Geocaching and GPS

Educaching

Decide content area focus

Set the stage for learning with essential questions

Acquite maps of the area studied.

Find toys and books about the subject, be it person or place, for inclusion in the cache; place items in plastic ziplock bags.

A math cache might include toys with gometric shapes or pictures of geometry in nature.

When background knowledge is weak include things that would give kids clues about the content being studied.

Make teams that have the opportunity to find two or three caches.

Classroom application differs:

don't sign a log

bring items back to the classroom

Virtual caching - nothing is hidden, but answers to questions about the location can be found or researched. A location on a map could be defined and then used to locate the place with google maps or google earth in addtion to regular maps.

Assign a GPS mentor to each team.

Give colored folders to teams to designate team name (Green, Orange, etc).

Assign roles.

Place laminated GPS help sheets in the folder.

Include sheets for recording questions, thoughts (metacognitive actions).

Roles include:

Recorder makes notes about the group actions.

Monitor makes sure everyone is on task.

Facilitator is the mentor.