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6 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2007 By Frances Niblock Armed with a global po- sitioning system (GPS) unit and a set of co-ordinates provided by students at McKenzie-Smith Bennett School, geocacher Ralph Schuessele tracked his way through the Bovis subdivi- sion last Thursday morning on a high-tech scavenger hunt that led to a hidden cache. Geocaching literally hiding something in the earth is a fast-growing hobby involving an outdoor search for a cache so called to avoid negative connotations of the word stash. Geocachers download coordinates, given in lon- gitude and latitude, to their GPS unit and navigate their way to the cache, which in Schuesseles case was hid- den by MSB students as an assignment. Searchers are welcome to take an item, usually a small trinket, provided they leave something for the next person and record their visit in a logbook left with the cache. MSB special education teacher Kristen MacKay was introduced to geocach- ing last year and realized it Best Price, Best Service Since 1972 FAX: 519-853-1559 379 Queen St., Acton ON L7J 2N2 519-853-1553 1-888-833-8953 ?????? ??????? ??? FLORIDA SPRING & SUMMER PACKAGE HOLIDAYS INCLUDE Roundtrip air fare from Toronto 7 Nights accomodationas selected Interemdiate car rental for 7 days 2 bedroom Condo/Home or larger includes a mini van (based on quad) ORLANDO FT. 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Jun 10, 17, 24, Jul 1 Additional taxes & fees: Orlando/ Ft. Lauderdale $227 Flights are from Toronto via Air Transat or Canjet. Prices shown are per person based on double in lead room categories unless otherwise stated. Taxes and other travel related fees are extra and noted above. For complete details and terms and conditions refer to the Nolitours 2006/07 Florida Brochure. Ont. Reg. #50009488 Starting the May 31st issue of The New Tanner Our retail advertising deadline will be Mondays at 5p.m. Thankyou 5 I F / F X 5 B O O F S 2 V F F O 4 U & " D U P O G B Y would be a good way for students to learn a number of subjects. Reading a textbook on the history or geography of Acton isnt a strong suit for these guys, MacKay said on Thursday. Reading textbook material is tough, so hands-on activities are something we knew would be fantastic for them. The students, she added, have been on three scav- enger hunts using the GPS units so far. Through the sale of freez- ees and chocolates and with funding from the MSB par- ent council and an order upgrade from a GPS sup- plier, MacKay said they bought two GPS units and began to geocache. The stu- dents also created their own Internet-published geocache that they are monitoring and maintaining. The first time we went out exploring we went on a 13- part tour of Acton set up by Ralph Schues- sele I dont think we would have been able to find the information that we learned about Acton that day in a text book - and we made an impact because we picked up garbage on the way back, MacKay said. Thats called cache-in, trash-out. The s tuden ts have learned about mapping, about the technology of global positioning and lan- guage too, because they designed the instructions. And when people find the geocache and sign the log- book, they have to respond to them, so they are com- municating with real people in a real way. After talking to the stu- dents about his extensive geocaching experiences, Schuessele downloaded the schools coordinates into his GPS unit and followed their instructions through the neighbourhood to their cache. Once there, he added a trinket and a travel bug, which is making its way around the world, and signed the logbook. The students collected some Canadian Tire money left by an earlier geocacher. The school is raising money for the new playground and asked geocachers to donate Canadian Tire money to the cause. Grade seven student Ben Shier said getting out and hiding the cache was the most fun, along with learn- ing how to use the GPS unit and reading responses from people who have down- loaded the co-ordinates and found the cache. Im pretty sure I could find my way just about anywhere if I had the co- ordinates. I could figure it out, Shier said. Students at MSB Geocache LATITUDE & ATTITUDE: A global positioning system (GPS) unit led geocacher Ralph Schuessele (with jar) to a cache hidden in the woods by students at McKenzie-Smith Bennett School. They stashed it there and then posted the coordinates of its location on the Internet so hobbyists like Schuessele can find it. Frances Niblock photo