creating caches with a class of 30 students

[+GeoKoers]

I would like to create some caches with my students (14 years old).

Is it possible  to create 1 schoolaccount, and let the students work in that account at the same time?

They would be in groups of 3-4 students, so they create about 8-10 caches at the same time.

 

I hope someone can give me some information about this.

 

Greetings,

 

Chaira Koerse

'GeoKoers'

 

 

[+lee737]

You can create the account - I'm sure multiple logins to it are allowed too, I'm sure I've logged into my sons account to maintain a listing while he was logged in logging finds before.

[+Goldenwattle]

Please don't. Caches will go missing.

[+lee737]

These are the sort I run out and find straight away, as they probably won't last.... or be maintained.... sorry...

[Darwin473]

Hi! Welcome, it's great to see teachers making learning more fun and engaging for students.

 

What I would do (depending on how much effort, expense and time you have available) is start by getting the students to hide a container with a note on the school grounds. Simple rules - can't damage school property, no shovels, no climbing up onto the roof; the types of rules that one would expect at a school and conveniently are also in keeping with GeoCaching guidelines. Also a good idea to highlight that they can't look like it might possibly be a bomb! The note can simply be their name and a random code you assign each student.

 

The reason for this is to give the students a bit of exposure to hiding things where other non-class students won't accidentally spot them, hopefully they are out long enough that they get to learn about which containers are more likely to last, which ones leak; and depending on how it is set up - how to give clues to other students in your class. Bonus points tied to both how many times students from your class find their container negated by if a non-class student finds it.

 

After having done this (or while it is running in the background) they could have an assignment to find out about existing geocaches in the area and do a study / report on which ones have lasted the longest / got the most favorite points / are most well known. Or some other metric to try and learn about what makes a "good" cache.

 

Hopefully the students get engaged. I know with the shorter attention span people have now with these always-on devices (I have this issue, and I'm in my 40's!) it can be hard to get students to engage. The first part may also be good for identifying which students would benefit most from putting out caches and which might be more interested in going out and destroying things. Not a result we want, but something that needs to be considered if the "go hide a cache" part is a mandatory part of the curriculum they can't opt out of.

[+vw_k]

Personally I think you'd be better off arranging to hide and find caches that are not listed on geocaching.com, perhaps get students to hide caches on school grounds (and maybe elsewhere with permission) and to exchange co-ordinates within the class by e-mail or on a printed out sheet etc.

[+JL_HSTRE]

I think showing students how to geocache is a good opportunity to discuss what a hobby like geocaching entails. I don't mean how to pick the right Garmin or the cache hiding process.

 

People spending their time and money to hide containers for strangers to find. Those strangers having an obligation to behave in a certain way seeking the cache.  All the things that can go wrong with the cache after it's hidden. It's a rather large communal undertaking.

 

I think most adult cachers don't really give it much thought. For kids it might blow some of their minds. If you had described it to me as a young kid I might have believed it. As a cynical teenager I would have said no way that can work, much less last over two decades. 

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by JL_HSTRE

[+Team Taran]

What is the educational purpose of hiding the caches? My sister ran an after school program on geocaching program involving temporary caches. There wasn’t enough time to get into creating caches but your purpose would probably make a difference in how you create the caches.