Stewardship is Where You Are

Geocaching

Activity: Explore and visit local parks through

Objective: Recognition and experience of different types of parks through finding geocaches

Science Skills: GPS technology, Predict, Observe, Collect Data

Life Skills: Teamwork, Keeping Records, Cooperation

Preparation Activities:

     Ask your group the following questions:

          What is a park?
          What types of parks exist?
          What are we looking for?
          What is a Geocache?

It is a good idea to have a discussion about the park before you visit.  Find it on a map. Where is it? What is it called? Who takes care of the park: city, county, state? What do the youth expect from just hearing the name of the park or looking at the park location on a map? Having a brief discussion before visiting the park will allow them to compare their expectations before their visit to what they experienced during their visit. The Extension Office can provide booklet-sized versions of the passport printwed on “waterproof” paper for a small fee, or provide your club with  full size single pages pdf version of the passport.

What You Will Need:

          Junior Park Passport Booklet
          Clipboards (or something to write on)
          Colored Pencils (or something to write with)
          GPS
               
Activity: Choose any one of the different parks  with a 4-H Geo-cache. Each of these geo-caches has a passport sticker to add to the park  passport . Finding geo-caches will be a fun way to explore the park, while exposing the youth to GPS technology. Visiting a variety of parks with geo-caches will allow the youth to observe how parks have a large range of uses: play grounds, nature preserves, and recreational facilities etc. Youth might also observe a range of park sizes and ownership. Using the following links to familiarize yourself with local parks, and parks with 4-H geo-caches, pick at least three parks to visit throughout the year. Notice which parks have unique seasonal events and plan your visit accordingly. For example, visit a park along a stream where salmon spawn in the fall, when the likelihood of seeing spawning salmon is high.

We have provided some useful links to explain how to use GPS technology to find geocaches. Have the youth  find the geocache by entering GPS coordinates. While looking for the geocache ask the youth to use their senses to observe the park.

You might want to ask them:
          What they notice about the size of the park: big, little, medium...
          What sounds they hear: birds, waterfalls, cars...
          What they see: streams, playgrounds, picnic areas, places to play sports...
          What they feel: is the ground wet or dry? Grassy or mossy?
          What they smell: saltwater, hay...

Once you’ve found the geocache, you should find 4-H stickers inside of it to place on the youth’s Parks Passports.  Please only use one sticker per youth for each passport location.

Ask them to write down or draw what they saw, heard, felt, or thought in the space provided in their Park Passport. Then have each of them present what they noticed or observed.

Repeat at other parks!

Vocabulary: parks, geocache, recreation, preserve, history, resource, state, county, city

Asking the Right Questions: