Math ideas run rampant with GPS in education! One helpful resource I've found is the edublog here, but it is currently down for repair. Below are some ideas gleaned from this site:

• Calculate the perimeter or area of your school or other large area - you could

even use the area calculation to estimate the volume of water that hits that area

during a 1" rainstorm!

• Calculate the slope of a hill, using the trip information page. It will show you

how far you have walked, and you can note the change in elevation. After that, let the power of the Pythagorean

Theorem guide you!

• Magic of Nine (GCGJPT) Geocache

(http://www.geocaching.com/seek/

cache_details.aspx?wp=GCGJPT).

Through some mathematical trick, the

procedure outlined in the cache

description will give correct

coordinates, even thgough the input

numbers could be different. Can

anyone explain to me how this one

works?

• Create a path, and at each turn, tell

your partner the angle to measure to

make the next turn. Could each

member of the team retrace the

correct path?

• Create a multi-cache, and require

students to do different math functions

or problems to come up with the

correct numbers for the next location.

• Have students walk and plot on the

map the endpoints of a given shape

(triangle, rhombus, parallelogram,

circle, etc.) and see their results. (My

addition - using Google Earth, plot the

coordinates and enter them into the

GPS units. Have students go from

point to point and see how the shape

that they walked compares to the

shape that they plotted.)

• Calculate the distance between 2

points, then calculate the legs using

Pythagoreans Theorem

• Calculate the height of an object

• Calculate or find the elevations of

different points and graph those

elevations.

• Area: Have students go outside and

step off an area, graph it, and find the

area. Use the GPS to walk the same

area to see how close you

were with the first estimate.

• (Elementary) Use the units to

practice or learn cardinal

directions of N, S, E, & W.

• Practice adding and

subtracting 3 digit numbers to

come up with GPS

coordinates to travel

from one cache or

location to another.

• Use a Sudoku

puzzle to give cache

coordinates - replace

the first needed digit in the

puzzle with an A, second number with

a B, and so on until the full

coordinates are given.