Remind them periodically that they
should be following the rubric while
completing this project.
Closing Activity: (~20 minutes)
Have the groups present their findings to the
class. Discuss and debrief especially if there’s
any inconsistencies among groups.
Groups will present their findings to the rest of
the class. They will briefly touch on each of
the various locations they found in their book
making sure to a.) identify the location’s
coordinates, and b.) discuss the climate of that
region.
Materials Needed for the Lesson:
1. Traveling internet cart (w/ ~20 laptop computers)
2. Outline map of North America
3. Copies of Into the Wild
4. Copies of the Internet Mapping Activity Rubric
5. Accompanying pictures (to be shown online or projected)
6. Markers/Crayons
7. Textbook
8. pen or pencil
Group Work Mapping Activity Worksheet:
Accompanying Pictures:
Chris “Alex” McCandless outside Fairbanks #142 (c. 1992)
Outside Fairbanks #142 (c. 2006)
Salvation Mountain (Slab City), CA
Rubric: Out of a possible 12 points
Teacher Comments:
3- Satisfactory
ABILITY TO
Students exhibit
WORK IN
positive work ethics
GROUPS
including sharing the
workload and
involving each group
member in
deliberation. Groups
can also assign roles
to ensure each part is
complete.
ORGANIZATION
Map is clearly
OF LABELED
labeled with a legend
MAP
and a compass rose.
The coordinates of
each location are
legible.
2- Average
Group members
participate only
partially. Some
deliberation takes
place. Groups
assign roles but
don’t complete all
the duties of each
role.
1- Incomplete
TOTAL
Little or no
/12
evidence of group
work. Students
mainly do the
project separately
and without any
deliberation about
content.
Most of the
coordinates are
legible yet the map
is missing either a
complete legend or
compass rose.
Handwritten
terms are not
legible. Little or
no evidence to
suggest careful
execution of map
illustrations.
Climate
paragraph is nonexistent. Students
make no effort to
include climate
information.
Little or no
evidence that any
preparation was
made for the
presentation.
CLIMATE
PARAGRAPHS
Concise and complete
paragraphs about
climate.
Too little
information about
the location’s
climate.
CLASS
PRESENTATION
Groups execute a
well-organized,
thoughtful
presentation that is
creative. They allow
for a question and
answer session
following their
presentation.
The group’s
presentation is
unorganized and
out of order. The
group does not
know the answers
asked of them
following their
presentation.
Differentiation:
Groups will be chosen depending on learning abilities. Place the gifted students in a particular
group and give them more challenging work to do. An example of this would be to have them
do higher order thinking activities such as giving possible reasons by Chris chose to visit
particular places and how these look today. They should be asked to do more than simply write
down the route he took and the specific coordinates. Instead they will focus more heavily on the
climate of each area and specifically the temperatures between May and August near Healy,
Alaska. With this information they should be asked to hypothesize how this region’s climate
affected Chris’ mobility.
The other students will work on similar tasks but without the extension. Do not expect as many
locations to be included on the rest of the student maps as the gifted group.
Subject Matter Integration/Extension:
This lesson relies heavily on the students reading this book in their coordinating English class.
This geography lesson would be appropriate upon completion of the book and while the
information is still fresh in their minds. Jon Krakauer does a great job at intertwining geography,
oral history, weather patterns, and earth science all into one book. By having the students read
this book, they will be exposed to an interdisciplinary novel and need to take a closer look when
analyzing its components. Reminding the students that geography plays a salient role in our
lives is important and should not be overlooked. Just as Chris McCandless learned this, these
students should do the same.
I believe that writing and reading should stretch across the curriculum and overlap into all
subject areas. This is a great way to incorporate literature and non-fiction/written documentaries
into a history class. This lesson also serves as a great review tool for their English class
assessment. Hopefully this will cause the students to be more eager to learn how to use
coordinates and spark their interests as well. Being able to actually see the places that were
written in this book paints a mental picture that can only aid in their understanding.
This book could also be used to exemplify the process of analyzing oral history. Students could
be asked to determine the techniques Krakauer used to learn the real story of McCandless. They
could then be asked to do a similar project with members of the community.
Reflections on Lesson Plan:
This lesson plan is very basic and simple. It does a great job at not only incorporating
technology and the use of the internet for researching locations on a map, but also perpetuating
the interests of students across multiple areas of study. If teachers can get students excited about
a particular assignment (or book in this case) then they can capture their willingness to learn and
think more critically about the topic at hand.
This lesson would require a lot of cooperation between the Geography and English teachers, yet
if done correctly and with coordinated timing, the students would successfully learn about nonfiction literature, oral history, geography, weather patterns, climates, economics (because Chris
has to find jobs along the way to pay for his food/camping gear), and even topography.