The Longest Hike Yet

Second grade classes in the computer lab began with cheers on Tuesday as students entered the classroom and saw the GPS units laid out on the table. It made all the time spent preparing for this week’s lesson worth it! After a quick review on acquiring satellites, pulling up a waypoint and using the Page feature to navigate between the GPS screens, students were off. This week’s challenge was to find caches hidden .20 miles away from our classroom – their longest trip yet. Students worked with partners to navigate across our campus making sure to say clear of “muggles.” Great emphasis was placed on cooperation and problem solving as students were completely on their own for the first time. It was interesting listening to students as they figured out the best routes to get around buildings, fences, and other obstacles.


Asia Cache - 2nd Grade April 2009 from Anna Baralt on Vimeo.

Each pair of students was given the waypoint for one cache. Inside the cache were flags from 14 different countries. The activity served as a jumping off point for their study of Asia. Back in the lab, students used Enchanted Learning to identify each of the flags. They also used a large world map to locate the countries.

Next week, students will return to the lab and begin researching one of the countries. As I have four second grade classes, each one will research one of four topics - geography, economy & government, people & culture, or history of the countries. They will then share the information individually gathered in a grade-level wiki, http://aboutasia.wikispaces.com/. The final part of the project will have the students participating in a wiki scavenger hunt to learn about the other countries researched by their classmates.

Community Walk

Last week I discovered a new tool, Community Walk. A map making tool, you can create custom map tours. I’m think this would be a wonderful way for me to keep track of our travel bugs from this school year to the next. First, I thought I would use the maps generated by Geocaching.com but realized the students could not see those maps as you have to be logged in. (Those were the snapshots from the previous post.) Next, I thought about using Google Earth but realized it would be difficult for this year’s class to keep track. I don’t want have to constantly upload updated KMZ files. Since Community Walk is online, I can post a link to the map on my Web page and students can check in from time to time. Has anyone used this site before? I'm still trying to figure it all out and would appreciate any tips.

http://www.communitywalk.com/

Travel Bug Update 4/22/09

I can't decide who is having more fun watching our travel bugs move along, me or my students. They have seen a lot of action these last few weeks, so I thought I would update you on their progress!


Mr. Frecklehead is the first travel bug to reach its goal. I never imagined it happening so fast. But sure enough, it made its way to the Eiffel Tower logging more than 4,500 miles!






Nugget has been very busy these last few days. Just heard he got picked up again. He recently visited Echo Canyon in Utah, an old stop of the Pony Express. He has logged more than 1,900 miles.







Lightning Bug was in Georgia but was recently picked up. Awaiting to see where she is dropped off. She has logged the least amount of miles so far.







Boogler was picked up back in February but hasn't been moved yet. Sent an email to the geocacher to nudge him/her along. Hopefully, we will hear back soon. Last time Boogler was sited, he was outside Chicago, IL.

Places We Will Go - Jenuine Tech Project

I wanted to share with you a neat project sponsored by Jen Wagner using Google Earth. It will serve as the culminating activity for my second graders’ study on the seven continents.

Students will work with partners to use the ruler tool in Google Earth. They will measure and record the distance from their school to ten different landmarks around the world plus four additional landmarks of their choosing. These results will be sent to Jen where she will compile them. Students can also research information about each landmark.

As always, Jen is very organized, providing you step by step directions for all parts of the project along with worksheets. The project ends May 8th.

You can check it out at http://www.jenuinetech.com/Projects/pwwg/index.htm

Blog Name Change

After much thought, I decided to change the name of my blog from "GPS and Geocaching with Elementary Students" to "GPS, Geocaching, and Geography with Elementary Students." As I began writing new posts, I realized some of them did not fall specifically under GPS and Geocaching but were still worth sharing.

A Google Earth Intro for 2nd Grade

Thank you to Amanda Asbell (@asbella) on my Twitter network for help with a Google Earth activity for my 2nd graders. I was all set to geocache with them when the rain came. So, I had to scramble and find something else to do. She sent me a link to "Twenty-two interesting Ways to Use Google Earth in the Classroom."

Idea #11 is called "Where Are We Today?" and is a take on the game 20 Questions. I began by zooming in on Rome, Italy to street level. The students than asked questions that could only be answered with a "yes" or "no." I was absolutely amazed when my first class figured out my location in just four questions. Here they are:

1) Are you on a peninsula?
2) Are you on Europe?
3) Are you a famous city with lots of landmarks?
4) Are you Rome?

My other classes also named the city in less than 15 questions.

After the game, I gave a short intro to Google Earth, showing the students how to use the Fly To feature as well as the controls. They had a blast exploring the application, finding their house on Google Earth, and using the built in Sightseeing KMZ to fly around the world.