Elementary students from Richmond County Schools recently used GPS technology and geocaching during their annual field trip to a zoo. During the summer, one of the teachers traveled to the zoo and marked the exact latitude, longitude, and altitude coordinates of various exhibits using a GPS unit. Teachers then created group not-books that included this waypoint for each group to rotate through as they completed observation sheets for collecting animal and habitat data.
The cool part about the project is that the students located their assigned exhibits using the GPS units. Teachers instructed students the basics of using the Garmin eTrex Legend GPS unit and on special vocabulary for geocaching and gave a review of latitude and longitude. For the actual field trip, a teacher trained in GPS use accompanied all seven groups. Each group had a digital camera, two eTrex Legends, observation data sheets, and a map of the zoo.
Technology always seems to be pushing the limits for children to learn in EVERY subject, making it fun and exiting to learn.
hahaha. it is a cool project. It is awesome to see how a simple gps can be so practicle. it is like haveing a new or different type of google maps. it is nice to see how a simple technology that was not designed for education can be used to teach.
ReplyDeleteWow, this does sound interesting!...I think this teacher(s) came up with a great idea of incorporating technology use with learning. This goes to show that you really can find a way to use technology in an educational setting. I'm sure the students were learning more than they may have felt they were.
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