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DO THE TALLYWALKER
PUN (DIT) INTENDED
By Bob Culbertson, ©1998
Grade/Subject Area:
Upper Elementary - Geography
Objectives:
Mapmaking concepts.Lesson Plan:
About a 150 years ago British secret agents, disguised as Buddhist pilgrims visiting holy sites or Moslem traders peddling their wares, were traveling the roads, trails and mountain passes of the forbidden countries surrounding India. These agents, hand picked native Indians secretly trained in the surveying arts, had a few carefully disguised instruments, a measured pace and the knowledge that they would be killed if anyone discovered their true purpose. Known by a letter/number combination, code name or simply as "pundit" (learned or wise one), they were expected to spend years on a mission and if captured would receive no help from the British government. Surprisingly some survived and the information they gathered slowly filled in the military’s maps of central Asia and China. The classic adventure story Kim by Rudyard Kipling, set in a time many years after these surveyors’, touched upon their lives.Even without a miniaturized sextant, secret compartments, boiling point thermometer (for determining altitude), compass and constant danger we can still collect useful information on a hike. The equipment we’ll need is simple and cheap: a "tallywalker" (to keep track of how many steps you take), map and a pencil.
For the tallywalker you’ll need 10 small beads, 4 larger beads and a long shoelace.
- Double, or triple, strand the shoelace (so the beads don’t slip too easily) and tie a big knot in the center, thread the 10 small beads on one side of the knot and the 4 big ones on the other.
- Tie the ends together to make a large loop with small beads on one side and large ones on the other that can be slid up and down the string.
- Using it is easy too. Every
100 paces move a small bead to the end of the loop, when you’ve moved all
10 small beads then move 1 big bead to the end and start on the small ones
again. If you keep doing this until you’ve moved all the beads you’ll have
a tally of 5000 paces (10 small beads at 100 paces each = 1000 paces) + (4
large beads at 1000 paces each = 4000 paces) = 5000 paces total.
Practically every park has a simple map of its hiking trails and everyone with a tallywalker will need one. Any kind of pen or pencil and a flat surface to write on would be handy, the brim of a hat will do fine, but not necessary.
Now you’ve got everything you need so let’s give it a try:
- Assemble at the starting point, whether it be the parking lot or trailhead, and make sure everyone is ready, return time decided upon and equipment checked (it would be good to have a few extra tallywalkers, maps and pencils available). Everyone makes a mark on the map as to where they start, decide where will be the first check point, take the tally in one hand, and GO!
- Everyone keeps track of their own paces and at the first check point they write the tallywalker’s number on the map. Reset the tallywalker to zero then start pacing off again to the next checkpoint and so on until the return point is reached. Each map will have marks on the trail with a number beside each that shows how far you’ve traveled measured in paces.
- When you’re ready to return reset the tallywalkers and start counting
again. If you go back the same way you came then everyone will know about
how far it is to the next checkpoint.
Some hints: Don’t have a park nearby? City streets work fine too. Make the checkpoints fairly close together at the beginning of the hike, that will give everyone a chance to figure out how to use the tallywalkers and maps. Everyone’s pace is different so individual maps are needed; if you want to calibrate your pace go to a 500 meter track at a local school and walk around it a couple of times while using the tallywalker (2 times around the track is 1 kilometer, about 1000 yards). When returning you can set the tallywalker to the last count and subtract paces but this is harder to do (addition is always easier than subtraction) and not recommended. If you mess up a count just start over again at the next checkpoint. The checkpoints would be great places to take a break, give a demonstration or tell a story (maybe about pundits?). I certainly would want a tallywalker if I were blind or walking at night. Why?
Reference:
Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Race for Lhasa
by Peter Hopkirk, Oxford University Press, 1983
Lesson © Bob Culbertson
