GPS Powered Team Building
You’ll search for a cache,
Inside you’ll find a team…
Jo Ann Fjellman – Facilitator / Designer
Tanya Phillips – Course Designer /
Technical Advisor
Purpose & Intentions
Participate in an experiential educational program that
effectively models an engaged, participant-centered
activity utilizing GPS receivers and technology.
Stimulate a blend of 21st Century Skills, competitive fun
and collaborative learning elements that include
problem solving, leadership qualities, decision making
and communication components that are easily
transferred back to their students.
Incorporate the benefits of collaboration and gain new
knowledge and insights that stimulate creative
thinking.
Have FUN, generate excitement, enthusiasm and transfer
sustainable innovative learning design back in to the
class room.
What is Geoteaming?
 Hi-tech outdoor “Discovery” hunt.
 Requires teamwork and skill to
balance the natural tension between
individual competitive drive AND team
collaboration.
 Team and Leadership training product
designed by PLAYTIME Inc.
 Created after the international sport:
geocaching www.geocaching.com
Stimulate Creativity and Innovation!
“Play is important, not only to give our
analytical brains a break, but to knit
new pathways in our brain. Play
excites the brain with
neurotransmitters that promote
nerve development and alignment,
essentially reshaping the trails
between different sections of our
brain.”
Stuart Brown, MD
Field Session Challenge
 Your team will use Garmin
GPS receivers, a URL
webpage and/or Pocket
PC’s to help you locate 20
cache locations in
Arlington Echo Center .
 The cache point value
varies and is based on
difficulty and distance.
 Every cache may be found
once by each team and in
any order.
Physical Cache
 IF there is a Gold Card in the
container, take it!
Gold = Extra Bonus Points(1)
Code word = Regular Points
 Write down the code
word/answer on your answer
sheet.
 All team members must be
present to take a card.
 Take an Inspired team photo!
 Return the cache Exactly as
you found it.
Virtual Cache
 Answer the question on the URL
webpage or in the Pocket PC.
 Write your correct answer on the
Answer Sheet.
(WRONG & Illegible ANSWERS = NO POINTS!)
 Take a
team photograph.
Interactive Cache
 Find the physical container for the
instructions. Call a Geotech if needed
to complete your challenge!
 Geotech’s to provide your Code Word
for your Answer Sheet upon successful
completion.
STEM Academy Goal
Region 2
Ensure that all 20 cache locations
have been successfully completed
to earn the collaborative award.
Individual Team Goal
Earn the most points from the course
to WIN the TOP TEAM award!
Team
Goal
Do it with style! – Be recognized as
the MOST creative team and win the
Best photograph(s) Award!
Ground Rules
1) Work as a team!
Stick together and support
each other.
Win AS a team not
FOR the team.
2) Just a Few No’s!
No Running.
No Losing your teammates.
No Trashing the environment.
No Bushwhacking.
3) Safety!
Surfaces can be SLIPPERY
especially when wet!
Ground Rules
Photo verify all
of your finds
with ALL
members of
your team
other than the
photographer
at the “cache”
location.
Ground Rules
Be On Time!!
Return on time
or lose 50% of
your total
revenue earned.
GARMIN Venture HC
GPS Antenna
Zoom In
Zoom Out
Quit / Page
Enter / Rocker
Power /
Backlight
Menu / Find
GARMIN Venture HC
Finding a Destination in the GPS
Press Page – Main Menu
Select Find – Enter (Set-up)
Select Waypoints - Enter
Select Waypoint ECH000
Press Enter
Waypoint: ECH000 =
Start & Finish
Select Go To - Enter
GARMIN Venture HC
Navigation Pages
Map Page
Trip Computer
Altimeter Page
Customize:
Speed
Time to Day (Game Clock)
Waypoint at Destination
Dist. to Destination
Compass
Page
GPS Navigation
Waypoint Name
Distance
(mi=miles, ft=feet)
Accuracy
(15 – 30 feet)
“Direct” path to
cache location
(Set-up Options)
Move to activate directional arrow!
Arrow going in circles = You are in the target ZONE!
Discuss in your team:
What Happened? (Be prepared to report out)
What was your team’s most difficult
challenge? Most successful strategy?
How did your team actually make
decisions and take action?
What was the total group’s strategy
for success?
What was your most
memorable cache and
why?
GPS
School Based Highlights
Marshall Middle School
Elaine Gillum
What is GPS Technology?
Let’s let Tim & Mobey tell you about
that!
First, let’s learn about Longitude and
Latitude:
Brainpop
Now let’s learn about GPS
Brainpop
How did
you
do??
How did
you
do??
Tell me more about GPS Technology
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
More…. How GPS Works
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
What’s a cache?
There are 4 types of caches:
1. Physical
2. Virtual
3. Multi
4. Initiative
Class Goals
*We want every
cache found at
least once by this
class.
*As a team you are
competing for the
most points, but
as a class EVERY
cache needs to be
found.
*Any class that
successfully
completes all the
caches gets 25
extra credit points!
