This time last year I wrote about our Tuesday evening TV night wherein we watch DVR’ed episodes of three of our favorite shows, The Amazing Race, White Collar and Shark Tank. I went on to say that of the three shows, I felt Shark Tank was the most educational.
I have two confessions to make.
Confession 1: I may have been wrong.
Confession 2: I am hoping someone at CBS finds/reads this blog post and turns my suggestions into a full-blown curriculum I can download for free because I don’t have time to create it myself.
Yes, for free. I justify this request because of the number of bloggers who would promote it as a valuable educational resource, the educators who would utilize it to supplement their subjects and suggest it to their students’ families, and of course, the families who do not currently watch who will hear and become intrigued.
I need to take a breath, and back up to begin.
*deep breath*
Who? What? When? Where?
In case you aren’t one of the 10 million+ viewers who religiously watch The Amazing Race, it is one of the longest-running reality television series in the United States. As of this blog post, it is in its 23rd season. Here is the TV series’ description from Wikipedia:
The Amazing Race is an American reality game show in which typically eleven teams of two race around the world. The race is split into roughly twelve legs interspersed with physical and mental challenges, and require teams to deduce clues, navigate themselves in foreign areas, interact with locals, perform physical and mental challenges, and vie for airplane, boat, taxi, and other public transportation options on a limited budget provided by the show. Teams are progressively eliminated at the end of each leg; the first of the last three remaining teams to cross the final leg’s finish line win US$1 million.
A Glimpse of What Occurs in a Single Episode
In the first leg of this season (Season 23, Episode 1), host Phil Keoghan welcomed the initial eleven teams on an old Western movie ranch in Southern California where they learned their first stop would be in the coastal city of Iquique, Chile.
Once on the ground, teams took taxis to Alto Hospicio to search the Zona de Parapentes for Javier who would give them their next Roadblock clue.
Turns out one partner must paraglide from the rugged cliffs atop Alto Hospicio to the sandy shore of Brave Beach, while the other followed via taxi.
Just steps from the Pacific Ocean, teams received their next Roadblock clue which sent them to the wooden docks of Muelle Prat to row, row, row their boats in search of five fish for the fishmonger who gave the final clue of the leg, a picture of the Pit Stop. From there, teams had to proceed on foot to Teatro Municipal de Iquique.
The Pit Stop is the finish line of each leg of the race; it is there that one team is usually eliminated.
What CBS Should Create for Educators Across the Nation…and BEYOND!
Remember the Discover Africa! Comprehensive Notebooking Packet review/giveaway from last year? If not, quickly click through, skim the post, and you’ll have a visual of what I’m talking about.
I’ll wait.
*nervous wiggles*
Can you “see” where I’m going with this now?
THAT is EXACTLY what I want, but even more comprehensive, and sporting a section for each leg (episode) of the race for the current season. The possibilities are endless when you think about it–and I really think we should think about it because there is a mass of learning information to pull from each leg/episode.
Let’s Organize This Idea
First, the packet could be downloadable a week previous to the episode’s airing. This allows self-starters to learn as much as possible previous to the episode so they can be “in the know” when the teams hit the ground running.
The packet could include:
» Maps of the places the teams will visit. I envision black line maps of the continents and countries just like Jessica’s “Discover Africa” packet, so students can locate and mark the cities and locations visited within the cities on their own.
» Flag sheets. Parents can decide whether to download and print these on card stock for students to cut and paste into their notebooks, or just to view so students can hand draw and color on their own.
» Notebooking pages for each country visited. I like the idea of formatting pages for participants to fill in as the episodes progress. For instance, what teams were still in the running, what time were the flights, how many hours did it take to fly from one location to the other, and what did they observe on that leg of the race?
There could also be areas that students can fill in ahead of time to prepare for the show, like what language might teams need to know to communicate effectively, what types of clothing are worn there, what is the population, currency, landmarks, etc…
Suggestions for use across subjects.
» Math: Tabulate miles, hours, plane vs. train, taxi vs. walking, currency conversions, and ratios (what is the ratio of taxi drivers who knew where they were going vs. those who did not).
» Geography: What continents did they touch ground on during the episode, what countries and cities? What about the terrain and how might it affect agriculture and the food they eat?
» History: How are the landmarks they traverse important to the city or country they are in? What are some interesting facts about that particular location?
» Culture: What are the traditions of that country, what people groups did they interact with, and what was the major religion of the country? What stood out about the local dress, dancing, and/or playing instruments and singing?
» Philosophical Dilemmas/Situational Ethics: Should U-Turns be an option? Would you U-Turn someone? When might it be okay to U-Turn someone? Do the immediate benefits outweigh the long-term broken relationship that could cost teams later in the race? Is it strategic?
Possible Final Episode Interactive Element
In the final leg, there is always a “memory” related Roadblock where teams have to piece together what they can remember from different legs of the race. This would make for an EXCELLENT interactive element on the show, but also a fun opportunity for parents and kids to pull from their own notes, and see if they can beat the remaining teams on the show.
I highly recommend that those playing couch side keep a race journal of their own.
Each time I walk away from this idea I come back to my seat with a few more. So, I’m calling it quits and waiting for YOUR ideas and YOUR comments on how CBS can make The Amazing Race even MORE AMAZING!
What are some of your ideas for an AMAZING educational supplement to THE AMAZING RACE?
Heather Sanders is a leading homeschooling journalist who inspires homeschooling families across the nation. Married to Jeff, Heather lives in the East Texas Piney Woods and homeschools her three children, Emelie, Meredith and Kenny.