Can You Dig It?

I would like to start of this post by thanking my Twitter friend, Craig Nansen, district technology coordinator in Minot, North Dakota. I posted a tweet last week about my new geocaching blog, and he immediately sent me some resources. His district just wrapped up a tech expo with a GIS/GPS focus. Wish I could have been there!

Anyway, this week's article about geocaching in the classroom comes from two educators in Texas, Anna Adam and Helen Mowers. Better known as Tech Chicks, they have a tech podcast on iTunes that I am now following. Episodes 29 and 30 both reference their article for School Library Journal, Can You Dig It? Geocaching in the Classroom. In the article and podcasts, they highlight a new site that has lots of classroom potential.

Terra Clues: This is an online scavenger hunt utilizing Google Maps. Students solve the text or image clues by finding the correct location on the map. A really neat feature of this site is that teachers can create private, or restricted areas for their students. Hunts can also be shared globally. Another feature is that hunts are rated by difficulty.

Here are some examples from the Terra Clues site that are being used in classrooms right now:

1) Age of Exploration: Clues are given about different explorers and their accomplishments around the world. I was really excited to find this one as I can do this hunt with my 3rd graders when we come back from break! It will be a great review for their explorer unit.

2) The American Revolution Hunt: Another great find that I can use right away. My 4th graders are studying the American Revolution and just finished writing "newspapers" on the causes that led to the war. Great for follow-up in the classroom.

While I know that using Terra Clues moves away from actually geocaching, I think that it is a great starting point for me to get comfortable with the process of writing clues and creating maps to go along with them. There is also potential for students to work in groups to write their own hunts and post them to the site. Finally, it provides an engaging way to integrate history (math, science, etc.) with mapping skills.

Adam, Anna and Mowers, Helen. (2007) "Can You Dig It? Geocaching in the Classroom." School Library Journal. Retrieved on March 14, 2008 from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6463503.html?q=geocaching.