The Geomate.jr GPS receiver from Apisphere is a cost-effective, user friendly unit to use with students of all ages. It is just one possibility for the Educaching teacher. Below are some resources to get started using your Geomate receiver with your students. Visit www.educaching.com to see these devices combined with a unique curriculum that transforms education into an outdoor learning experience. Kits of all sizes and needs are provided. Enjoy!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
A Personal Story
Hide and Seek!
Jason Hubbard
Woodland Elementary
Perrysburg, Ohio
Alone in the woods with only my handheld GPS device and millions of dollars worth of satellites to help me navigate, I was looking for a small container hidden off the beaten path. Elated with joy, I finally found my tiny canister containing a clue that would prompt me to solve a simple math problem. As I excitedly fumbled with my pen and a scrap of paper to evaluate a numerical expression, I double checked my calculations and was on my way to find the final hidden prize! For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, geocaching is an outdoor adventure that utilizes GPS technology to take people on high-tech scavenger hunts for hidden caches. Now, imagine using this concept to take students beyond the four walls of the classroom on engaging hunts centered around their learning and you’ve got what I call educaching!
I realized that a unique hook for learning could be found in educaching. I began, a la “cart before the horse,” by writing a teacher’s manual to help myself and other teachers who wanted to implement this strategy from the ground up and began using my own students as guinea pigs to pilot test the program and see if it had worth. The first year, I started a GPS-based after school club with 5th graders. To my surprise, half of the 5th grade showed up and I found myself in charge of 43 students (and quickly scrambling for parent volunteers!). The students simply wanted to use the technology to search for things I had hidden on the school campus. They enjoyed the thrill of seeking for something hidden. Imagine...students being thrilled to learn and wishing they could stay at school longer in order to do so...this is what happens through the vehicle of educaching.
The concept is simple: I arm groups of students with a handheld GPS and take them outdoors where I have pre-arranged clues in hidden containers. Each group begins searching for an assigned container which holds a math problem, for example. If the problem is solved correctly by the team, the answer tells them which numbered container to find next and they’re off running to the next location using their GPS device. If they answer incorrectly, they clamor to correct their work in order to find the right solution. Another type of learning in this context can be pictured in a lesson I call “Grand Slam.” In this lesson, the students are teamed up and take turns kicking a kickball from home base. The total distance of each kick is measured by the students with the GPS device. They then calculate the mean, median, mode, and range of their personal kicks and compare with kicks of their classmates. It ends up being an exciting lesson that allows them to directly participate in their learning with their own data. When doing these kinds of educaching lessons, the students don’t even realize that they are using problem-solving skills, team collaboration, science, mathematics, language arts, and good communication all wrapped up into one exciting experience.
After GPS club and using this curriculum periodically throughout the school years with my students to engage them in lessons, I also studied educaching in my action research concerning the effects on motivation of today’s learners by using GPS in education. The results of the research are undeniable...providing students with this technology, cultivating outdoor learning environments, and providing a framework similar to “The Great Race” is a formula for success when it comes to student engagement. I can’t wait to see what happens next! I have plans to guide my students to create an outdoor educaching park adjacent to our school’s campus. The hunts will be completely student-created and maintained and would center on learning mathematics, science, and local history. This will also connect my 5th graders with their community as they would be creating an educational environment that everyone can utilize: from homeschoolers, to scouts, to youth groups, to neighbors...the possibilities are endless and the well of excitement is overflowing. Let the hunt for learning begin!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
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.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Taking Math Outdoors, Part I
Greetings! I have some exciting lesson plans to share with you. During the 2010-2011 school year, several teachers from northwest Ohio have been gathering for what is called the STEM Inquiry Series through NWO (Northwest Ohio Center for Excellence in STEM Education) at Bowling Green State University. Several excellent teachers have been taking a monthly course titled: Taking Math Outdoors, which focuses on bringing mathematics outside through GPS and academically-based geocaching lessons.
