tech inquiry

Geocaching

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Geocaching

Geocaching is an real-world outdoor recreational activity where participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) device to hide and seek “Geocaches” that are cleverly placed all over the world. Here is a short video to help explain:

https://www.geocaching.com/blog/2018/10/geocaching-hq-highlight-the-visitors-center/

When Geocaching started in early 2000, there were only 75 geocaches, now there are over 3 million official Geocaches spread across 190 countries. All Geocaches can be found on Geocaching.com, and there is an associated app that you can download on your mobile device to hide and find caches.

Geocaches come in all different sizes, and are hidden as different difficulty levels. There are 14 types of official caches:

The most common types are the Traditional cache, the Multi-cache, and the Mystery Cache. Within the Traditional cache, there are three specific types based on size: the Micro cache, Standard Cache, and a Macro cache.

The steps of Geocaching are as follows: 1) pick a cache at Geocaching.com, 2)navigate to the coordinates with your phone or GPS device, and 3) once at your coordinates, use the clue or solve the puzzle to find your cache! But there are some rules and etiquette to keep in mind while you’re Geocaching.

  1. Every cache must contain a log book, if you find a cache, you must sign the logbook
  2. Most caches have a series of items in them, often associated with a theme, if you want to take an item, you must trade for it, and leave something behind (TSLS)
  3. Geocachers are usually quite environmentally conscience, so it makes sense that one major rule is that if you see any trash while you’re out, you have to pack it out with you. Better known as “Cache In, Trash Out” (CITO).
  4. Finally, after you have found that cache, log in to Geocaching.com and rate the cache, you can also comment on any damage or general comments you have.

Applications:

Geocaching is a tool that can be used by teachers cross-curricularly. It uses ESRI geographic information system software as a free license resource for education. Students and teachers can download the app for free, but because it shares GPS information, it might be best to use handheld GPS devices with students. Most obviously, it can be used as a way to have students practice following GPS, but Geocaching can be used across the disciplines.

  1. Art: Teachers can have students create their own cache, build it in a creative container, decorate it, and include a small treasure made in class. Students will need to follow the guidelines of what needs to be included in a Geocache, decide where to hide it, and create a clue for other people to use.
  2. Science: One specific type of cache is called a lab cache. To solve the cache, the finder must perform an experiment. Science teachers can either find a preexisting lab cache with their students, create one together as a class project, or create one for their students, building on a skill or concept they learned in class. With regular caches, teachers can have students record biodiversity at the cache site, or track how many different species they saw on the way.
  3. History: Teachers can use Geocaching as a way to discover more about historical sites around the city. They can send students to a cache and have them learn about the significance of the site, or they can first study the site, and then explore it through geocaching.
  4. English Language Arts: Teachers could have students write poems to describe the location of the cache. Students can also create themed caches relating to their novel study, working in groups to make the container, log book, and content represent an element of their novel. They can write a clue that would be theme appropriate, hide it, and have the class find it. Once found, the group could present about the cache they created.
  5. Physical Education: Geocaching would be a great way to get a class outside on a nature walk, ensuring students were engaged and motivated to get to the cache!
  6. Mathematics: Teachers can have students in groups find different caches. They can then plot the sites on graph, and find the distance between each one.

The list above is only the beginning, as the possibilities for using Geocaching in the classroom are endless.

Post by Georgia Clyde and Emily M Oliveira

Beaker

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Beaker is a free Chemistry App available on Android and Apple devices. The app itself is free, but there are in app purchases that some people might like. For students, in app purchases can be a little worrisome.

PROS

  • A cheaper alternative to actually experimentation
  • Can lower student anxiety if used as a pre-lab, because students will already have expectations as to what will happen
  • Can spark a great intrest and passion in students. They might learn to LOVE chemistry!

CONS

  • The app itself is very user friendly, but some previous chemistry knowledge is definitely required.
  • When explosive Chemicals mix, there is an explosion, which could encourage students to want to try these reactions at home. Safety is a concern as there isn’t at lot of lab safety in app, which could potentially downplay how dangerous mixing volatile chemicals can be!

Use in the Classroom

As this is a free app, I would definitely be willing to give students a chance to play with it before doing the actual lab. I don’t this it is a replacement for a real beaker, but it is definitely a great additional tool.

