My Side of the Mountain Novel Study, STEM Project, Design a Wilderness Camp

Looking for My Side of the Mountain activities that give students a creative way to apply their learning? This wilderness camp project challenges students to think about Sam’s needs, draw a labeled blueprint, build a 3-D model, and explain how their design would help him survive.

Bring My Side of the Mountain to life with a hands-on Novel Study Project that connects reading, research, explanatory writing, and STEM! Students design a wilderness survival camp for Sam Gribley using information from the novel and research about the Catskill Mountains.

What’s Included in Project:

✅ Student project directions

✅ Wilderness camp checklist with nine required elements

✅ Catskill Mountains research sheet with seven guiding questions

✅ Sources Used recording sheet

✅ Blueprint planning page

✅ Camp Designer Explanation sheet with six writing prompts

✅ 100-point project rubric

Research Before Building

Students investigate the setting to make thoughtful design decisions. Research questions explore:

• Climate and weather throughout the year
• Landforms and environments
• Available water sources
• Useful plants and natural resources
• Animals, food sources, and wildlife concerns
• Factors that make a camp location suitable for Sam

Plan a Wilderness Survival Camp

Students create a labeled blueprint that includes:

✅ Shelter

✅ Fire and cooking area

✅ Food storage

✅ Water source

✅ Hunting and fishing area

✅ Garden or food-growing area

✅ Wildlife safety

✅ Tools

✅ Sleeping area

Build a 3-D Camp

Students use their blueprint to construct a model of Sam’s ideal camp. The directions suggest materials such as craft supplies, LEGO blocks, figurines, shoeboxes, boxes, and natural materials. The required camp elements provide structure while allowing students to make their own creative design choices.

Explain the Thinking Behind the Design

The learning continues beyond the model! Students write complete-sentence responses explaining their camp location, shelter, food and water plans, and wildlife safety. They also justify an important survival design choice and describe an improvement they would make.

Skills Students Practice

• Applying information from a novel
• Researching a novel’s setting
• Recording research sources
• Planning a design around a character’s needs
• Solving problems within a design task
• Writing explanations and supporting choices with details
• Reflecting on possible improvements

Why Teachers Will Appreciate This Project

The included directions, research questions, planning page, and checklist help guide students through each stage. A 100-point rubric supports assessment of planning, work process, required camp elements, written explanations, and overall effort and creativity.

Use this My Side of the Mountain STEM activity as a culminating novel study project, a literature extension, or a connection between ELA and science. Students create a camp with a clear purpose: helping Sam live safely and independently in the wilderness.

This smaller resource is perfect for teachers who want a focused, highly engaging My Side of the Mountain STEM Wilderness Camp Project and an easy way to add science, writing, and project-based learning to their existing novel study.