Earthcaches for children?

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:06 am

I know any earthcache should be a great experience for kids, but as an educator and member of the Children and Nature Network, I was thinking that a special category of earthcaches, designed for kids around the age of 9-10, could be a cool feature.

Choosing locations that might be near schools, for instance, so that a teacher could easily take a short field trip with a class, and having the write-ups and tasks at levels for that age group. I know that a couple of the earthcaches we've developed have been passed on to teachers (who we know, but have no clue that *we* did those, oh the anonymity of those caching names!), but these are middle level teachers, the age level those write-ups are supposed to match.

How about things written at a 3-4th grade level, ones that would capture the interest of kids at their own level? Any kind of fossil site, for instance, would grab their attention. (Heck, those grab mine!) Sites that have some local history attached to them would be great for 4th graders studying Wisconsin history. You get the idea.

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:11 am

Sounds like a great idea. The key thing with ALL earthcaches is that they should be written in the simplest of terms so people of most any age can understand them. The high level stuff can always be added on at the bottom or a link to elsewhere. when talking with "Geoaware" (the 1st...now there's two), he was the one who mentioned making it as simple, yet informative as possible.

Finding local history along with it is always a kewl idea. I am not from this state and have lived here only 10 years, and still don't know all there is to know about the ancient and not so ancient history of the state. One of the Earthcaches I am working on has links to some kewl and fun stuff for kids to do and learn.

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:27 am

Cache_boppin_BunnyFuFu wrote:

Sounds like a great idea. The key thing with ALL earthcaches is that they should be written in the simplest of terms so people of most any age can understand them. The high level stuff can always be added on at the bottom or a link to elsewhere. when talking with "Geoaware" (the 1st...now there's two), he was the one who mentioned making it as simple, yet informative as possible.

Finding local history along with it is always a kewl idea. I am not from this state and have lived here only 10 years, and still don't know all there is to know about the ancient and not so ancient history of the state. One of the Earthcaches I am working on has links to some kewl and fun stuff for kids to do and learn.

I agree that earthcaches do not have to be way intricate and complex, though some spots call for that. But most do not. They just need to take you to an educational geological feature, and have ya measure something.

All 3 of mine are very simple, with 2 being legitimate 1/1s. The other is down by the river, so the terrain is a 1 1/2 or 2 depending if ya use the stairs or not.

z

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:06 am

I like that idea as well and will take that into consideration on all future placements...I may add a "Children's Section" to my pages where appropriate...Oh I so love this cachetype; but then I think that is already well known.

WGA Member Joined: 2007-02-03 Posts: 2182

I just got permission for my first Earthcahe and it just happens to be 5 blocks from a grade school. I know that some of the classes have visited this site in the past. Now I'll try to gear my text towards class visits and let the school know about it. I had already been thinking about volunteering to take classes on trips to the site. This might be another area to expand into to promote geocaching within schools and communities by actually offering to lead a class to the earthcache.

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:45 pm

That's a great thought, Mister Greenthumb. There really is a difference in how the text and tasks would be presented for young kids to do fairly independently, which is what I was thinking. I actually got the idea when doing some online searching for information and came to some sites that related to my research that were specifically for use with elementary age kids.

Think about the way science concepts are presented in any children's media---"Magic School Bus," or "Bill Nye the Science Guy" for instance. Maybe Wisconsin can set a new trend by creating listings that are specifically for the kids.

I'm just thinking this is another place where we can help move the sport forward and help it be a tool for an appreciation of nature among kids.

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:10 pm

I think to meet the EC guidelines however we would still need to make a more adult version on the same page as well....it would be no different than the required dual language EC which is required when ECs are published in non English speaking countries...
RULE #2 for submissions:
"EarthCache sites must be educational. They provide accurate but simple explanations of what visitors will experience at the site. Cache notes must be submitted and assume no previous knowledge of earth science. The educational notes must be written to a reading age of an upper middle school (14 year old) student. Avoid direct plagiarism from web sources and quote sources of information where appropriate. Additional technical or scientific notes can be provided for the scientific community. Please note appropriate place on the submittal form for the technical notes. All notes can be submitted in the local language but must also be in English."