The Appalachian Trail…a very well-known and well-loved trail that thousands of people set out to travel a year.  My eight-year old did his first short stretch of the trail when he was four-years old.  They hiked 10 miles in, camped the night and then hiked out the next day.  From that day, he has been hooked on the AT and says no other trails compare. 

This past week we have dove into studying more about the Appalachian Trail. This is the perfect time of year to hit the trails again and he has really been wanting to learn more.  To help us learn more about the Appalachian Trail, we have used various resources along with the book, The Appalachian Trail: A Unit Study, from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

This book covers many areas of the Appalachian Trail, and since it includes more than 150 activities we were able to work it into our school days completely.  

How We Used This Unit Study:

As I mentioned earlier, we do have knowledge of the Appalachian Trail and are blessed to be able to live very close to many of the trail heads and can easily hit the trail for a day hike or overnight adventure.  With the Appalachian Trail Unit Study ebook, we got into more detail about how many thru-hikers actually make the trail annually, the different elevations that are covered during on the trails as well as how many miles you are in each state that the trail goes thru.  

We did a poster collage that included:

• Animals that you’ll find along the Appalachian Trail
• Each of the 14 state, how many miles you travel through each state, and the elevation changes you will experience
• Fun facts like: 
    •There are more than 250 three-sided shelters along the trail
    •3 million visitors travel a portion of the trail yearly
    •Only 1 in 4 complete the trail annually

We also did a few hiking foods and for the first time ever we prepared a chili recipe and then ran it through the dehydrator so that it would be ready to take on the next hike.  This activity just wasn’t a learning experience for my eight-year old but for myself as well. It was the first time we ever tried some thing like that.

We really liked the layout and ease of The Appalachian Trail: Unit Study Book. For each subject is has activity suggestions to help plan lessons. Basically this ebook helped give me ideas on how to incorporate learning more about the AT.   I had never thought to do a lot of the activities on this book  and I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to review it through Schoolhouse Review Crew.

The different subjects it talks about:

Language Arts
We read a book about the AT and then I asked questions.  We looked up a few words that he may not have been familiar with and he wrote the definitions.  For an older child, you could have them do a book report on the book that was read.

The book also suggests looking up a few of the Appalachian terms, which was fun. Being from North Carolina, a lot of the terms I grew up being familiar with and some I learned in college when I took a class on Appalachian History. To be able to present the slang that was used to my eight-year old brought back memories from when I was child and listening to my grandparents talk.  I’m glad that the book suggested this.  I had never thought about introducing him to that.  

Math
The book offers a few suggestions on how to incorporate math into this unit study such as having your child graph the number of visitors per year since the trail has opened, or even teach them to calculate distance using the map key.  With this we thought it was interesting to graph the number of visitors, which opened us up to continue researching more and more about the different types of hikers that hit the AT annually.

Science
Who doesn’t love Science? This book offers several suggestion on how to bring Science into the unit study.  You can learn about the different animals and wildlife that live on the trail. The best ways for hikers to dress during the cold weather they will come across on their journey and much more.

Physical Education
You’ll find suggestions such as creating a backyard obstacle course, since we all know that when it comes to hiking the AT, you need to be in good physical condition.  You can also plan a day hike with your children. It’s such a great way to combine learning and exercise.

Art
You can make a paper mâché of the trail, print and color off the states and then put them together like a  puzzle.  You can also use clay to show the different terrains and areas that you’ll find a long the trail.  The possibilities are endless.  

History
Why not learn about the very first male thru-hiker, or the first women to actually hike the AT? They can also learn the history of the AT development.

Geography
You could have your children locate the AT on a map or globe.  Why not also show them how to use a compass and even talk about the trail blaze.

Home Economics
Remember when I mentioned we did the chili? This book offers fantastic links when it comes to finding delicious and easy recipes to use when hitting the trails.  These aren’t difficult or expensive to make, but fun for the entire family.  

This book also have a  bonus section that is worth checking out and talking more about.  We have used this book for a week, and I could honestly stay on it for a month worth of lessons.

All in all we had a blast with this unity study and would highly recommend it.  For us, it was fun going back through old pictures from the times the boys have been on the trails, and remembering what their “trail names” were.  Not only did we enjoy reliving all those wonderful memories, but learned so much more than we thought possible.