Skip to main content

Teaching Content with Geocaching

 A few months ago I had the opportunity to go to a Tech Expo where I learned about geocaching. Geocaching is the technological equivalent of hide-and-seek! It is an outdoor activity where participants use GPS devices or mobile devices to hide and find containers called "geocaches" or "caches" at specific locations marked by the container's coordinates (Fornasini et al., 2020). As a participant at the Expo, I was able to try geocaching with my cell phone in the building! I must admit it was a fun activity and I can see why people love it.

(Open Clipart, n.d.)
After the Expo, I started thinking about how can I adapt geocaching for work and is anyone in either school where I work already doing it? Geocaching in education – called Educaching – is a way to engage students in authentic, real-world application of skills and technology (Bragg, 2014). I inquired in both schools where I work to see if anyone was already using educaching and one teacher sent me a sketch of what he did to integrate geocaching with physical education. That idea got me thinking about how to integrate geocaching into academics and I spent some time investigating how to incorporate geocaching in elementary classrooms. 

One fifth-grade teacher wanted to try geocaching with their students but was worried about them leaving campus. We created an activity where students would use geocaching to find different caches on the playground to gather information about different triangle types so they could draw the triangles with chalk. We spent the next couple of weeks creating different hide-and-seek activities that incorporated the apps we intended to use for our geocaching activity. While I worked on the tech skills with students, she worked on the academic side of learning how to measure sides and angles, identify the different types of triangles, and use measurements and angles to draw triangles. When the big day arrived, we went outside and tried out the angle geocaching idea we created. It was a BIG hit with students! 

Unfortunately, I was too excited and busy to remember to take pictures. However, when I repeat this activity in a few weeks with a different class, I will make sure to take pictures documenting their experience. 

You can watch this video to learn more about geocaching with your students. 

(THNKR, n.d.)

How can you incorporate geocaching in your classroom?

References

Bragg, L. A. (2014). Geocaching: Finding mathematics in a global treasure hunt. Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 19(4), 19–14. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/aeipt.214765

Fornasini, S., Dianti, M., Bacchiega, A., Forti, S., & Conforti, D. (2020). Using Geocaching to promote active aging: Qualitative study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(6), e15339. https://doi.org/10.2196/15339

Open Clipart. (n.d.). Compass rose vector sketch [Clipart]. FreeSVG. https://freesvg.org/compass-rose-vector-sketch

THNKR. (n.d.). Intro to geocaching – find amazing treasures! | Kids teaching kids [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62tjTsf4e4U&ab_channel=THNKR

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fractions Come Alive: Teaching Number Lines with Dash Robots

 Today’s third-grade math lesson reminded me why I love blending creativity with core curriculum. There’s something energizing about watching students light up when a challenging concept finally clicks–especially when robots are involved. Fractions can feel abstract for many learners. Number lines, equivalent fractions, and relationships between numerator and denominator aren’t always easy to visualize. So instead of beginning with worksheets or diagrams, we brought out Wonder Dash robots and turned the classroom floor into a living, breathing math lab. Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub Students started by examining a 240-centimeter number line taped to the floor. We talked about wholes, halves, fourths, and eighths, and what it means to partition a space into equal parts. Then came the challenge: How far does Dash need to travel to land precisely on one-half? What about one-fourth? Three-eighths? Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub Suddenly, fractions weren’t symbols on a page. Th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Designing Friendship: How 2nd Graders Used 3D Printing to Build Empathy, Community, and Creativity

 In a world where connection matters more than ever, our 2nd graders used technology not just to create — but to understand each other. This project was more than a design challenge; it was a celebration of empathy, identity, and friendship. To start, each student interviewed a classmate using guided questions focused on favorite hobbies, foods, books, family traditions, and what makes them unique. These weren’t surface-level conversations — students were engaged, thoughtful, and genuinely curious about each other. Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub From there, the real magic happened: students took what they learned and turned it into a tangible design. Using Tinkercad, they created a 3D object that represented their partner — a soccer ball for a sports lover, a cat for an animal enthusiast, a slice of pizza for a foodie. Every single print told a story. Every design was a tribute to what made their classmate special. What students learned: ...
Post a Comment
Read more

From Pencils to Pixels: Animating Opinions with Scratch

Our latest Scratch adventure with second graders was one for the books! After writing persuasive pieces on the quirky question, "Would you rather be a shark that can't bite or a penguin that can't swim?" students brought their stories to life—one code block at a time. Using Scratch, each student animated their opinion, adding movement, dialogue, and even sound effects to express their ideas in a whole new way. I was blown away by how thoughtful and creative their projects turned out. Every animation was full of voice, personality, and purpose. A simple writing prompt evolved into a cross-curricular project that blended literacy, storytelling, and computer science. More importantly, it allowed students to see their ideas come alive–and the pride on their faces was everything. We started with storyboarding our ideas. Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech hub Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub Then, went straight to learning to code wit...
1 comment
Read more