Hiding treasures, outdoor ed learns how to use GPS coordinates
Putting their GPS knowledge to the test, students in outdoor education are hiding geocaches around the community as they learn about GPS usage. Similar to treasure hunting, geocaching is an outdoor activity where participants use a GPS to to find hidden objects.
October 8, 2020
Students in outdoor education are getting the opportunity to make and hide geocaches around their neighborhood to learn how to utilize GPS coordinates.
“Students have to basically use their creativity to come up with an object which represents themselves or their personality and make it into a geocache,” teacher Tim Brennan said. “They have to put it into a waterproof container and hide it in a place that would be challenging for geocachers to find that object. I am hoping students will be able to have a better understanding of how to use GPS coordinates and how to track things.”
Allowing her to go on a small adventure in her neighborhood, freshman Ananya Aggarwal believes geocaching encouraged her to explore more in the future.
“In the assignment, we had to create and hide a geocache,” Kulkarni said. “In this geocache, we had to have a log book, a pen and a little trinket. This needed to be in a ziploc bag so that any moisture would not cause harm to the contents and that bag should be in a waterproof box. In my geocache, I had a little blue log book, a black pen and as my trinket, I put in a little Eiffel Tower keychain. I would rate this assignment an 8/10 because it was kind of hard to execute, but it helped me go on a little adventure and explore my neighborhood in my attempt to hide my geocache in a good location. I enjoyed this assignment very much and it encouraged me to go exploring more in the future.”
Freshman Avi Aggarwal thinks it’s nice to finally have classwork that doesn’t require a computer screen but allows for people to go outside their houses and explore nature.
“I created and hid a geocache in my neighborhood with some items inside for others to find based on the coordinates and the hint that I gave them,” Aggarwal said. “My geocache was a medium-sized, waterproof container with some trinkets and a little notepad inside. I called it “The Shrub” and hid it in a bush near my house after lining it with some brown construction paper and twigs/leaves to camouflage it. I would rate this assignment an 8/10 because I learned about geocaching and it was nice to have an assignment that didn’t involve a computer screen for a change. I found it relatively enjoyable because the assignment was quite different than most of the other things I have to do for online school, and coming up with the hint was pretty fun.”