These teachers have been working hard, learning how to utilize GPS in their classrooms with their own core content. They have focused on a specific math topic and created relevant lesson plans that can be used today. Here are a few great fractions lessons to wet your appetite!
These teachers have been working hard, learning how to utilize GPS in their classrooms with their own core content. They have focused on a specific math topic and created relevant lesson plans that can be used today. Here are a few great fractions lessons to wet your appetite!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Launch into Educaching with NASA SciFiles
Years ago, NASA put together an educational program for public television called the NASA SciFiles. It did not earn much recognition and only lasted a few seasons, but one episode in particular caught my eye...it's called The Case of the Technical Knockout. It is all about geocaching and how GPS works and it's pretty good. This could be a nice introduction to use with your students before you launch into GPS based lessons. You can follow the link to download an hour long video (which you can show in segments) and the great educator's guide shown below!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Digital Pirates: Navigating the High Seas of Geocaching in Education
Arrrrr....you ready for an adventure? We certainly were at the eTech 2011conference in Columbus last month. The weather outside was frightful, but that didn't keep the participants from doing an indoor faux educaching hunt. The presentation can be viewed below. Before the conference, I wrestled with the idea of taking teachers outdoors in the freezing temperatures, much like I would if I were to take students out. I decided against it. Instead, I created a video outdoors while in the Columbus cold to help show teachers some good hiding spots and help explain what Educaching is all about from my perspective.
A few weeks later, the weather took a turn for the better in northwest Ohio at the NWO Inquiry Series. I decided to take teachers outdoors for a lesson called Grand Slam! This lesson can be found in Educaching: GPS Based Curriculum for Teachers and incorporates math and physical education. It was a smash hit, no pun intended. Inclement weather can be tricky, but I learned a valuable lesson: If there is a break in the weather, go for it! The teachers and I were so excited to just get outside after being cooped up for a few months and enjoyed using the lesson as a unique way to capture statistical data like median, mode, mean, and range. So, if it's cold where you are, think about getting them out once or twice, even if you need to suit them up first...chances are, they'll love it and learn!
A few weeks later, the weather took a turn for the better in northwest Ohio at the NWO Inquiry Series. I decided to take teachers outdoors for a lesson called Grand Slam! This lesson can be found in Educaching: GPS Based Curriculum for Teachers and incorporates math and physical education. It was a smash hit, no pun intended. Inclement weather can be tricky, but I learned a valuable lesson: If there is a break in the weather, go for it! The teachers and I were so excited to just get outside after being cooped up for a few months and enjoyed using the lesson as a unique way to capture statistical data like median, mode, mean, and range. So, if it's cold where you are, think about getting them out once or twice, even if you need to suit them up first...chances are, they'll love it and learn!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Toyota Tapestry Grant
This year, Toyota will be awarding 50 grants of $10,000 each! Now is the time to get brainstorming with a few other teachers you know or individually to get some money for technology in your classroom! The award is for any elementary, middle school, or high school science teacher. The grant focuses on environmental education and the subcategories you may choose from are biotic (living factors) and abiotic (nonliving factors pollution, oil, water, soil, and human interactions).
The deadline for your proposal is 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, February 23. You still have time to write a fantastic grant. Think of the possibilities of exploring your environment with GPS! To get you started with possible ideas, the educators at The Science Spot have prepared an amazing plan complete with cache clues and everything to get your students out on an environmental hunt. Be sure to check out this GPS lesson called EarthQuest! Just scroll down the page.
Check out the proposal requirements for the Toyota Tapestry Grant here. Good luck!
The deadline for your proposal is 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, February 23. You still have time to write a fantastic grant. Think of the possibilities of exploring your environment with GPS! To get you started with possible ideas, the educators at The Science Spot have prepared an amazing plan complete with cache clues and everything to get your students out on an environmental hunt. Be sure to check out this GPS lesson called EarthQuest! Just scroll down the page.
Check out the proposal requirements for the Toyota Tapestry Grant here. Good luck!
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