Monday, March 8, 2010

How high? The San Jacinto Challenge

On my trip to the Palm Springs area--love the desert--I learned that, due to seismic activity in the area, many of the peaks surrounding the Coachella Valley are continuously being pushed up.

That means many of the posted elevations are inaccurate.

Thinking that could make a good search challenge for freshness, I searched for information on what I read was the second tallest peak in Southern California.  Turns out there's disagreement regarding that and, not surprisingly, the same peak is listed with several different elevations.  It kinda presses home the point that, according to some, the area is in a state of upheaval.

So here's the challenge for you or your students:

What is the elevation of San Jacinto Peak? Is Wikipedia currently right or wrong? How can you tell? (what information do you need in order to verify the accuracy of the information?)

Post your answer to the challenge. How did you determine the answer is accurate?

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