⛰️MountainExplorers

Big questions · High places

Every mountain has a story.
Discover yours!

Spin real mountains in 3D, explore six famous ranges, and become the expert who helps hikers stay safe.

🚀 Start the expedition 🛰️ That’s the real Mount Everest, built from satellite data. Drag to spin it!

Mountain weather changes fast! Try it:

A clear, sunny morning on the mountain.

Step 1

Pick your expedition 🌍

Spin the globe and tap a glowing mountain, or choose a card below. Each one opens a field guide full of photos, facts and challenges.

🖐️ Drag to spin the Earth

Step 2

Your secret mission 🎯

TOP SECRET · FOR EXPLORERS ONLY

Choose how you’ll teach them:

What will hikers need to know? Tap each trail sign!

⛰️ Not every mountain has the same hazards. Focus on your chosen place and season.

Step 3

Science Lab 🔬

Experiment with the forces that make mountains extreme. Think like a researcher!

🧗 Climb the mountain

Drag the climber up the slope. Watch what happens to the temperature, the air and the plants as you go higher.

Height0 ft
Temperature*70°F
Air per breath
100%

🌳 Forest zone. Tall trees give shelter from the wind.

*Example only. Air usually cools about 3.5°F for every 1,000 ft you climb, so we start at 70°F at sea level. Real temperatures depend on the place, season and weather. Air thins as you climb: near the top of Mount Everest, each breath holds only about one-third as much oxygen as at sea level.

🌧️ The Rain Shadow Machine

Wet air from the ocean blows toward a mountain. Press Blow wind and watch where the rain falls. Which side gets thirsty?

Moist air rises up the mountain, cools, and drops rain or snow. Drier air sinks down the other side, making a rain shadow.

📏 Mountain Height Showdown

How tall are the famous peaks of our six ranges? Tap a mountain to compare it to the Empire State Building (1,454 ft to the tip of its antenna).

Tap any mountain!

Step 4

Explorer Games 🎮

Earn badges as you practice the skills you need for your brochure.

⛅ Climate or weather?

Badge: Weather Wizard
🧑‍🏫 Climate = personality

The pattern of weather over a long time.

😄 Weather = mood

What’s happening right now. It can change quickly!

The personality and mood comparison is a memory aid; places are more complex than one pattern. Read NOAA’s explanation

🎒 Pack your backpack

Badge: Pack Pro

A mountain day trip with a responsible adult. Tap the items that belong in your pack. Watch out for silly stuff!

🎒0 / 8packed

✨ Make it vivid!

Badge: Word Wizard

Great guides paint pictures with words. Tap Make it vivid to upgrade each boring sentence.

🗣️ Talk to the reader: “Before you step onto the trail…”
🎯 Choose precise words: a “rocky ridge” tells more than a “place.”
👂 Add sensory details: wind, rough rock, misty forest.
🔗 Cause and effect: connect a feature to a challenge.
🏷️ Headings and captions: help busy hikers find facts.

Use your class writing-techniques chart too. Vivid writing must stay accurate: don’t invent facts or experiences.

👀 Peek at an example poster
Visitor’s Center · Rocky Mountains

A big view. A changing sky.

Ready to leave the trailhead?

Picture a gust sweeping across an exposed rocky slope. In Rocky Mountain National Park, mountain weather can shift quickly, bringing wind, rain, or snow.

Know the conditions

A long-term seasonal pattern describes climate. Today’s wind and rain describe weather. Check the local forecast and ask park staff about your route before setting out.

Pack for change

Carry layers, rain protection, water, and other hiking essentials. A beautiful morning does not promise a calm afternoon.

Source: NPS High Country Hazards

  • Short title: contrasts the exciting view with changing conditions.
  • Question and “you”: invite hikers to think about their own trip.
  • Precise sensory words: “gust,” “exposed,” and “rocky” create a clear image.
  • Headings: let readers scan for conditions and preparation.
  • Source link: lets readers check the information.

Original classroom example, not Appendix C or the Lesson 13 poster. Review your teacher’s Lesson 13 exemplar alongside this guide.

Step 5

Build your brochure 📰

Six panels make one useful guide for hikers. Open the brochure to peek inside, then tap any panel to see what it needs.

👆 Tap the cover to open the brochure!

✅ Ready-to-share brochure checklist

For a tri-fold brochure, test the folds on blank paper first. Panel order on the outside of the sheet differs from reading order. Poster, video, and slide formats can use this plan too.

Step 6

The Writing Trail 🥾

One step at a time to the summit! Check off each step as your group finishes it. Today’s goal: draft one vivid description.

0 of 6 steps

Your checkmarks are saved on this device only. Write your notes and drafts in your classroom materials.

🍎 Teacher notes & classroom launch

Review the actual Lesson 13 exemplar / Appendix C with the whole class; it was not supplied for this site. Read it aloud, revisit the class writing-techniques chart, and discuss how pictures clarify complex ideas.

Brainstorm the writing sequence on chart paper before group work. Groups can use their Boxes and Bullets Charts, Mountains texts, Vocabulary Journals, and Response Journals alongside these curated sources. Ask each group to write at least one vivid description today, then share and revise.

This site is a classroom research guide, not a field safety course. Children should plan real outdoor activities with a responsible adult and local guidance. External research and YouTube links open outside this site and can change; preview them before class. Video links were checked for title and publisher, but have not been watched in full. YouTube may show ads, comments, and suggested videos and may be blocked on school devices. The written guides work without videos.

Helpers for students: the ⏸ button in the top bar pauses everything that moves. 🔎 makes the text bigger. 🔊 “Read to me” buttons read facts, vocabulary and the mission aloud using the device’s built-in voice (no audio is sent anywhere). Weather on the 3D models and photos only starts when a student taps it.

The 3D mountains are built from real elevation data and satellite images of each focus peak. Interactive pieces: the 3D scenes need WebGL (most Chromebooks and tablets have it); a photo version appears if not. Sounds are off until a student turns them on. Animations calm down automatically when a device asks for reduced motion. Badges and checkmarks are stored only in the browser on that device.

No open web search, chat, public submissions, uploads, advertising, or third-party analytics are included. Fonts load from Google Fonts. Hosting providers may process standard access logs.

📷 Photo & map credits

Photos come from Wikimedia Commons and are used under their free licenses. Captions describe what each photo shows. Base maps: Natural Earth (public domain); range markings are approximate. Earth image: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Blue Marble).

3D mountain models: elevation from Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen; sources include NASA SRTM, USGS and others). Satellite images: Sentinel-2 cloudless by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. Heights on the models are stretched 1.4× to 2.2× so the shapes are easy to see; each model says how much. The snow, clouds and storms are pretend weather added for learning.

    🏅 Your explorer badges

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