An Unusual Teaching Tool

I wish I could meet Greg English from Oak Park Middle School in Louisiana. I would thank him for the wonderful lesson plan he shared on the web site www.louisiana101.com. Like Greg, I was struggling to find a way to teach latitude and longitude to my fourth graders. Using the metal grids holding the ceiling tiles in place was a great way to make the concept real to the students. Using index cards, I labeled the classroom from 50˚S to 50˚N and 30˚W to 30˚E. I taped cardinal direction signs on each wall, labeled the equator and prime meridian, and created a compass rose at 0˚ 0˚. Students were given cards with various coordinates and asked to find their place in the room. The activity was a huge success (and really fun too!)

As a follow-up, students visited the website Kidsgeo.com to play a latitude and longitude game.

A Geocaching First

Last Tuesday, I took my four 2nd grade classes geocaching for the first time. We had so much fun. I was amazed at how easily they took to using the handheld GPS. They learned how to turn on the device, acquire satellites, and use the built-in compass to navigate the 450 feet to the cache (located in a field next to our campus). My 10 -minute introductory lesson included:

Asking the students how many of their parents have a GPS in their vehicles and how they are used. We talked about how some of the GPS found in cars are built into the consoles while others are mounted to the dash and portable.

Defining GPS for them, sharing graphics explaining how the satellites work, and brainstorming reasons why a handheld GPS might not always work (indoors, bad weather, tree cover).

Displaying images of the various screens they would see on the GPS device.

I think I have created monsters. Now all they want to do is talk about geocaching.

Travel Bugs a Hit!

Using travel bugs with my second grade students has been a big hit. I was really worried that the bugs would sit in caches for long periods of times without being moved. So far, in the month since they were released, all four travel bugs have been picked up and moved. And I just got an email from a geocacher who is willing to take one of the bugs to Rome, Italy if I could wait two months. I’m going to ask the kids what they would like to do, but I’m guessing they will say “Yes.”

In a previous post, I discussed about how we made the travel bugs together by drawing them on the SmartBoard. We also included a description to go along with them. Adding the description to the actual travel bug is the reason why this project has been successful. Many of the geocachers that move the bugs comment on how they want to help out the kids. So, if you plan on releasing a travel bug with students, I strongly suggest you include a “note” from the kids. It does seem to make a difference.

Travel Bugs are Released

In January, I released four travel bugs created by my 2nd grade classes. A travel bug is a trackable tag that you attach to an item. The item can then be tracked on Geocaching.com as it moves from cache to cache (or person to person) in the real world.

Creating the Travel Bug:
Many people attach their trackable tags to items such as keychains, stuffed toys, or other small objects. I wanted my kids to make their own trackable item but couldn't figure out what we could make that would be durable enough to last through caching adventures. Besides durability, I also had to figure out a way to have every child in the class be part of creating the bug. Finally, I decided to use my SmartBoard and the drawing program Early Learning Toolkit to create the bugs. Using the SmartBoard, each child in the class drew one part of the bug, adding on to what was drawn before them. Next, each class voted on a name for their bug as well as writing the goal for their bugs. The kids were very creative!

Mr. Frecklehead would like to travel to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower.
Nugget would like to travel around the world and see as many places as he can.
Boogler wants to reach Alaska and see the Iditarod.
Lightning Bug wants to reach Hollywood to star in her own television show.

Releasing the Travel Bugs
Before releasing the bugs, I had them laminated as luggage tags. I then added the trackable tags that I purchased from Groundspeak. Three of the bugs were sent to an acquaintance in Michigan who will release the bugs in different caches as she travels for work. One of the bugs stayed back and was placed in a local cache.

Tracking the Travel Bugs
As travel bugs are retrieved from and dropped off in caches, their movements are logged on the Geocaching.com website. I have set my account to send me email notifications anytime a bug is moved. I have also created a Google Map to keep track of each bug's movements. Finally, I have a large map in my classroom where the students will place pins when the bugs are moved.

Searching for Jazz Caches

Today was a great day! I finally introduced the concept of caching to my 4th grade students. I say caching instead of geocaching because we didn't use hand-held GPS. For this first lesson, the students used maps and compasses.

The 4th grade students will be performing a play, We Haz Jazz, for students and parents in January. The play highlights 25 influential jazz musicians, composers, and bandleaders, lending itself nicely for a research project. To kick off the unit, I hid eight caches across our Lower Division campus. Each cache held note cards with clues about the people they would be studying. Working with partners, students were to locate one cache, extract four cards, and return back to the classroom to figure out their clues. (An extensive web site at an age-appropriate level was created for the students to use for research.)

Before the hunt, students were introduced to compasses and learned how to orienteer. We discussed how to rotate the compass housing until the orienting arrow and compass needle lined up, verified north on our maps, located our final destination with the travel arrow, and followed the direction of the travel arrow to locate our cache. After a bit of practice, they were off.

The students really enjoyed this activity, but were disappointed they only had the opportunity to find one cache today. They thought the activity was "super cool" and wanted to search more. Once they got back to the lab, however, they delved into their research task of figuring out their clue cards.

Geocaching Begins at SPS

Well, I am happy to report that my plans to start geocaching at my school are under way! I spent the summer purchasing supplies - tubs, labels, GPS, compasses, etc. and have plans for my first activity this week.

After practice reading and making maps, both in my computer lab and in their classrooms, my second graders will be going on their first treasure hunt. Armed with maps of our campus, student will search for clues in hopes of finding a treasure.
This first lesson will lay the groundwork for future activities. And, even though we aren't actually going to use the handheld GPS devices yet, understanding the concepts of direction, relative location, and absolute location are basic skills they need to have.

I still haven't figure out exactly what they will be searching for yet, but I'm sure something will come to be soon.

A Travel Bug Plan

I recently received my order for four travel bugs from Geocaching.com. I thought it would be neat to start them off with my 2nd grade class this year, as we could follow them along together for the next few years, but I hadn't figured how I was going to do it yet. Fortunately, I stumbled across this blog post about a Webquest introducing Travel Bugs on a colleague's blog. It is a great starting point for me. I will have to modify the quest for my use, as I will have four travel bugs, one for each class, rather than one for each student (although that is a neat idea too, maybe for next year). There are some great resources on the site as well. I found links to both a Power Point introducing geocaching as well as forum for using GPS in education with lesson plan links. HOORAY! I know what I will be doing this summer!

Thanks to my partners in crime this Spring, Jessica, Sue, and Emily, for your encouraging words through my discovery of GPS and geocaching in education. Although my blog posts will probably be less frequent once this class is over, I have every intention of keeping it up - not only as a journal documenting my learning but as a tool for other teachers interested in getting started. I'm glad you will continue following.

Blog Source: Langwiches: Geocaching in Education retrieved on April 20, 2008 from http://langwitches.org/blog/2007/08/20/geocaching-in-elementary-school/.

Image Source: http://www.castlecoinsandpins.com/shop/images/travelbug_large.jpg