Earth Viewer

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Earth Viewer is a free, interactive app available on apple and Android devices. It allows students and teachers (all users) to view an interactive globe. Users can add cloud cover, rain, light, sun reflections, etc.

This application is confusing, and I wouldn’t recommend it for classroom use. It is available for Apple, but the app for apple is very different. The apple version allows users to go back 4.5 million years in history to see the formation of the crust, and how it has moved and changed over time. Earth can be rotated in any direction and zoomed in and out. There are also options to see the major geological events, biological events, mass extinctions, impact events, fossils, cities, and the latitude and longitude grid.

While the apple version seems useful for the classroom, the android version is complex, and poorly organized. Once the user had added an option to the globe, it is hard to get it removed again, so layers upon layers are added.

Use in the Classroom:

Android: I would only use this app as a globe, to look at perspectives.

Apple: With a lot of pre-teaching, this app could be used to reinforce ideas about plate tectonics, as well as other historical events.

Overall, its free, I might give my students some time to play with it, but I wouldn’t use it as a teaching tool!

Screen shot 2018-10-30 at 5.35.36 PM.png

Image credit: biointeractive, http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/earthviewer

iCell

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HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology: iCell 3.6.1

The first app that I will be reviewing is called iCell. It is a free app that allows users to see plant, animal and bacteria cells in a three-dimensional place.

Screenshot_20181014-164628

The Good

The app has many good things about it. It is widely accessible to whoever wants to use it. It is available for free download on apple devices (iPad, iPod touch, iPhone) as well as android devices. Not only can it be used on hand-held devices, but the application also has a web-based version, allowing teachers and students to show use it on their computers. The app does not have ads.

This app provides a great visual for today’s students, who are so accustom to visualizing things in three dimensions. The cells are nicely laid out, and are aesthetically pleasing. The annotation is helpful, because it can be used with different degrees of detail. This can help students review the basics, as well as allow them to dive deeper into the function of each organelle. It is easy to use, and very intuitive.

The descriptions provided in the application are very helpful. Perhaps one of the best parts of the application is the ability to change the level of the description. For example, the basic description of the cell wall in bacteria is that it “monitors and selectively controls entry into and out of the cell” (iCell, 2018), while the advanced says that the cell wall “is a semi-permeable double phospholipid bilayer, which contains proteins and lipids that aid the cell.”(iCell, 2018). This allows for the app to be used for many different levels of learners.

This app doesn’t require users to register personal information, and doesn’t collect the cell phone’s location (McClain, 2018), making it fairly secure to use in the classroom and with students.

 

The Bad

The app has some drawbacks, though. Aesthetically speaking, the cells look quite nice, but the home page for the app isn’t overly attractive. The application could be improved by creating clickable links within the text. There is some complex vocabulary within the descriptions, and being able to define some of the words would make the app more useful for all students. This could easily be used as a classroom activity! The app can also be considered boring, as once students have read the description, there are no activities to complete. Developers could look into adding a quiz or game component to the app to make it more engaging for longer periods of time.

More importantly, iCell only includes one cell model for animal, plant and bacteria. This can reinforce a common misconception in students, who could assume that all animal cells have identical appearance. There is no mention of differences that exist within animal, plant, or bacteria cells, such as specializations. As teachers, it is important to draw the attention of our students to the various cells that exist under the umbrella that iCell is depicting – this application is the classic model of the cell, not “the animal cell” because there are many types of animal cells.

Another possible problem people could encounter with this app, is the possibility to miss different parts of the cell. The app is three-dimensional, and some organelles remain blocked by others from some angles. Also, the app includes quite a small text box, so in order to read all the information for the intermediate and advanced sections, users need to hit ‘more’ after each sentence or so. As a study tool, this could cause problems for students trying to learn new information. Finally, it can sometimes be difficult to click on what you are interested in seeing. There are small organelles that can be hard to zoom into, and sometimes when aiming for one thing, you receive a description for something different – especially in the bacteria cell.

Overall, although this application could use a few small adjustments to improve it, it has a lot of great uses for the classroom. I believe that this app could be very useful in every grade of high school science/ biology.

Introduction

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As a future Science teacher, I think it’s important to realize that today’s students all have cell phones, and many of them will have them in class. Rather that spend my time and energy competing with them, I want to explore a way to work together with them.

I plan to use this space to explore and review science apps that I can use in the classroom. Stay tuned for more!

 

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