Concrete canoe? Science NonFiction!

You Thought Your Canoe Was Heavy!

My Rating: *****

If you remember the Algonquin trip, you might have noticed that I didn’t carry any of the canoes. I have trouble balancing a canoe on my shoulders. But my classmates said the canoes were light. Well, this canoe is definitely not light!

If you’ve fashioned anything out of concrete before, you will know that it will be heavy. Heavy things that are solid chunks will sink, like chunks of concrete. So how do you make concrete float? It’s difficult to make a functional boat out of concrete. I know because I actually did this. During the summer, I did this engineering camp at McMaster University. One of our projects we did was building a boat out of concrete. Mine didn’t work. But hey, that’s engineering. You break stuff until you figure out how to make it so it doesn’t break.

This canoe of concrete, however, is different from the concrete boats that we made at McMaster’s engineering camp. First of all, it’s bigger. Second of all, they’re racing them against each other. Third of all, it must be fast and easily maneuverable. Even for a team of second year university engineers, that’s a difficult task. But it all pays off in the end, even if you don’t win.

I liked this article because it was both outdoorsy and scientific at the same time. I bet portaging that concrete canoe must be an elephant (or at least a few bison)

article avaliable at: http://www.canoerootsmag.com/features/features-canoes/1366-you-thought-your-canoe-was-heavy.html

Staying Ahead of Hype

Helmets: Free Choice or social obligation?

My rating: ****

Ski Canada published an interesting article about ski helmets. It really stuck in my head because I skied bareheaded until I was roughly seven or eight. My mom still goes bareheaded, and it sort of makes me feel left out. She’s not the only one: plenty of skiers go sans helmet. I am also not alone, it’s more or less mandatory for pros to wear helmets on the slopes. That doesn’t stop me from feeling left out.

I see a bunch of pictures of people skiing and compare them to myself. I think what separates them from me, and then I come to yeah, they’re not wearing helmets. They should be, though. While it’s true that a helmet provides some degree of protection, it’s not going to make you invincible. And it shouldn’t be abused as a moral litmus test (in fact, I’m really fed up with these people saying that magazines should depict all skiers with helmets, because these magazines have a duty to portray things as they really are).

Taking all of this in, it was a good article, and it seemed to portray the issue in a neutral light. Well written, and makes a good point.

Works cited

Koch, George. "Helmets: Free choice or social obligation?" Ski Canada. 12 Feb. 2008: n.pag. Web. 28 Dec. 2012. <http://skicanadamag.com/2008/02/12/gear/helmets-choice-or-obligation>.

First Article Assignment - Benefits of Hiking Review

James Warner: The Benefits of Hiking

****

This article examines the positive factors of hiking. The author of the article spends a few times a week on a trail and explains how simplistically it can change your life.

James Warner goes hiking twice a week locally and makes destination trip for hiking every so often. He explains that when a person is on a hiking trail they can leave everything that has to do with work, school, friends, complications, and thoughts behind. James talks about how things seem clearer on the trail and it is easier to make decisions. He also talks about how hiking can change you emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Another thing James talks about in the article is that when you are around nature you can appreciate it more. Lastly, he talks about how hiking can mend relationships. It is something that can be enjoyable to do with family and friends. Overall this article is very positive and shows that hiking is something that should be incorporated in everyday life for everyone.

All of this information stood out to me because I enjoy taking nature walks to forget about the rest of the world with homework and jobs, along with using them as a time to exercise and clear the mind. I spend a lot of time each week inside and outside of school exercising. It is really important to me to get that amount of exercise. During the article I was thinking about autumn and how it is coming so fast. I think autumn is the best season to hike in because everything looks so nature enriched with all the colors changing. I learned from this that I should be taking more walks as this school year starts up. It will give me time to clear my mind and appreciate the seasons and the nature around me, along with make decisions with a clear mind. My behavior is about to change because I have taken a different look on hiking through James Warner’s eyes and it has shown me that there is more to taking some time to take a walk on a trail or a mountain. I am going to go for a walk through the woods after school today because I am looking forward to the experience that was described in this article.

