1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Ja'Dell Davis is a Los Angeles native who currently divides her time between New York City and Madison, Wisconsin. She is currently a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, pursing a PhD in Sociology. Ja’Dell previously taught high school in Philadelphia public schools, and implemented college access and academic enrichment programming in Chester, Pennsylvania and New York City in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. Ja’Dell received her B.A. from Swarthmore College with a special major in History and Educational Studies, and a minor in Black Studies. She completed her M.S.Ed in Secondary School Education at the University of Pennsylvania.  In addition to her studies and work in the education field, Ja’Dell is a dancer, musician, avid people watcher, and Scrabble enthusiast.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Reading: Informational Text
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.1Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.2Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.3Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.

2. Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now
Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now? Is there a level of difficulty you would try to achieve in the future?
© Mark Brodkin/Rex Features
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now
Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now? Is there a level of difficulty you would try to achieve in the future?
Seasoned climbers of North American mountains probably know the Yosemite Decimal System, developed among climbers here in Yosemite National Park. For the rest of us: It’s a rating system used to classify the difficulty of the hikes and climbs and it’s used primarily in the United States and Canada.
Eichorn Pinnacle, the western spire of Cathedral Peak here, rates a 5.4. What does mean as far as the severity of the ascent? Here’s the definition of a Class 5 climb: “Technical free climbing involving rope, belaying, and other protection hardware for safety. Un-roped falls can result in severe injury or death.” Anyone up for a nice, safe picnic?
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now
Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now? Is there a level of difficulty you would try to achieve in the future? 1
Thinking
Have you ever been hiking? Do you know anyone that hikes? Where have you or someone you know been hiking? What would be an area where you’d be interested in hiking? 2
Web Search
Define the first two levels of the Yosemite Decimal System. Could you achieve a hike or climb at this level? 3
Define the third and fourth levels of the Yosemite Decimal System. Could you achieve a hike or climb at this level? 4
Define the fifth level of the Yosemite Decimal System. Could you achieve a hike or climb at this level? 5
What are the benefits of the Yosemite Decimal System? How does this system help potential hikers?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now
Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now? Is there a level of difficulty you would try to achieve in the future? 5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now
Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now? Is there a level of difficulty you would try to achieve in the future? 1
Thinking
Have you ever been hiking? Do you know anyone that hikes? Where have you or someone you know been hiking? What would be an area where you’d be interested in hiking? 2
Web Search
Define the first two levels of the Yosemite Decimal System. Could you achieve a hike or climb at this level? 3
Define the third and fourth levels of the Yosemite Decimal System. Could you achieve a hike or climb at this level? 4
Define the fifth level of the Yosemite Decimal System. Could you achieve a hike or climb at this level? 5
What are the benefits of the Yosemite Decimal System? How does this system help potential hikers?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now
Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now? Is there a level of difficulty you would try to achieve in the future? 1
Thinking
Have you ever been hiking? Do you know anyone that hikes? Where have you or someone you know been hiking? What would be an area where you’d be interested in hiking?
Students should share their experience with hiking.

8. Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now
Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now? Is there a level of difficulty you would try to achieve in the future? 2
Web Search
Define the first two levels of the Yosemite Decimal System. Could you achieve a hike or climb at this level?
(Possible query: “yosemite decimal system”)
From
Class 1: Walking and hiking, generally, hands are not needed.
Class 2: Hiking, mostly on established trails involving some scrambling with occasional use of hands.

9. Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now
Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now? Is there a level of difficulty you would try to achieve in the future? 3
Web Search
Define the third and fourth levels of the Yosemite Decimal System. Could you achieve a hike or climb at this level?
(Possible query: “yosemite decimal system”)
From
Class 3: Climbing or scrambling with moderate exposure. Angle steep enough that hands are needed for balance.
Class 4: Intermediate climbing with exposure extreme enough that most mountaineers will want a belay. A fall could be serious or fatal. Intermediate climbing requires the use of your hands and arms for pulling yourself up.

10. Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now
Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now? Is there a level of difficulty you would try to achieve in the future? 4
Web Search
Define the fifth level of the Yosemite Decimal System. Could you achieve a hike or climb at this level?
(Possible query: “yosemite decimal system”)
From
Class 5: Technical rock climbing is encompassed in Class 5 climbing. A rope, specialized equipment and training are used by the leader to protect against a fall : A person of reasonable fitness can climb at this level with little or no rock climbing skills : Requires rock climbing skills or strength : Good rock climbing skills, rock shoes, and strength are generally needed to climb at this level : Excellent rock climbing skills and training are required to climb and maintain the ability to climb this level of rock. Many climbs have also been subcategorized with a (+) or a (-) indicating more or less difficult. I have found that some guide books will often use the (+) (-) ratings for climbs easier than Many guide books use a,b,c,d to define the difficulty of a climb rather than the (+) or (-). For example, a 5.12d would be more difficult than a 5.12b.
According to this site, there is a 6th level and other classifications:
Class 6: Rock so shear and smooth that it is unclimbable without the use of aid. Since the standard usage of the Yosemite Decimal System defines only the hardest move on a pitch, or the hardest pitch on a multipitch route, a seriousness factor was introduced to give an indication of the relative danger of the climb. This system was developed in 1980 by James Erickson.
PG-13: Protection is adequate; if properly placed a fall would not be too serious.
R: Protection is considered inadequate; there is a potential for a long fall, and a falling leader would take a hard wiper, possibly suffering injuries.
X: Inadequate or no protection; a fall would be very serious and perhaps fatal.

11. Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now
Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now? Is there a level of difficulty you would try to achieve in the future? 5
Thinking
What are the benefits of the Yosemite Decimal System? How does this system help potential hikers?
Students should reflect on the use of this system and how it would help potential hikers predict their success during a hike.

12. Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now
Which level of climbing difficulty would you be able to accomplish now? Is there a level of difficulty you would try to achieve in the future?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question.