Team CDCB Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 Hey all, My wife is a 5th grade teacher and she's thinking of trying to incorperation some Geocaching like activities to help kids get a more practical understanding of Lattitude and Longitude. She's going to try and write up a grant to get some private money to help wit this, but we need to try to get a handle on how much it would cost to buy a handful of GPS units for her school to use. I have a GPS what works with my Palm, but I've never gone GPS shopping for just a basic GPS unit, so I don't even have a solid clue with to look for as far as options or what prices are for stand alone units. I'm pretty much looking for something that is relatively easy to operate... we would need to be able to teach the basic operations to a 5th grader in just a view minutes, so obviously it would need to be easy to use. We'd want something with a decent battery life... rechargeable batteries would be great so they aren't having to buy a bunch of new batteries regularly. Being able to enter at least a few waypoints would be nice. Obviously cost is the biggest issue though. We'd probably need to get at least 5 units, so we can't get anything hugely expensive. Any recommendations? Quote Link to comment
Dale_Lynn Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 (edited) Not knowing much about pricing or writing grants I can not really help you there.... BUT I can suggest you avoid GPSr that can NOT be connected to a computer for information up/downloads.... You probably want all the same brand name and model number units as it will be easier to connect units to any PC and use software like EasyGPS or GASK to manipulate data in GPSr... When its a situation where you may want all students/units on "same page" connectivity to a PC is something to really consider.... Manually entering multiple coordinate lists and multiple units will be a real time consumer and a possible source of errors.... You may also what to query on line sellers or manufacturers to see if they will honor a "educational discount" if you buy a specific number of units.... Dale Edited November 13, 2006 by Dale_Lynn Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 Cheap and easy to use. The black and white Garmin Etrex series. The Legend is a great all around unti that will introduce them to most functions of a GPS and keeps the price down. Quote Link to comment
Team CDCB Posted November 13, 2006 Author Share Posted November 13, 2006 When its a situation where you may want all students/units on "same page" connectivity to a PC is something to really consider.... Manually entering multiple coordinate lists and multiple units will be a real time consumer and a possible source of errors.... That's something to think about... on one hand it would be good to have that info "preset" for them, but on the other hand, having it put it in yourself is a good 'teaching' tool. We'll have to think about what's better for the students. You may also what to query on line sellers or manufacturers to see if they will honor a "educational discount" if you buy a specific number of units.... Hadn't thought about that... good idea! Quote Link to comment
+IfIOnlyHadABrain Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 (edited) I work in a school where we just got 4 Garmin Etrex Legends for just under $500. This is the unit I use for my personal geocaching and I find it easy to operate, good battery life and my 8 y/o- 3rd grade daughter can use it with guidance. It comes with a serial cable for downloading coords, and while I think they could get on the ball and go USB, it really hasn't been a problem at all. I can find out who we order from if you like. I know we get an educational discount and they ship quickly...we ordered on Wednesday and they came in today. Edited November 13, 2006 by IfIOnlyHadABrain Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 When its a situation where you may want all students/units on "same page" connectivity to a PC is something to really consider.... Manually entering multiple coordinate lists and multiple units will be a real time consumer and a possible source of errors.... That's something to think about... on one hand it would be good to have that info "preset" for them, but on the other hand, having it put it in yourself is a good 'teaching' tool. We'll have to think about what's better for the students. The beauty of getting units that have the ability to connect to the PC is that you need mot make a decision and then be forced to live with it. If you buy units that can be connected to the PC, you can download them all if you wish to and still be able to manually enter coords as a teaching tool. If you buy units that cannot be connected to the PC, you are stuck with only maually entering coords. Quote Link to comment
+Wayfinders Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I would use the basic Garmin Etrex or a similar model from any manufacturer. Let them punch in the Lat / Long. This teaches respect for numbers and the importance of paying attention / accuracy. Too much plug and play defeats the purpose of educating. If you want to show them a unit that has upload / download capabilities, I would do just that. SHOW them. There is no better teacher than hands-on experience. Now as far as a discount goes, my local Wal-Mart gives me discounts on the items I buy for charities. I have a tax ID # though, not sure if your school does. My daughter’s school gets donations from local business for their Chinese auctions. Perhaps you could petition local Land Surveying and Civil Engineering firms. Explain to them what you are doing and that the units would be school property to perhaps educate some of their future employees. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I would likely get a bunch of yellow etrexes and buy a single PC cable, but I'm a big cheapo. Quote Link to comment
