In addition to regular class readings, five projects are required for the course. The projects consist of the following: Project #1: Leadership of an Outdoor Activity Plan and organize an outdoor activity. You have two options:
Option 1: Organizing an Outdoor Trip. Trips must be of a common adventure nature where individuals share in the expenses of the trip and must be at least six (6) hours in duration but an overnight trip is strongly encouraged. Choose activities which are fairly easy and something that other students would enjoy: hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, canoeing, etc. Class members are encouraged to recruit participants to share in the common adventure experience. Additionally, all participants must sign a common adventure sign-up sheet, a copy of which is to be turned with your Summary Paper. Requires instructor approval of trip. Option 2: Participate in an outdoor trip. Trips must be of a cooperative adventure nature where individuals share in the expenses of the trip and must be at least six (6) hours in duration but an overnight trip is strongly encouraged. Class members are encouraged to recruit participants to share in the cooperative adventure experience. Additionally, all participants must sign a cooperative adventure sign-up sheet, a copy of which is to be turned with your Summary Paper. Requires instructor approval of activity. Requirements include the following:
1. You must have everyone on the outing sign a sign-up sheet or liability release form.
2. You cannot charge for the trip. Trip expenses must be shared among the participants.
3. Report. A report of the activity, at least three pages long, should be turned in to the Outdoor Adventure Center by date indicated by the instructor. The paper must be typed. The first two pages should be an over-all summary of the activity. Include such topics as: a) The date, time, location and duration of the activity; b) Information on how you prepared for the event or trip; c) What specific activities were a part of the event or trip; d) What equipment was required; e) What problems did you experience; f) And finally, what did you learn through the activity. The last page should be a copy of a sign-up sheet or a liability release form with the signatures of all trip participants. If you helped with a class, include a list of the students in the class.
Project #2: Plan and organize an Outdoor Conservation Project Plan, organize and conduct one of the following: a conservation project, community clean-up, or a project which helps the outdoor environment. Sample projects include organizing a work group to do maintenance on a hiking trail (removing downed timber and protecting it from erosion), organizing a crew to plant willows along a stream to improve fish habitat, organizing a group to clean-up a campsite, along a river, or a popular outdoor recreation area. Requirements include the following: 1. Before undertaking a project (and if appropriate), obtain approval from the appropriate public land manager. 2. The class will be required to establish a time in which all members of the class can participate. 3. The project should be at least four (4) hours in duration. 4. Document the project by taking before and after photographs. If you are unable to take photographs, carefully describe the conditions before and after you do your work. 5. Report. Put together a two-page report of your project. The report must be typed. Include the location, date, and names of individuals who helped, information on how you planned and organized the activity, and the results of your work.
Project #3: Compile an Outdoor Journal A final requirement of the class is to compile outdoor trip log and/or journal. Trip logs are useful as a resource for planning and organizing outdoor activities--and related experiential activities such as adventure games and team building exercises. They provide you with a personal record of your past outdoor activities. Moreover, they are particularly useful if you ever apply for work in the outdoor field. Oftentimes, applications for outdoor education jobs require a list of your experiences in the outdoors, and there's no better source of information from which to work as an outdoor journal.
For this project, you'll need a notebook. A good size to use is a notebook with the approximate dimensions of 9" x 6", but you are welcome to select a size and format that you are most comfortable with. Unlike the reports required for the first two projects, you do not have to provide the journal in a typed form. In fact, it is recommended that you write out the entries by hand, since the idea is to create something that is convenient and that you'll continue to use in the future.
You can make the journal as fancy as you wish. It is not required, but, if desired, you can paste in photos or maps, or drawings. Among the material that you hand-in, include one outdoor trip that you've taken sometime in the past, a description of at least two adventure games (ice breakers, initiative tests, or trust activities) that you can use with a group, your entries on the outdoor leadership project and conservation project and any professional-development portfolio activity assignments from the Outdoor Leadership text.
In the trip description, include the following: 1) dates; 2) where; 3) what you did; 4) who was with you, along with any other comments you want to add.
Project #4 Leadership presentation
Pick an outdoor leader that has made a significant contribution or is still contributing to the outdoor industry. Each student will present for 15-20 minutes with a PowerPoint presentation including photos or graphs of the chosen outdoor leader. Examples of outdoor leaders are Lynn Hill, John Muir, Will Gad, Alex Low, Theodore Roosevelt , Greg Lowe, Greg Child, Paul Pezold, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Sir Edmund Hillary, Merwether Lewis Tenzing Norgay, Yvon Chouinard, Steve House, Gary Fisher, Robert Falcon Scott, Roald Amundsen, John Wesley Powell, Zebulon Pike, William Clark, Lance Armstrong, George Herbert Leigh Mallory, Goran Kropp.
Each student must have their selected outdoor leader approved by the instructor.
Project #5 Initiative activity
Each student will select one initiative activity and facilitate the activity for the class participants. Resources to find activities include but are not limited to Rohnke, K. & Butler, S. (1995). Quick silver: Adventure games, initiative problems, trust activities and a guide to effective leadership. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendal/Hunt Publishing. Rohnke .K. (1984). Silver Bullets: A Guide to Initiative Problems, Adventure Games and Trust Activities Dubuque, Iowa: Kendal/Hunt Publishing and http://wilderdom.com/games/TrustActivities.html. Each student must have their selected activity approved by the instructor before sharing with the class.