Geocaching in the Classroom
Melissa Whitman ~ Shawn-Kimberly Kocher~ Brian Scholl
Nazareth Area School District
What is Geocaching?
Geocache
A container hidden that includes, at minimum, a logbook for
geocachers to sign.
Geocaching
Geocaching is a worldwide game of hiding and seeking treasure. A
geocacher can place a geocache in the world, pinpoint its location
using GPS technology and then share the geocache’s existence and
location online. Anyone with a GPS unit can then try to locate the
geocache.
Cache
A shortened version of the word geocache.
Website- geocaching.com or app geocaching
Objectives
Geocaching 101
http://www.polleverywhere.com/multip
le_choice_polls/LTE2NzA4MjE3OTQ
Types of Geocaches
Traditional
A cache or hidden treasure that is located.
Multi-Cache
A cache that is located and gives coordinates to the
next cache
Letter or Puzzle Cache
A cache that has clues to a larger puzzle or
mystery, event or story
What does a Geocache look
like?
What types of GPS to use?
Car GPS
Smartphone App
Portable GPS
Geocaching Lingo
 DNF
Did Not Find. An acronym used by geocachers to state that they did not
find a cache. This is also a type of online log on Geocaching.com and is
useful for alerting cache owners of potential issues. Cache owners who
repeatedly receive "Did Not Find" logs should check to see that there
cache has not been removed.
 D/T
Geocaches are rated in two categories, each designated on a 5-point scale.
Difficulty relates to the mental challenge of finding a cache and terrain
describes the physical environment. A 1/1 difficulty/terrain rating
would the easiest cache to find, while a 5/5 difficulty/terrain rating
would be the most difficult.
Geocaching Lingo
 Ground Zero (GZ)
The point where your GPS device shows that you have reached
the cache location. At Ground Zero, you are zero feet (or zero
meters) away from your destination.
 Muggle
A non-geocacher. Based on "Muggle" from the Harry Potter
series, which is a non-magical person. Usually this term is used
after a non geocacher looks puzzled after befriending a geocacher
searching for a cache, or when a non-geocacher accidentally finds
a cache.
Geocache Alphabet Soup
 BYOP
 FTF
 TFTC
 TFTH
 TNLN
 TNLNSL/TNSL
 TOTT
Geocaching Tips
 Log onto geocaching.com before you go out.
 Have an idea as to where you are going.
 Know what Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac look like.
 Beware of ticks!
 Bring water.
 Bring tools, pens, if necessary.
 Leave the cache as you found it.
 Log your find!
Geocaching in School
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy
NQjHpmBwk
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j
VS_vDLHec
Why Geocaching in
School?
Active student
engagement is one factor
directly correlated with
student achievement.
Sample of Geocache Clue
Welcome to the Statue at ZinZendorf Hall.
Zinzendorf Manor was the first building in the section that came to be
central Nazareth, erected in 1755-56 on land that was a forest before
construction. Count Zinzendorf wax exiled from Saxony, but it was
revoked and he had to return and never came back to Nazareth to see his
manor.
The Story of the Rose…William Penn bequeathed this land to his
daughter, Letitia, who under colonial law would have had to pay a single
red rose each June 24, if so demanded by the trustees. People in Nazareth
celebrate this every year on June 11 and 12 by various organizations
selling single red roses throughout the town.
Please take a ROSE sticker for your hunt.
Your next coordinate is: N 44.533'; W 18.741'
Hint, near the Nazareth circle.
*the team effort required; need to use limited time efficiently with good quick
group decisions
*comprehensive list of destinations to reach and many other groups out there
doing the same thing instilled a healthy competitive element
*the outdoor and physical component to the "exercise" made it especially
enjoyable and exceptional for the students
*incorporating the discovery of historical parts of our town provided students
with another educational element
*direct application of what they studied in the classroom: latitudes and
longitudes/utilization of GPS technology/QR codes
*constructing and placing the QR codes for the NASD younger students gave
them a connection to those students and their upcoming field trip
Lesson Components
Language Arts:
Fill caches with definitions of vocab and
have students match the terms
Fill caches with story lines from
literature and have students put the
story lines in chronological order or
match to appropriate works
Fill caches with various terms, ideas,
character names and have students
write a story using the items in the
caches
Lesson Components
Science:
Fill caches with pictures of endangered species
of animals and decide which they would either
keep on the list or take off the list and defend
their answers.
