A cooperative grouping strategy

In this activity, fifth graders are using global positioning devices (GPS) to analyze Lewis and Clark's journey. In the first part of the assignment, the students used the web to look up old maps, diary entires, and texts to help them understand the journey. The teacher, Cal Washburn, decided that the web just wasn't enough. He wanted the students to go on their own Lewis and Clark expedition. He found a map of archeologist's findings and turned the school's campus into that land. He placed his own artifacts int he same places that others were found from the Lewis and Clark era.

I think this strategy of "geo-caching" works because what kid wouldnt' want to go on a treasure hunt? Fifth graders are old enough to do much of the work on their own, but still young enough to have that little hint of imagination left to make their journey worth while. I'd love to try something like this with students in my own future class.