Geocaching is a popular activity with students because it is fun, they get outside for a walk, discover new areas or features, and go on a little scavenger hunt. It is a great activity that you can do at any age all around the world. If you haven’t heard of geocaching before check out http://www.geocaching.com. You can sign up for free and upload coordinates to your GPS or you can download the geocaching.com app and use your phone to hunt for caches.
In a nut shell, people will hide caches and upload the coordinates and clues to http://www.geocaching.com and then you search for them. Almost every cache will contain a log book that you date and sign. Some caches will have items in them. You can take an item, but you must replace it with something else if you do
When I geocache with my class I will pull up the caches in a particular area on a map and choose a walking route with 6-8 caches beforehand. I only have one GPS, which works well because then we stick together. One student will be in charge of the GPS and the rest will follow. If I have keeners, I will tell them the name of the next cache and some of them will use their phones to look up the cache and run ahead. Once we get to the area that the cache is in everyone looks for it. I usually offer a “prize” to anyone pho finds a cache to motivate students a bit more.
I have had classes who really enjoy geocaching and we have even hidden our own caches – you can buy some really fun caches: fake rocks, fake dog poop, fake sprinklers, etc. It is also fun to send out trackable items and watch their travels – visit http://www.geocaching.com/track/ for more information.