To Mark A Waypoint
1. Go to Menu Screen
2. Hi-Light Mark
3. Press Enter
4. Note the name of the
waypoint
5. Hi-light OK and
press Enter
6. At the Waypoint
screen, press Enter
GPS in the Classroom
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Resources:
www.groundspeak.com
http://gis-world.aacounty.org
www.dnr.state.mn.us/shutdown.html
As of midnight, June 30, the Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources will be shutdown due to a state budget
impasse.
http://www.easygps.com
EASY GPS for PC users - FREE SOFTWARE
http://www.maccaching.com/
For MAC - May work similar to Easy GPS - FREE VERSION
http://www.maccaching.com/registration/
A single-user license of MacCaching is only $15 (US)!
http://www.google.com/earth/download/ge/agree.html
Download Google Earth for PC, Mac, or Linux
Additional Resources
Find a Geocacher:
Parents, Friends, Associations, Clubs
Talk to Other Schools
Other Districts
Other States:
Other Peers
Successful Participant Centered Learning Elements
Game quality
Crazy containers
Working together
Lots of small wins
Built over time
Clear goals
Focus on collaboration
Chaperone involvement
Principal involvement
School spirit enhanced
Celebration
Program Design Template
Program Goals:
STEM Curriculum and 21 Century skills
Sustainable learning components
Cooperation in the classroom
Set the tone for a successful year
Instructional Days: (How many?)
Classroom instruction - What topics?
What is a GPS Receiver?
What is GIS?
How do they work?
How are they beneficial?
Demo Field Session – (Equipment & Caches)
Program Design Strategy
Game Day: (Things to consider)
Goals: Collaboration &Team Achievement
Team Size
Team Captains
Parent Chaperones
Principal Involvement
Rewards
Duration
Debrief/Mining for Learning
Incorporating
21st Century Skills
ACTION
Doing the experience
CONTINUATION
REFLECTION
Strategies to sustain the
learning and change
Exploring the lessons
INTEGRATION
Transfer the learning
from the experience to
the other situations
Self Awareness & Reflection
A Learning Edge – Crafting a Debrief
WHAT Happened?
SO WHAT does it mean ?
NOW WHAT do you do differently?
Discuss in your team:
(Be prepared to report out)
Craft a few excellent and age
appropriate debrief questions that
engage thinking in one of these areas:
Communication
Creativity/Innovation
Strategy
Leadership
Problem Solving
Decision Making
Course Design Considerations












Lay out: Hub & Spokes / Circle / Out & Back
Location / Approach / Safety / Unique Qualities
Type of Cache: Physical, Virtual, Multi-Stage Interactive
Type of Container: Use your Imagination
Specific Location Opportunities: Learning / Fun
Distance from Start/Finish: <1 mile to furthest cache
Distance Between Caches: 1/10th of a mile
Number of Teams:
Size of Teams: Ideal 3 - 6
Age/ Fitness of Participants: Home Command?
Learning Element at Each Cache
Waypoint Value
Course Design Core
Elements:
 Physical Course Components:
 Containers, Virtual, Multi-Stage, Interactive
 Codewords, Bonus Cards, Quiz Sheets
 Technology:
 GPS Receivers
 Aerial Maps
 Cache Clue Sheet /Passport
 Cameras
 Radios
 Content:
 STEM - Environmental - Historical - Fun
Paper Clue Sheet Example
WDV012 600/400 points Physical
Check your oil,
check your fan
don’t forget your
radiator man!
WDV013 500 points Virtual
How many Orcas
can you count from
where you are
standing now?
Arlington Echo Outdoor Educational Center Example
GPS Receiver Technology
Marking, Altering and Averaging Waypoints
Press Enter
Select Avg (average) - Enter
Wait 10 counts
Select OK – Enter
Select Default number name Enter to open the on-screen
Keypad make changes
Select OK and Enter
Naming Protocol – Your Choice
First three letters of the course location and three
digit numbers. Example: AEC012
GPS Receiver Technology
How Do We?:
 Downloading and Uploading Waypoints
 Making and Utilizing Tracks
Making a Route (Strategic Plan)
CREATIVE WARM-UP:
Stretch your thinking muscles
Guidelines for encouraging
exploration and increasing the
imaginative mindset.
Strive for quantity
Seek wild and unusual ideas
Build on others ideas
Defer judgment – no criticism
New Team Formation: STEM
Design a BETTER Bathtub!
Make it REAL!
Subject Matter Brainstorm
Go wild and wacky on ideas for using GPS
receivers and Geoteaming designs to reach
your curriculum and classroom goals.
Reach for 35+ ideas
Select 5+ ideas that really hold possibility
 Detail out these ideas for sharing with
other teams.
All Group Discussion
What lessons from today’s Geoteaming
experience can be transferred back to
your classroom?
What are you most excited about initiating?
What additional resources or support do you
think you will need?
Celebration!
AWARDS
&
SLIDESHOW
Thank You!
We hope you enjoyed your day and
gained new insights and a few valuable
lessons.
We hope to see you at future events.
Your Geoteaming Staff
Jo Ann Fjellman
Tanya Phillips
www.geoteaming.com