Fill caches with pictures of chemical process
(ice melting, chain rusting) and have students
identify the process in the picture.
Lesson Components
Social Studies:
Fill caches with various events in history and
put the events in chronological order and
explain
Fill caches with pictures of supplies for a trip
(exploration) and decide which supplies to keep
based on the journey (ie. rope, extra canvas,
fresh water, food, fishing gear)
Fill caches with events that lead up to a
mysterious ending (ie. who shot JFK) and have
the kids solve the mystery
Lesson Components
Math:
Fill caches with problems that
students have to solve - the answer
could be the next waypoint number
they have to find
Fill caches with steps of a multi-step
problem and have students put the
steps in the correct order
Fill caches with steps from a
geometry proof and have the
students arrange the correct order
Lesson Components
World Language:
Fill caches with clues to a story written in
Spanish or German and have the students tell
the story (can be done English to
Spanish/German as well)
Fill caches with pictures of locations from
various countries and students have to figure
out what country their clues are from
Fill caches with various Spanish or German
words (a mix of nouns, verbs, adjective) and the
students have to write a story using those
words.
Lesson Components
FCS/Nutrition:
Fill caches with pictures of various food items and
have the students locate them correctly on the food
pyramid
Fill caches with steps to baking a recipe and have
students put the steps in the correct order according to
their knowledge of measuring, mixing dry then wet,
baking, cooling, etc.
Fill caches with items from a food label and have the
students discuss whether or not the item is nutritious
based on what they found or not.
Lesson Components
Art/Music:
Fill caches with stanzas of music and have kids
arrange the stanzas in the proper order
Fill caches with pictures of various works of art
and have students match them with pictures of
artists
Lesson Components
General Ideas:
Geo-Bingo: give bingo cards to the kids with the
questions in the spaces - they have to find the caches
with the answers that they need to form bingo
Fill caches with words. Give kids the word search and
put the words in the caches - when they find the caches
they will know what words to look for in the search
Fill caches with pictures or terms and have the kids
determine what they all have in common OR which one
doesn‘t belong (people who were assassinated, certain
elements on the periodic table, species of animals)
Questions?
Thank you!
Resources
• http://www.geocaching.com/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching
• http://www.geocaching.com/education/default.as
px
• http://pageocaching.wikispaces.com/
• http://blog.geocaching.com/2010/08/geocachingclass-geocaching-coms-lost-found-video/
• http://tcoffey.edublogs.org/category/geocaching/
• http://www.geocaching.com/about/glossary.aspx
• http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classgpslsn.html
• www.wherigo.com
• http://educaching.com/
• http://www.earthcache.org/
• http://www.wikihow.com/Go-Geocaching
• http://www.geosociety.org/Earthcache_Lessons/D
efault.aspx
• http://www.factsfacts.com/geocacher.htm
• http://www.waymarking.com/
• http://www.letterboxing.org/
• http://gigaom.com/apple/eleven-geocachingiphone-apps-worth-finding/
• http://www.youtube.com/user/GoGeocaching
• http://www.youtube.com/user/Educaching
• http://geocache.itrtblog.com/
• http://geocacher-u.com/?page_id=88
• http://www.podcacher.com/
• http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?s
=e80f972d7371b78cb647bb1737ee697f&showforu
m=12
• http://www.springhurst.org/geocachingkids/even
ts.htm
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj-vXYkylBo
Contact Information
Melissa Whitman- 610-759-1170 ext 3124
mwhitman@nazarethasd.org- Twitter- OneCleverTchr
Shawn-Kimberly Kocher 610-759-1170 ext 1157
skocher@nazarethasd.org- Twitter- ShawnKimberly
Brian Scholl 610-759-1170 ext 8345
bscholl@nazarethasd.org-