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Mountain to Climb:

Lake Champlain is under attack from algae blooms! Navigators, your Mountain to Climb this week is to demonstrate how big of a problem algae blooms are. If you start out with a 3 foot-by-3 foot square of algae on the lake, calculate how large it will get in one day. How about in one week? Then, compare the size of the algae bloom to football fields or swimming pools.

Seeking the Peak:

• Important Conversations and Sizes Resource Sheet
• If you need to refresh your memory about U.S. Customary measurements and/or area, check out this site.

Beyond the Peak:

• Article: Why Are Plants Green? All About Photosynthesis
• Video: The Photosynthesis Song
• Video: Saving the Great Lakes from Algae Blooms

Books

• Novel: Flush – Noah’s dad has a little problem with anger control. He tried to stop the “Coral Queen” casino boat’s illegal dumping . . . by sinking the boat. But his bold protest fizzles: within days the casino is back in business, and Noah’s dad is behind bars and out of action. Now Noah is determined to succeed where his father failed. But even though pumping raw sewage into the waters of the Florida Keys is both gross and against the law, turns out it’s near impossible to catch the flusher especially when he’s already bamboozled the prosecutors, the local press, and even the Coast Guard.

 

• Picture Book: Just A Dream – Young Walter litters and refuses to sort trash for recycling, until he dreams of an overcrowded and polluted future which terrifies him into taking care of the earth.

 

 

 

 

 

• Picture Book: Magic School Bus at the Waterworks – Join Ms. Frizzle and her students as they follow the trail of water, from its sky-high source to the school bathroom sink on this wet and wild fieldtrip. After parking the school bus on a cloud and shrinking to raindrop size, Ms. Frizzle’s class gets to see the waterworks from the water’s point of view.

 

 

Reaching the Peak:

Once you think you have reached the peak of this mountain, ask an adult for permission to leave us a reply explaining how you arrived at a solution. Your reply may not appear right away – don’t worry! – it has been sent to Portal Peak for review and will be posted soon. Remember, there is no need to give an email, your last name, or a website when leaving your reply, just leave those parts blank. For more information, head over to the Navigator’s Base Camp.