Developed by: Take the next step:

This phase follows Byron's expedition as the team treks from Kathmandu to Basecamp on Mt. Everest.

During this phase, students will learn about the Nepalese people and their culture.

Interactive map

Members of the expedition will visit schools and hospitals in different villages as they make their way to the base of Mt. Everest. Team members will highlight how different life is in this part of the world. Students will also have an opportunity to discuss the impact (environmental and cultural) of the Nepal Light Project.

Students will also be introduced to the concept of acclimatization and its importance in preventing Byron and other members of the team from developing high altitude sickness. They will study the circulatory system and how the human body adapts to low pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere.

Students will have the opportunity to conduct weather experiments for better understanding of the conditions on Mt. Everest, and practice predicting weather. This information will be linked to the decision making process Byron will use as he prepares to summit Mt. Everest.

The activities for this phase are listed below. You can access the full activity with the navigation on the right. The phase is scheduled to begin on March 1.

Telecollaborative Project - Getting To Know You:
Students from Division I - IV will begin Part Two of the Getting to Know You project. In Part One students used information clues to identify the hometown of fellow student team members from across Canada. Canadian students will now use the Internet to gather information about Nepalese students and the way of life in Nepal.

Theme 1 - Goal Setting, Decision Making and Problem Solving

Division I - IV Activities:

• Read Your Way to Everest:
  The idea is to encourage students to set goals and meet a challenge to read, as a team, 8,850 pages of books at their individual reading level. The 8,850 pages are equivalent to the height of Mount Everest in metres. This project parallels the Stairway to Everest Challenge, a physical challenge found in the Energy and the Human Body theme.

  Students will be invited to post their results on the Everest 2000 Submissions and Results page.

  Participants in both projects will be invited to learn about Nepalese culture by planning celebrations and ceremonies as Byron summits Mt. Everest in May. The start date for this activity is flexible. It will continue through to Phase 5.

• Decision Making with Weather:
  This project begins in Phase 3 and continues through to Phase 5. Teachers, however, can determine the length of time they can devote to this area. This project is incorporated in the Energy and the Human Body theme since the main reason for studying the weather on Mt. Everest is directly related to protecting the climbers from the cold.

  Students begin by learning how to properly monitor and measure weather. Students are invited to investigate weather through experiments and e-mail their own predictions and advice to the Everest 2000 team throughout the expedition.

  In this phase, students will also participate in experiments to compare weather in their area to weather in Nepal, and specifically, the weather on Mt. Everest.

Theme 2 - Energy and the Environment
This Phase of Energy and the Environment concentrates on two areas: the Nepal Light Project and mountain climbing in the dark. Students are invited to participate in activities that will help them understand basic concepts in electricity. Once they have the background, students will be challenged to build a headlamp.

Flashlights are a common source of light in Nepal and students will learn more about the impact the Nepal Light Project is having on the Nepalese culture and way of life. A headlamp is the primary source of light Byron will use in his final ascent to the summit of Mt. Everest.

Please see Energy and the Environment Background Information and read the section on the Nepal Light Project.

Division I Activities:

• Light a Bulb
• An Effective Switch?
• Electrical Circuits

• Challenge: To design an environmentally friendly battery

• Challenge: To design a headlamp using an incandescent light bulb. The headlamp includes a Circuit, a Switch and an Adjustable Light Beams (putting it all together from Phase 2).

• Challenge: To design a headlamp using an incandescent light bulb. The headlamp includes a Circuit, a Switch and an Adjustable Light (putting it all together from Phase 2). Students will use appropriate technology to measure the amount of current required to operate the light bulb and the amount of light produced by their design.

Theme 3 - Energy and the Human Body
The human body can to some extent adapt to conditions found at high altitudes. The circulatory system has a number of ways that it uses to compensate for the lower pressure of oxygen found at the altitudes Byron will experience on Mt. Everest. The following activities are investigations as to how the physiology of the human body is affected, even challenged, during extreme mountain climbing.

As the team is preparing for their departure for Nepal, engage your students in these activities to help them gain awareness of the ways that the Everest team will protect and maintain their health throughout this physically demanding expedition.

Teachers are also invited to start planning their own Stairway to Everest event.

Division I Activities:

• Circulatory System and High Altitude
• Heart Rate and Exercise

• Circulatory System and High Altitude
• Heart Rate and Exercise

• Circulatory System and High Altitude
• Blood Pressure and Exercise

• Circulatory System and High Altitude
• Blood Oxygen Levels and High Altitude