Lab 3
8
Lab 3
Geocaching with a Global Positioning System
Description of the Lab
Students will use GPS units to locate three caches hidden by instructor ahead of
Outline of Investigation
Exercise 1 – Geocaching and Distance Calculations with a GPS
Before the lab the instructor will need to hide three ‘caches’ and take the
coordinates (latitude and longitude). The coordinates of the first item are given to
the student at the beginning of the lab. The coordinates for the second item are in
Materials Needed:
• GPS receivers that will give both latitude and longitude and UTM coordinates
• Map of the area where exercise will take place
Laboratory Materials and Equipment for Student Use
Materials and Equipment
Per
Student
Per Pair of
Students
Per Lab
Group
Per
Room
GPS receiver
1
Ruler
1
Questions for Lab 3
1. Which of the two methods would you consider to be more accurate? Why?
It depends on the type of map you are using to compare with the GPS coordinates.
2. Are both methods equally accurate at short (< 20m) as well as longer (> 100 m)
distances? Why or why not?
Both methods are equally accurate however the system accuracy is generally
3. Did your GPS unit track the distance between the waypoints automatically? Did it
track distance traveled as you looked for the geocache or did it track ‘as the crow
flies’? How did this compare to your calculated distances?
4. Besides location and distances, what other information could you infer using a GPS
unit?
5. How could you incorporate that information in the design of marine biology
experiments and studies?