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  You may have heard the term ‘geocaching’ being mentioned quite a lot recently, but what exactly is it? The geocaching website describes it as a ‘high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices’ and the basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online.
The geocaches, or caches, – often small plastic containers – include logbooks to be signed and some include prizes for the finder. The activity has grown rapidly over the last 11 years, with almost 1.5 million caches waiting to be found worldwide. Many people use geocaching as a way to explore areas, others use it as a hobby at the weekends, and now, tech-savvy teachers have coined clever ways of using geocaching to inspire learning.
Primary school teacher, Jen Deyenberg, has been using geocaching alongside resources from BrainPOP to create interesting lessons for her class. She says:
“One of my favourite geocaching lessons was a science lesson. We used the BrainPOP UK PH Scale movie to learn about the concept and to learn how to test acids and bases using litmus paper. We used our GPS units to go out and find hidden geocaches around the playground with a sample of a substance.
Using PH strips, or litmus paper, we tested the substances. If the students thought it was an ‘acid’ they followed one set of coordinates, a ‘base’ another set. If they chose the correct set of co-ordinates they got another substance to test. If they chose incorrectly they found a quick reminder of how litmus paper worked, then they had to try again!”
 Geocaching can be used alongside BrainPOP resources to create engaging and innovative lessons
Following the success of geocaching in her class, Deyenberg has created a set of teacher activities and student worksheets for use with BrainPOP UK’s Finding Your Way Spotlight, a collection of videos and activities about navigation, geography and maths.
Deyenberg’s ‘Blowing Your Mind’ activities focus on teaching pupils about different parts of the world by exploring wind. Caches are hidden around the school grounds with foreign words for ‘wind’ inside. Once the pupils understand the principles behind longitude and latitude, they have to find these caches using GPS devices and are then encouraged to research these words and the continents they come from.
Summarising geocaching, Deyenberg says:
“Collaboration, physical activity, distance, measurement, history, talking, listening, writing, creating…. and of course – fun! Try geocaching using GPS with your class. It’s a great new way to get outdoors to learn!”
Schools with a BrainPOP UK licence can download Deyenberg’s activity sheets from the BrainPOP UK blog, or visit Deyenberg’s website for numerous other ways to use geocaching in lessons.
With more than 10 million visits a month to its global sites, BrainPOP’s award-winning educational resources are used by students at home and in thousands of schools worldwide. BrainPOP UK topics span Science, Humanities, English, Maths, Arts, PSHE & Citizenship, Design & Technology, and English as a foreign language. They are tagged to and searchable by the English KS2 & KS3 curricula and guidance, and Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland. For more information about BrainPOP UK, click here.
 Right now your school can take advantage of massive savings on BrainPOP UK licences, available exclusively through bee-it’s brand new group-buying service for schools, The Hive. This extra special offer won’t be available forever so click here to find out more now!
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