Yosemite Camping WebQuest
http://www.rohan.sdsu.edu/~esilva/wq/index.html
by
Elizabeth Silva
Let's Go Camping
| Task
| Resources
| Process
| Evaluation
| Conclusion
Let's Go Camping!
Let's go camping! You and the three other people in your group are going on a camping trip to beautiful Yosemite National Park.
You decide what to do, what to see, and what to take. Just keep within the budget that your group is given.
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Your Task
1. Your group will come up with a detailed travel budget and daily itinerary for your trip. This will include all food and equipment purchased and travel expenses.
To keep the budget well organized, you should use a spreadsheet.
2. Your group will create an attractive brochure, with pictures and text, describing how wonderful your planned trip will be.
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Resources
Your teacher will have a selection of travel guides for you to look at in class. If you like, you can also check out books and magazines at your local library. Use call number 917 for travel guides for California. Good magazines that may have information are:
On the web, there are several good places to start looking:
Yosemite
Camping and Equipment
- Tips on Camping -- if you've never done it, this may help, especially equipment people
- Base Camp -- by Backpacker Magazine -- information on equipment to keep you comfortable and safe, basic skills, ideas on things to do, and a special newsletter for kids, Adventure
- Escaping to Nature -- tips on how to camp and hike, while staying safe and not hurting Mother Nature
- Great Outdoor Recreation Page (GORP), Main Page -- gear, food, ideas for activities and transportation
- Black Bears -- learn about who you may share a campsite with
- L.L. Bean -- mail order equipment
- REI -- large company with just about everything
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The Process
Your group will come up with a detailed travel budget and itinerary for your trip. In addition to this, you will need to create an attractive brochure, describing how wonderful your planned trip will be.
Your teacher will give your group a budget. This will have to cover food, shelter, transportation, reservations, equipment, and anything else the four
of you may need for a 14-week trip. You will start from the school parking lot
, travel to Yosemite, enjoy your vacation, and be back by the end of two weeks.
Step 1: Group Roles and Ideas
Each group member should focus on one aspect of planning the trip in particular:
- Budgeting and Transportation: You need to make sure the group keeps
within the budget. You also are particularly responsible for getting to Yosemite and back. You don't want to be cheap, but somebody has to keep a strict eye
on the money. (P.S. You can't keep the extra money, so you might as well enjoy
it.)
- Equipment, Comfort: You want to have a comfortable trip. You don't
want to be too cold, too hot, too many bugs, boring food, etc.
- Equipment, Safety: You want to make sure everyone survives the trip
safely. You might want to consider first aide, bears, hypothermia, etc. Also,
if you go hiking, make sure you consider how much people can carry in backpacks.
- Fun: Planning fun is a big job. You need to find about all the things you can do at Yosemite. Ask your group what they want to do too. However, you may have to negotiate things with the Budgeting person.
Agree on which person will be responsible from which section. Discuss some of the things you might want to do on this trip. Where to you want to stay? In a motel? In a campground? Do you want to hiking? climbing? swimming? shopping? Make sure everyone has a list of your group's ideas before they start planning.
Step 2: Research 1
Now you need to research the stuff you'll need for your trip and the places you may want to see and the things you'll want to do. Use the information under Resources to search the web for information and prices. Your teacher will also have some books and magazines that you can look at.
At this point, the more information you get, the better. Keep track of prices or requirements, and make sure you note where you found the information. If you see something that might help another person in your group, tell them. You may also want to ask people in other groups who are responsible for the same topic. Keep an eye out for interesting pictures for your brochure.
Step 3: Fit Your Budget
Get back as a group and discuss all the information you've found. The four of you have to decide what you will do and how. The Budget Person has to keep track of how much you spend on all of your items. To do this more easily, use the spreadsheet program in your classroom.
Step 4: Research 2
Now that you've discussed in more detail and begun your budget, use the resources to fine-tune your plans. Did you get enough equipment? Is it too much for you to carry? How will you get your stuff to Yosemite? Are there any extra fees you need to pay?
While you are finding the last bits of equipment, the Budget Person will have to make sure that the group is keeping within the limit as things are changed. When you are done with this step, your spreadsheet should be complete. Print it out.
You will also need to print out a description of your itinerary. Do this day-by-day. For example:
- Day 1: Pick up a rental car. Load the car. Start drive to Yosemite. Stop at Starlight Motel in Fresno.
- Day 2: Drive to Yosemite Museum. etc.
Step 5: The Brochure
The last step is to make a brochure, describing your trip. It should fit on a 8 1/2 by 11-inch page, folded into thirds. Things that might be nice to include in your brochure:
- A rough itinerary
- Cost per person
- Description of the fun things you did
- How you got there
- Pictures
- ????
Make the brochure descriptive enough that another student would have a good idea of what your trip was like and could decide whether s/he would like to take the same trip.
Step 6: Contemplation
The members of your group should answer the following questions:
- How did you manage your time? What would you do differently next time you had to plan a trip?
- What did you find that surprised you about planning a trip? About Yosemite?
- What piece of information was most helpful for planning?
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Evaluation
Your group will be graded on three things:
- Group Participation: Did your group listen to each other? Did you keep within budget? Did everyone do their separate tasks? Was it completed on time? Did you help each other with ideas? Did you include your ideas from the contemplation questions (Step 6)?
- Spreadsheet and Itinerary: Is the spreadsheet detailed? Did you list all the expenses? Where they organized clearly by type? Does your itinerary describe the trip in detail? Do you have a plan for what you are doing with your time? (Note: it is not a bad thing to leave some time open and unscheduled, but don't have every day like that.)
- Brochure: Is it visually attractive? Does it contain selected information that describes your trip? Could a student imagine your trip by reading the brochure, or is there too little or too much information?
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Conclusion
This activity should help you with planning big events and with budgeting your money. There are a lot of hidden costs in taking a trip, but you can also have a lot of fun without spending a whole lot. You can use what you've learned to plan other trips, perhaps to other countries. If someone gave you $10,000 to take a trip to Germany, how far could you go and how much could you see? What would you need to do first?
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Last updated November 23, 1998
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