Hello, fellow Adventurers, Mr. Marc here!
In this episode of Adventure to Fitness, we traveled to Asia and the
Himalayan Mountains where we were on a mission to solve the
mystery of the cursed Mount Everest. Wow, what an adventure this
mission was! We raced through a Himalayan village,
hopped up terraced fields, crossed a rickety bridge
in an earthquake, and dodged ice boulders from Mister Lazy’s
snow catapult. And, it didn’t end there. We crossed a crevice on a
ladder, met the infamous Yeti, and made it all the way to the summit of Mount Everest – the
tallest mountain in the world!
Thanks to Professor Maddison, we also learned a lot along the way. We
learned about the Himalayan Mountains, living in high altitudes, and
Sherpas. We were also introduced to some fun yak facts, plate tectonics,
and the legend of the Yeti. Most importantly we were reminded of the
importance of keeping our planet clean and protecting the environment.
While we need to exercise our muscles to keep our
bodies fit, we know we need to exercise our minds
too. That’s why our team at Adventure to
Fitness created these additional “mind
adventures” for you to share with your students. There’s one
mind adventure for each grade level, K-5. We’ve also
included vocabulary and literature recommendations to
increase your students’ brainpower even further.
Till next time Adventurers…Keep It Moving!
Mr. Marc
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vocabulary
1. altitude (noun): The height of a thing above a reference level,
especially above sea level or above the earth's surface.
2. avalanche (noun): A fall or slide of a large mass, as of snow or
rock, down a mountainside.
3. biodegradable (adjective): Capable of being decomposed by
biological agents, especially bacteria
4. crevice (noun): A narrow opening or fissure, esp. in a rock or wall.
5. earthquake (noun): A sudden movement of the earth's crust
caused by the release of stress accumulated along geologic faults or by volcanic
activity.
6. glacier (noun): A huge mass of ice slowly flowing over a land mass.
7. mountain (noun): A natural elevation of the earth's surface having considerable
mass, generally steep sides, and a height greater than that of a hill.
8. plateau (noun): An elevated, comparatively level expanse of land; a tableland.
9. plate tectonic (noun): The lithosphere of the earth is divided
into a small number of plates which float on and travel
independently over the mantle and much of the earth's
seismic activity occurs at the boundaries of these plates.
10. sherpa (noun): A member of a traditionally Buddhist people of
Tibetan descent living on the southern side of the Himalaya Mountains in Nepal and
Sikkim. In modern times Sherpas have achieved world renown as expert guides on
Himalayan mountaineering expeditions.
11. summit (noun): The highest point or part; the top.
12. terrace (noun): Each of a series of flat areas made on a slope, used for cultivation.
13. yak (noun): A wild, shaggy-haired ox of the mountains of central Asia.
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suggested readings
first to the top
by Diana Freeman
High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places
by David Breashears
Living in the Himalaya
by Louise Spilsbury
Mount Everest and Beyond: Sir Edmund Hillary
by Sue Muller Hacking
Mountains: Surviving on Mt. Everest
by Michael Sandler
The Kid Who Climbed Everest: The Incredible Story
of a 23-Year-Old's Summit of Mt. Everest
by Bear Grylls
The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest
by Steve Jenkins
The Young Adventurer's Guide to Everest: From Avalanche to Zopkio
by Jonathan Chester
3
Mr. Lazy’s snow count-apult
Suggested Grade Level: Kindergarten
Common core State Standard: Count to answer “how many?” questions about as many
as 20 things arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a
scattered configuration; given a number from 1–20, count out that many objects.
Overview: Mr. Marc had to do some quick side stepping to get away from the ice boulders
Mr. Lazy was slinging at him. In this mind adventure, students will count the number of ice
boulders Mr. Lazy catapulted with his snow catapult.
Content Area: Mathematics
Required Materials:


Pencil
Adventure to Fitness Worksheet
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Procedures:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Review counting with your students.
Give each student an ATF worksheet and explain the directions.
Instruct students to complete the problems individually.
As a class, discuss each answer.
For additional practice, have students make up their own math problem for another
student to solve.
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Mr. Lazy’s snow c-add-apult
Suggested Grade Level: First Grade
common core state Standard: Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word
problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and
comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with
a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.
Overview: Mr. Marc had to do some quick side stepping to get away from the ice boulders
Mr. Lazy was slinging at him. In this mind adventure, students will add the number of ice
boulders Mr. Lazy catapults toward Mr. Marc and Mr. Clock.
Content Area: Mathematics
Required Materials:


