Geocoaching

Geography geocoaching

Long before Pokemon Go, Geocaching has been an activity enjoyed my many people around the world. A treasure hunt in every suburb for people to retrieve a clue and go and find a hidden cache. Recently year 10 Geography students were introduced to the world of Geocaching. Students were required to use their observation and mapping skills to find 13 geocaches hidden around Cecil Hills High School. Teams used maps with area and grid references to get to the location, then the GPS on their phones to get closer to the hidden cache with exact latitude and longitude coordinates.

The mission:

locate all 13 geocaches
write down the mystery letter in each cache
photograph the entire team with the cache and their team idol without any of the other teams knowing the geocache location.
return to mission control with the geographical term spelled out and a series of photos to show proof of the geocache retrieval.

With maps, idols and a letter consisting of instructions and rules of fair play, students raced off around the school like seasoned private investigators. The covert operation that some teams went to to throw other teams of their geocache-find was amazing. Overall, students were able use their mapping skills and realised the power of acute observation, looking at a part of the school that they walk past everyday and finding something that is out of the ordinary.

Congratulations to those teams who won prizes for the most caches found and to Nancy Edani of Year 10 who worked out the geographical term.

Did you know that there are at least 22 hidden Geocaches within Cecil Hills and Elizabeth Hills?

F Farah

Geography teacher