STEM-Geospatial Technology

I know that one of my biggest ways to kill time (not like I do a lot of that these days) is to play around on Google Maps.  Enter in some random zip code and see where it takes you.  Apparently, zip code 32935 is in Melbourne, Florida.  Sweet.  Anyway, punch in a zip code, let the map do its magic, and voila...you are in a land of knowledge just waiting to be learned.  Google maps is a great tool (one of the few iPhone apps I use on a regular basis is the Google Map app).  Yet, we can always take it one step further.  We use Garmin eTrex Venture HC GPS units and ArcView GIS software (both as part of the STEM grant my school is a part of).  I love these gadgets.  Recently, I took my class on a geocaching adventure (in the front of the school) using the GPS units.  ArcGIS is a professional program, so it's a little difficult to grasp at first, but the really neat thing about it is that you can sync it with your GPS and download marked waypoints from your GPS to the GIS as a shapefile data layer. 

After the jump is a post I made on my school's science and tech blog about the GPS and GIS.  Enjoy.


Title: GPS in Mr. Caputo's Classroom (dated February 14th):

This week, in Mr. Caputo’s 8th grade earth science class, we will be going on a scavenger hunt, but not just any ordinary scavenger hunt. We are going on an excursion to find “buried treasure” using the Garmin eTrex Venture HC GPS receiver. This little gadget is the type of thing you would want to take with you on a camping excursion in the woods.


This week we are doing two different activities with this device. The first will be a “hide and seek” type treasure hunt, and the other will be more directed. In the first activity, each student will bring in a “treasure,” a small toy or trinket that they would not be sad to see lost. They will search for a (safe) place on the property to hide their little treasure, and mark that location as a waypoint using their GPS receiver. Then, they will return the receiver to the teacher, who will then distribute the receiver to another student, who will then proceed to use the “find” feature on the GPS to locate the waypoint and find the treasure. After finding the treasure, the students will then compare what they found with what the originial student actually left behind.
The second activity will be more directed. This will be a true scavenger hunt. The teacher (me) will hide throughout the campus a series of small geocaches (see more about geocaching below). In these geocaches will be a little rock or mineral with a story behind it and a clue. The clue will tell the team of students where to find the next waypoint. 8 waypoints will be loaded into 8 GPS receivers, one receiver per team. By solving the clue or riddle, they will know where the next waypoint will be found. This will require students to recall knowledge about rocks and minerals from 2 units that we just recently completed.

For those well-versed in GPS use, you should try geocaching. Throughout the country, there are several small geocaches hidden in various locations. Using latitude/longitude data from websites such as Geocaching.com and a GPS receiver such as the Garmin eTrex, you can fine these small treasure chests. Geocaches usually contain a log book (to record who has visited it) and a little big of SWAG. SWAG stands for “stuff we all get.” The idea is to exchange a small piece of SWAG with a small piece of SWAG found in the geocache. It is a great activity for a weekend to get outdoors and play with a GPS receiver.
Later this year, we will be doing a project with the GPS where studens will not only mark waypoints in the GPS, they will actually import those waypoints into a Geographic Information System (GIS) program as one step in figuring out how their daily lives impact the health of the Chesapeake Bay.