This past February, Chris and I visited my best friend in the ENTIRE world and her husband in Wisconsin. Although I would never go up north in the winter again, we had a fantastic time. One of our adventures on that trip was snowshoeing on Lake Winnipesauke. It was so much fun and I couldn't believe we were able to cover so much ground, fairly effortlessly. At the time, I didn't put much thought into it, but I recently researched why it is so easy.
Basically, snowshoes distribute your weight across a larger surface area than your normal shoe. Snowshoes help you maximize pounds per square inch (PSI), which keeps you from sinking in the snow. One size snowshoe does NOT fit all! It is important to find a snowshoe that is for your size foot, weight, and for the type of activity you will be doing.
If you live in an area with snow, or even sand, this would be such a cool experiment to do with your students. They could make predictions on which ones would work best and why. Then they could try walking on the sand or snow without them and then with them.
We are standing on Lake Winnipesauke
Hiking up a mountain
Going down isn't quite as easy as going up!
OH I am freezing just looking at these pictures! Love the example of the snow shoes! That could be a great scientific lesson!
ReplyDeleteI am with you on not wanting to be in the North during winter. It's too cold and gray for me here in TN. :) However, I had always thought snowshoeing seemed like a difficult and tiring activity. So neat to learn that it is not and why it is not. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete