Jack London’s “To Build A Fire” is about man and nature. The effects of extreme cold (-70F) on the human body are described as a man underestimates nature on his trek to camp in the Yukon. This story was recommended to my on the NSTA listserve and inspired me to make a short story assignment that encourages students to think about nature and the effects of cold on the human body.
Lesson
Introduction:“To Build a Fire” is a short story by American author Jack London. The famous version of this story was published in 1908. There are only two characters in “To Build a Fire,” a man and a dog, although some count Nature as a third character. In the story, Nature is portrayed as the antagonist – the foe against which the man is pitted for survival. However, Nature doesn’t act deliberately – it simply is, and it is the man’s own folly and arrogance that causes his harm.
Objective“To Build a Fire” takes place in the Yukon at -70F, much colder than we experience in Minnesota. Write a 1-page short story about living one day in Minnesota’s winter. You story must remain as factual as possible and include elements of nature and the human body.
Sites such as WebMD are a good resource for details about frostbite and hypothermia.
Grading Your paper will be graded on the following criteria. Each item is worth 4 points with a maximum total of 28 points.
Complete the grading rubric below and stable this sheet to the back of your paper.
Cover
- Title and your name
- Color Illustration
Story
- 1 pages in length
- Included element of nature
- Information on the effects of cold on the human body – at least 2 facts
Writing Style
- Spelling
- Grammar & sentence structure
- Typed double-spaced 12pt arial
Related Links & Further Information
coming soon
Changes:
- Look up weather – http://www.wunderground.com/US/Region/Midwest/MaxTemp1Day.html
- What to wear OER – http://www.teachengineering.org/view_lesson.php?url=http://www.teachengineering.com/collection/cub_/lessons/cub_earth/cub_earth_lesson3.xml
- Backyard weather station – http://www.teachengineering.org/view_activity.php?url=http://www.teachengineering.com/collection/cub_/activities/cub_weather/cub_weather_lesson04_activity1.xml
- Modern Weather forcasting – http://www.teachengineering.org/view_lesson.php?url=http://www.teachengineering.com/collection/cub_/lessons/cub_weather/cub_weather_lesson04.xml
- Weather and Atmosphere curriculum – http://www.teachengineering.org/view_curricularunit.php?url=http://www.teachengineering.com/collection/cub_/curricular_units/cub_weather/cub_weather_curricularunit.xml
- Body Breakdowns, interactive guide on how the body fails in cold weather – http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.stru.bodybreak/
- Blood Flow and Thermoregulation – interactive animation about how the body copes with cold – http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/lsps07.sci.life.reg.heatexchange/
- Video about sleddogs – http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/vtl07.la.ws.process.sleddogs/
- Inuit and predicting weather – http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/ean08.sci.life.eco.unpredictability/
- Oral traditions – http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/echo07.lan.stories.totem/
- Interactive arctic atlas – http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/ipy07.sci.life.eco.arcticatlas/