JDMcDsblog

So Foinaven is officially not a Munro!  After many years of debate among climbers, the Munro Society, commisioned  surveyors CMCR of Larbert who used new technology to demonstrate that it falls short by 3 m of the Munro criterion of 914. 4m. (3000 ft)

Munros are the highest of Scotland’s mountains and many hill walkers and mountaineers pursue the goal of “bagging” all 284 Munros.

Two surveyors from CMCR, along with members of the Munro Society and various mountaineering clubs, took the measurements of Foinaven on 12 and 13 May.  The expedition surveyed Foinaven, and its summit Ganu Mor using satellite positioning equipment.

The Munro Society was formed in 2002 and has more than 3,000 members who have climbed all of Scotland’s current Munros.

 The debate about Munroes and “Munro bagging” continues on the BBC forum, but the issue provides plenty of good teaching points:

How accurate is the data on our OS maps?

How do map makers establish the height of a summit? What equipment do they use?

What’s the link between Maths and Geography in calculating heights?

Blogs are a great way of recording journeys,  especially when they can integrate podcasts, videos and photos. Three of my sixth year students have been doing the West Highland Way this week, and in the processs raising money for charity.  Will put details of the trip on the blog and have started to make up a google map to track their route. I am interested in how pupils can develop this facility,for example in their Duke of Edinburgh’s hikes or in invstigative work.

A good example of this which I have come across is the Long Way Down site, which tracks Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman’s latest long distance adventure on the BBC web site. Ewan and Charlie willl travel down through Europe, and then Africa – from Tunisia to South Africa, via countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia. It is a follow-up to the Long Way Round trip in 2004, where the pair rode their motorbikes from London to New York, travelling east across Europe, Russia and the United States.