Classrooms across Montana will have the opportunity to follow an
expedition to Mount Everest this spring, interacting with the climbers and
using equipment that lets them mimic the team’s scientific research.

Montana State University and Montana NSF EPSCoR are providing 10 Montana
teachers with a classroom kit full of scientific equipment that correlates
to the Spring 2012 expedition. The kit will include a GPS unit, geological
samples and tools, weather measurement equipment, maps, books and more.

The kits are part of the Everest Education Expedition, an effort to help
classrooms and citizens around the state connect with the science of Everest
and the Himalayan Mountains as several Montana climbers set out to
commemorate the first American ascent of the world’s tallest mountain.

The Everest Education Expedition will be led by Bozeman resident and author
Conrad Anker. MSU professor Dave Lageson will serve as the team’s field
geologist.

The kits will allow classrooms to mirror the research of Lageson and his
Nepali Sherpa team, who will be using GPS units to catalog rock formations
in the Khumbu region and on Mount Everest. Classrooms will also be
encouraged to mimic other scientific research of the team, such as
conducting photo monitoring projects, tracking weather patterns and
considering the impacts of high-altitude physiology.

Teachers of grades fourth through eighth are eligible to apply for a kit,
and will be selected based on their commitment to incorporating the Everest
science concepts into their classrooms as well as their ideas for sharing
the Everest information beyond their own classroom.

Teachers who do not receive a kit will still be able to participate in the
Everest Education Expedition via online resources such as lesson plans, a
multimedia Website and live updates from Everest.
Apply online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/EverestEducationExpedition
The application deadline is Feb. 6, 2012.

The Everest Education Expedition outreach project is sponsored by Montana
NSF EPSCoR and MSU Extended University. To register for email updates about
the project, visit http://eu.montana.edu/newsletter, enter your email
address and choose Everest Education Expedition. For questions, contact
outreach@montana.edu