+biosearch Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 The Garmin Gecko (which I know nothing about, but there is information on the following site http://gpsinformation.net/geko-201.html, you can go there for reviews of just about every gps) retails for 114.00 but there are some on eBay for less (I don't know if there are reserves on them). Lowrance iFinder GO Portable Handheld GPS Unit runs for 68.66 at Tiger GPS. The magellan eXplorist 100 is the least expensive at retail price that I've been able to find (I've been thinking about getting one for my geocaching buddy, my nine y/o daughter) . They can be had for 89.00 at TheGPSStore.com. However, this unit does not have usb connectivity, it does not have the base maps or (obviously) the ability to upload poi's, waypoints or detailed maps. If you want anything more, especially usb connectivity, you're going to be in the neighborhood of 150.00. I use the eXplorist and the outdoor bundle (with maps etc.) can not be beaten for the price, but again it will most likely be out of your price range. Having been in the teaching field I know how money matters and this is a rather extravagant purchase, as these things go. Quote Link to comment
+IfIOnlyHadABrain Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I would likely get a bunch of yellow etrexes and buy a single PC cable, but I'm a big cheapo. The bad thing about the yellow etrex is that it only shows the direction to your waypoint and not the distance to it...it could be 10 feet or 10 miles! Quote Link to comment
+emurock Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I'm a big cheapo. Me to. Quote Link to comment
+emurock Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I would likely get a bunch of yellow etrexes and buy a single PC cable, but I'm a big cheapo. The bad thing about the yellow etrex is that it only shows the direction to your waypoint and not the distance to it...it could be 10 feet or 10 miles! My yellow etrex shows the direction to the waypoint and the distance to it. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 (edited) I would likely get a bunch of yellow etrexes and buy a single PC cable, but I'm a big cheapo. The bad thing about the yellow etrex is that it only shows the direction to your waypoint and not the distance to it...it could be 10 feet or 10 miles! The ones I've seen give you the distance. I'd say a yellow eTrex or Garmin Geko 201 would be good choices. The Gekos are probably the easiest GPS to use. Battery life isn't the best on the Geko, but you can always invest in rechargables and a charger. Edited November 13, 2006 by briansnat Quote Link to comment
+IfIOnlyHadABrain Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I would likely get a bunch of yellow etrexes and buy a single PC cable, but I'm a big cheapo. The bad thing about the yellow etrex is that it only shows the direction to your waypoint and not the distance to it...it could be 10 feet or 10 miles! My yellow etrex shows the direction to the waypoint and the distance to it. My mistake. maybe I'm thinking of the orange Maegellan explorist. Quote Link to comment
Team CDCB Posted November 13, 2006 Author Share Posted November 13, 2006 I would likely get a bunch of yellow etrexes and buy a single PC cable, but I'm a big cheapo. The bad thing about the yellow etrex is that it only shows the direction to your waypoint and not the distance to it...it could be 10 feet or 10 miles! Does it show Latt & Long? One of the activities they would use these for would be to go to a point based on Latt/Long, not entering a waypoint at all, just "go to the numbers" sort of thing. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 Does it show Latt & Long? One of the activities they would use these for would be to go to a point based on Latt/Long, not entering a waypoint at all, just "go to the numbers" sort of thing. Sure it does. Take a look at some screenshots on Garmin's site here. Quote Link to comment
Not So Lost Puppies Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 another very inexpensive option is the Garmin Foretrex 101, while it doesn't come with a PC cable, you get one for it. they have been selling at Aldi's stores around here for $69.95. They are nice small lightwieght units, that take AAA batteries (can use NiMH rechargables) It does show Lat/Long. I picked one up as a second GPSr to keep with me for those times when a cache pops up near work that I can find on the way home Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I would likely get a bunch of yellow etrexes and buy a single PC cable, but I'm a big cheapo. The bad thing about the yellow etrex is that it only shows the direction to your waypoint and not the distance to it...it could be 10 feet or 10 miles! Does it show Latt & Long? One of the activities they would use these for would be to go to a point based on Latt/Long, not entering a waypoint at all, just "go to the numbers" sort of thing. The yellow eTrex shows lat and long and also shows the distance to the waypoint. All handhelds that I'm aware of show lat and long. Quote Link to comment
+geognerd Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 I would likely get a bunch of yellow etrexes and buy a single PC cable, but I'm a big cheapo. I'm with sbell; I'm cheap too. I work with a local high school teacher and that's what he got for his environmental science class. I would likely get a bunch of yellow etrexes and buy a single PC cable, but I'm a big cheapo. The bad thing about the yellow etrex is that it only shows the direction to your waypoint and not the distance to it...it could be 10 feet or 10 miles! My yellow etrex shows the direction to the waypoint and the distance to it. My mistake. maybe I'm thinking of the orange Maegellan explorist. No, the eXplorist 100 also displays distance to the POI. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.