1. Write a one paragraph response to the question.
Warm-up – 7 minutes
Write a one paragraph response to the question.
Why are some people drawn to risk and adventure?

2. from Into Thin Air Introducing the Story
Click on the title to start the video.

3. from Into Thin Air Introducing the Story
Jon Krakauer climbed to heights that few humans will ever reach.
He spent five minutes at the top of the world, . . .

4. from Into Thin Air Introducing the Story
. . . knowing that a minute longer could cost him his life.
Meanwhile, the other climbers in his group were still ascending Mount Everest.
Would they make it down alive?
[End of Section]

5. from Into Thin Air 1. deteriorate v.: get worse.
Vocabulary
1. deteriorate v.: get worse.
2. benign adj.: not dangerous.

6. from Into Thin Air The word deteriorate means “to worsen or decline.”
Vocabulary
The word deteriorate means “to worsen or decline.”
Our school is building a new stadium because the old one is beginning to deteriorate. 6

7. Which neighborhood below looks likely to deteriorate?
from Into Thin Air
Vocabulary
Which neighborhood below looks likely to deteriorate? 7

8. deteriorate verb definition: worsen
example sentence: His health will deteriorate as his cancer progresses.
YOUR SENTENCE: ____ will deteriorate if I don’t ___________________.

9. from Into Thin Air
Vocabulary
Benign is used to describe someone or something that is harmless or not life threatening.
The smooth waves appear to be benign, but the strong currents beneath the surface can be deadly. 9

10. Which of the following words is the opposite of benign?
from Into Thin Air
Vocabulary
Which of the following words is the opposite of benign?
a. malignant
b. kindly
c. malice

11. benign adj definition: harmless
example sentence: It turned out that the tumor was benign.
He has a benign habit of biting his nails.
She turned out to be a very friendly and benign person.
YOUR SENTENCE: I hope that ____ is benign because_________

12. 3. innocuous adj definition: harmless
example sentence: The clouds appeared to be innocuous.
YOUR SENTENCE: It turned out that ____ was innocuous even though I had feared ___________________.

13. 4. notorious adj definition: famous for a bad reasons
example sentence: Jimmy Hoffa was notorious because of his mafia activity.
YOUR SENTENCE: ____ could be described as notorious because __________________.

14. 5. apex noun definition: highest point; top
example sentence: The mountain climbers couldn’t wait to reach the apex.Tragically, she died at the apex of her career. The excitement was about to reach its apex
YOUR SENTENCE: It was hard to reach the apex because ___________.

15. Summit – noun top of the mountain

16. balcony – noun projection of the rock

17. shale – noun a rock that splits easily

18. gangrene – noun decay resulting from tissue with lack of blood supply

19. frostbite – noun injury caused to the body by freezing

20. corniced fin

21. regulator – device that controls oxygen flow

22. Write 3 important facts about the author.
Jon Krakauer was born in Massachusetts. When he was a boy, he idolized the climber Willi Unsoeld, who was an acquaintance of his father and who was part of the first American expedition to Everest.
When he was eight years old, Krakauer made his first climb with his father.
Although Krakauer had been a serious mountain climber for many years, the 1996 expedition to Everest was his first climb above 17,200 feet.
More about the writer
[End of Section]

23. from Into Thin Air Build Background
The first recorded conquest of Everest’s 29,035-foot summit was achieved by Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal in 1953.
Since then, more than 1,300 climbers have reached the summit, and about 170 have lost their lives to the mountain.

24. from Into Thin Air Build Background
In 1996, Outside magazine financed Jon Krakauer’s climb, which he undertook as a client of a commercial expedition.
The day he reached the summit of Mount Everest, eight other climbers (including Krakauer’s tour leader) died on the mountain.

25. from Into Thin Air Build Background
Everest expeditions climb the mountain in stages, so that they can acclimatize, or get used to higher altitudes.
The process may last several weeks before the final climb to the top; Krakauer’s report covers only seventy-two hours.
Everest’s summit is covered in icy, packed snow. It is impossible for animals, or even plants, to live there.

26. from Into Thin Air Build Background Summit: 29,035 feet 26,000
= where Krakauer’s group made camp
26,000
24,000
Death Zone: 25,000+ feet—lack of oxygen impairs climbers’ ability to make decisions
21,300
19,500
Short trips up and down to acclimatize (get used to higher elevations)
Base Camp: 17,600 feet
[End of Section]

27. Play the Setting: “Into Thin Air”
EXPOSITION notes: read 1st page of story
Setting (time + place)
Background (important information)
Characters

28. C. Notes “Into Thin Air”
Background – List three important facts (new:p )
Irony – How does Krakauer feel after achieving something he has been fantasizing for months? (old:p.353, new: p. ___)
Why is this ironic? old:p.353, new: p. ___)
Cause and effect What caused the narrator to be exhausted? Flow map
Irony – Why is it ironic that the clouds appeared innocuous to Krakuer? (old:p.354, new: p.___)