Jenny Dilar 

                                  Terror at 13,000 feet: skydiving mishap nearly kills 80-year-old                                                            By:Yukio Strachan

I chose to do do my article assignment on an 80 year old women that alomost lost her life when going parachuting on her birthday. This articlee was publisheed on May.24,2012 and since then has already racked up 451,000 views.

What happened on the day of this event was that it was this girl named Laverne Everette on her 80th birthday went skydiving in Acampo, California and it will proabably be the last time she ever leaves the ground. Everything was going fine until thee last second when shee was about to jump out she relizes that shee is not fully straped in and refuzes to jump but was forced/pushed out and falling at the speeds of around 125mph with a non working parachute.

This article affecteed me beeacusee i know that if it was mee up their free falling and I made it down I would neever leeavee thee ground again.Something that I learned about this is that wheen thee day comes that I want to go sky diving im going to make suree that I am fully straped in.

I didn't know that about ice fishing

Why you should stay off the bottom when ice fishing- Gord Pyzer

My rating: ***

So, it’s my first blog post on here and I couldn’t find any articles in the Outdoor Canada magazine about horseback riding, I thought I would write about ice fishing.

The article I chose is about mistakes people make about ice fishing. Some of these mistakes include putting the lure too close to the bottom of the lake and putting the bait right in front of the fish. Instead of putting your lure at the bottom, put it at least 18 inches off the bottom, but not directly at the bottom. Also, tease the fish a bit with the lure. If you make it too easy for the fish, then they’ll recognize that it’s a trap (fish are smarter than you think they are). If you follow these tips when ice fishing, you will get twice as many fish.

I chose this article because I wasn’t sure if we could write about horseback riding or not, and I noticed that Outdoor Canada had ice fishing. I thought that I could write about that because it was a little different. I learned that fish don’t necessarily hit the bottom of the lake during winter. Next time I go ice fishing, I will keep that in the back of my mind

to see what I'm talking about, read
http://outdoorcanada.ca/17609/fishing/ice-fishing/why-you-should-stay-off-the-bottom-when-ice-fishing

The Grand Delusion

*** (3 Stars)

This article evaluates whether high-risk mountain sports are really worth the risk.  The author has seen numerous friends die doing these sports (mountain climbing, paragliding, etc).

Will Gadd has seen 27 friends die on the mountains.  He used to believe that he had just as great a chance of dying on his way to the mountains as he did on the mountains.  His view has changed as he witnessed, first hand, one of his good friends crash into a mountain-side while paragliding.  His friend is now struggling in hospital to overcome spinal damage.  Gadd no longer paraglides and does not understand how people can be so foolish as to think they aren't increasing their risk of death. 

This article certainly makes one evaluate some of the risks we take in life.  Especially for teenagers, the idea that "it won't happen to me" allows us to push ourselves beyond our real levels of comfort.  In reality, activities in the outdoors do put us in situations where, at times, even skill cannot save us.  It is an understanding that we make with ourselves that we are prepared to put ourselves in such dangerous situations.  Its frightening to see what experiencing such a traumatic accident can have on ones outlook on life.  Gadd has completed changed how he approaches mountain sports, and likely, many other aspects of his life.  While I understand that he has experienced something which I cannot attempt to understand, I wonder whether his new attitude means he is no longer living the life he wants.  I certainly do not want to become someone who refuses to take any risks out of fear of what might happen.  That being said, there are definitely times when one must make a smart choice.

Find this article at:
http://explore-mag.com/2831/adventure/the-grand-delusion

Here is where you should post your Outdoor Ed readings.  Make sure to include the following things in the post:

Post Title- Article Title

Rating of the article (1-4 stars)
Opening Statement - 1 or 2 sentence summary of the article
Short paragraph - What the article/book is about
Short paragraph - What did the article/book make you think about? What did you learn? How has it changed your thoughts?
Citation - Where would someone find this article (web address, magazine title and issue #, etc)