Introduction to Geocaching Thursday, November 1st, 2007 Connaught By: Carmel Desjardins Images are either personal or taken from geocaching.com site unless otherwise noted…

Agenda What is geocaching? How GPS works History of geocaching How to use geocaching.com (emphasis unless no/slow internet) Popularity ~ Options ~ Etiquette Educational Possibilities Interesting stories Questions Hands-on search…

What is Geocaching? Treasure hunt for kids….. and adults http://www.atlanticgeocaching.com/

News video clip from USA or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flsZVs4l3gU

How does GPS work? Click on GPS Ask me why I bought a GPS? http://img.geocaching.com/benchmark/lg/a5887ff5-37e8-44b4-bb7b-9fc9bc8acfd6.jpg http://www.uwec.edu/jolhm/Past_Classes/1998/491Class/Nov2-3/geography_4912.htm

History of… Oregon gps user Container with gadgets & logbook Online local challenge Sign the logbook and… “Take some stuff, leave some stuff."

“If you hide it, they will find it.” History of… Within three days two others had found the bucket and geocaching was born. As word spread, others followed suit…. “If you hide it, they will find it.” Over time, a website was created to help organize the new sport… GEOCACHING.COM

How does geocaching.com enable this? Geocaching.com serves as an online database where “hiders” can tell others where a cache has been hidden and “finders” can look for new challenges. A large amount of information describing cache locations, sizes, etc. is available by logging on to this website.

(Crowne Plaza Postal Code) GUESS!!!! Guess how many hidden in a 50 mile radius of E3B 5A6 (Crowne Plaza Postal Code) GUESS!!!! N **°**.*** W***°**.***

782!

Geocaching.com How to use E3B 5A6 Internet down or too slow??? Click here for backup slides….

(Took nothing, left nothing, saw lots) When you return home, login to geocaching.com and record your find online. Ex: “Found your cache early this afternoon without difficulty. Enjoyed the scenery but not the mosquitoes;-) Took the City of Moncton pin and left a Keychain. TFTF (Thanks for the find) Other popular acronyms: FTF & TNLNSL (First to Find) (Took nothing, left nothing, saw lots) Geocaching.com keeps a record of your results…. L I N K

Then it’s your turn to hide your own.. http://members.shaw.ca/fca/cn/cn05.jpg

Re-hide better than you found it Caching “etiquette” Re-hide better than you found it

Caching Responsibility Caches should not contain hazardous material (including food). Avoid environmentally sensitive areas (ex: within days noticeable trail) Private property ~ need permission! Include “Stash note” Cache maintenance….water, animals, etc… Caches must be placed in approved locations (ex: highway median/black box besides major bridge not good idea) Safe searching (include compass, spare batteries, survival gear,etc.) http://walkergarbage.com/hazardous.html

How popular is it? 3115 (March, 2007) Guess how many caches in New Brunswick? 3115 (March, 2007) Many geocachers plan trips around ‘caching. “Geofanatics” try to find as many as they can, some even go to further lengths

Nova Scotia…

Options: Travelbugs Multicache Don’t forget to click on puck! Premium membership http://www.geocaching.com/images/track/travelbugs.jpg

Even more options… Event Cache Nightcache Geocoin http://www.nightcaching.org/

Educational Geocaching Hi-tech “Flat Stanley” Travel bugs with special goals Math ~ Distance, area, perimeter Outdoor Pursuits ~ Orienteering Geography ~ Obvious M/S Technology ~ Scott Parks (Albert St.) Science ~ Nature walks English ~ Journals Environmental Science ~ CITO Webquests (http://members.cox.net/inskeep/GeoQuest/introduction.htm#Introduction) http://riroads.com/images/flatstanley.jpg

GPS Designs on Google Earth Triangle Carm Stickman

Interesting stories…. Ultimate cache? Irving Nature Park Firefighter Bert

Questions? IDEAS????? On to challenge……

Connaught Elementary School Your Task… FIND Connaught Elementary School Waypoints: CES1 (“Rocky”) CES2 (“Transformer”) OR Odell Park: Odelllower Microodell #35-57 Q&A

Turn GPS on by holding power button for a few seconds

Wait patiently…

Give GPS time to acquire satellites

Change pages until you get to the Main menu page

“Main Menu” page

Use joystick to select FIND Warning! Joystick is difficult for first time users.

Waypoints

If no luck with “nearest” try “By Name”” HINT: If no luck with “nearest” try “By Name””

Need to use Joystick to move up and down and select waypoint Select the cache number you’re looking for Need to use Joystick to move up and down and select waypoint

Again, need to use joystick to move around and select. Then “Goto” Again, need to use joystick to move around and select.

Then follow arrow

Reminders: Move leaves, plants, etc. Look up and down; try moving around. Faster you move, better for GPS (don’t need to run) Heavy foilage/bridges/buildings=poor reception Always a chance the cache has been moved/removed.