Pencil
Adventure to Fitness Worksheet
Time Required: 15-20 minutes
Procedures:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Review addition with your students.
Give each student an ATF worksheet and explain the directions.
Instruct students to complete the addition problems individually.
As a class, discuss each answer.
For additional practice, have students make up their own math problem for another
student to solve.
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The Legend of the Yeti
Suggested Grade Level: Second Grade
common core state Standard: Write narratives in which they recount a well elaborated
event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings,
use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.
Overview: The Yeti, also known as the Abominable Snowman, is a mythical creature that
lives in the legends of the people of the Himalayas. In this mind adventure, students will write a
narrative describing the legendary Yeti.
Subject Area: Language Arts
Required Materials:


Pencil
Adventure to Fitness Worksheet
Time Required: 25-35 minutes
Procedures:
1. Read and display the following writing prompt:
Pretend you are a mountaineer in the Himalayas and you come face-to-face with
the Yeti. Use your senses to describe the Yeti. What did it look like, smell like,
sound like, and feel like?
2. Review elements of a sentence and paragraph with your students before they begin
writing.
3. Provide students with the Adventure to Fitness Worksheet. You may want them to write
a first draft on another sheet of paper.
4. Ask volunteers to share their story.
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wack a yak
Suggested Grade Level: Third Grade
common core State Standard: Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g., interpret 5 × 7
as the total number of objects in 5 groups of 7 objects each. For example, describe a context
in which a total number of objects can be expressed as 5 × 7.
Overview: A yak is like a cow that lives in the Himalayas. Himalayans use yak milk to drink
and make cheese. In this mind adventure, students will interpret the herds of yaks as
multiplication expressions.
Subject Area: Mathematics
Required Materials:




2 Fly Swatters
Adventure to Fitness Worksheet
White Board
Overhead or SMART Board
Time Required: 15-20 minutes
Procedures:
1. Review multiplication arrays with the class. Provide a couple examples.
2. Divide the class into two groups.
3. Project the Adventure to Fitness worksheet on the board.
4. Have one person from each group come to the board with a fly swatter.
5. Provide them with the clue (e.g. 5x7).
6. The first person to swat the correct array earns a point for their team.
7. The game ends once everyone has had a turn.
Answers:
4x5
3x4
4x2
2x4
6x6
1x6
3x8
7x4
3x7
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Yeti encounter
Suggested Grade Level: Fourth Grade
common core state Standard: Write narratives to develop real or imagined
experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event
sequences.
Overview: The Yeti, also known as the Abominable Snowman, is a mythical creature that
lives in the legends of the people of the Himalayas. In this mind adventure, students will draft a
narrative describing their encounter with the Yeti while hiking in the Himalayan Mountains.
Content Area: Mathematics
Required Materials:


Pencil
Writing Paper
Time Required: 30-45 minutes
Procedures:
1. Read and display the following writing prompt:
Pretend you are a mountaineer in the Himalayas. Tell about the time you came
face-to-face with the legendary Yeti.
2. Review elements of a story with your students before they begin writing.
3. Encourage students to illustrate their story upon completion of a first draft.
4. Ask volunteers to share their story.
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ATF Coordinates
Suggested Grade Level: Fifth Grade
common core state Standard: Graph points on the coordinate plane to solve real-world
and mathematical problems.
Overview: Mountaineers use GPS coordinates to navigate mountains. In this mind
adventure, students will graph points on a coordinate plane to discover an Adventure to
Fitness image.
Content Area: Mathematics
Required Materials:


Pencil
Graph paper
Time Required: 20-25 minutes
Procedures:
1. Review plotting points with your students.
2. Write the following coordinates on the board, making sure to group them into 3 different
groups:
a. (1,5) (2,5) (3,5) (4,5) (1,10) (4,10) (2,7) (3,7)
b. (6,5) (7,5) (5,9) (5,10) (6,9) (7,9) (8,9) (8,10)
c. (9,5) (10,5) (10,8) (9,10) (10,7) (10,9) (11,7) (11,8) (12,9) (12,10)
3. Instruct students to create a coordinate plane on their graph paper.
4. Then tell them to graph the points from each group. After they graph all the points from
a group, they should connect the points to create an image.
5. The final image is ATF.
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