Cool Tools for Cool Teaching

Geocaching & GPS

Where Is It?

If you had to invent a question to wrap this topic around, that would be it. In every moment of our waking lives, we're situated somewhere, surrounded by somethings and somebodies. Where things are is a fundamental issue, and because that's so it can lead to some graceful integration of technology into the teaching of many different things.

What technology? GPS, or Global Positioning Satellites. The tools for using GPS are already cheap and will soon be built into phones, cars and cameras. What better time than now to bring them into your classroom?

In this exercise, you'll learn enough about GPS to begin to develop some ideas for educational applications. There's a great WebQuest waiting to be written around the use of GPS. Maybe you'll be the one to do it.

An Online Scavenger Hunt

As preparation, you'll be divided into teams of 6-7 to answer the following questions. You have only 15 minutes. Divide the resources among yourselves and share the answers within your team as you go. The first team to get them all wins a box of cookies to share on the next activity. [Online students, you're on your own here and you'll need to provide your own cookies. This is an ungraded activity, not an assignment. Just have fun with it.]

  1. When was the first geocache hidden?
  2. What is letterboxing?
  3. What are the four separate tasks in the first GPS WebQuest ever written?
  4. What kind of people live near 37°N 110°W?
  5. Who are Linky and Screech Dude?
  6. What are some of the features that distinguish inexpensive GPS receivers from the expensive ones?
  7. What's a waypoint and what's their potential connection with cemeteries?
  8. Who hid the cache in Black Rock State Park, not far from Bernie's ancestral homeland in Waterbury, CT? Hint: search by state, then city.
  9. How do state and national park rangers feel about geocaching?
  10. Who is Captain Peter?

Resources for Answering the Questions

An On the Ground Scavenger Hunt

For those in the SDSU campus section, we're going to break away from the lab and out into the fresh air. In teams of 6-7, you need to find four places:

A. The Geocache described here. Just find it, open it up and see what's inside, but don't take anything unless you're going to leave something behind in its place. That's the tradition.

B. Go to 32 46.556° N 117 04 280° W. Found out what Sue's husband's name is.

C. Go to 32 46.595° N 117 04.319° W. What's Yumiko's last name?

D. Go to 32 46.454° N 117 04.317° W. Once you're there, find out what strange thing can be found at 32 50 50.3° N 116 12 04.2° W.

This map has an approximation of the lines of latitude and longitude that cross the campus. Use it to plan your journey.

Team A will start by looking for site A, Team B at site B, and so on, rotating through until you've hit all four. First team to return to the lab having found all four sites is the winner.

[ONLINE STUDENTS: If you'd like to experience this, come to campus Monday, 10/7 at 7pm and join the face-to-face group.]

So What?

Well, this isn't a geography course. Why are we looking at GPS here in EDTEC 570? Consider this:

Can you think of ways to use this in the study of local history? In field trips?

Is there someway to do something with math? Shapes on a map? Clues that involve geometry?

Travel bugs and writing exercises?

Can you use the Degree Confluence Project as a starting point for science or social studies or language arts, even without leaving your classroom?

We'll spend a little time brainstorming in class. And some time later, after your brain continues to think about it below your conscious level, you may have a great new idea.

For Further Exploration

There's more to know. Use this as a starting point to explore further. Consider joining the NYGPS Yahoo Group, too, if you're interested in continuing to learn about GPS, and take a look at these sites: