Free Inquiry #3

For this lesson, students would focus on using GPS applications (or, in french: système de repérage universel) on their tablets if they have access to them.

The first part would start with a discussion in the classroom, and I would create a lexical field to write down vocabulary words of what GPS. I would ask questions like, what are some instances where we use a GPS? What jobs require using a GPS? Does a GPS work anywhere? Are GPS systems always correct.

I would show some images of different GPS technology used by hikers and various jobs.

Then, we would explore into the science of satellite. I could show a video such as this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFswXQZJDvM, or demonstrate by drawing on the whiteboard. Afterwards, we could unpack what was learned in the video. I could ask questions such as: What surprised you? What did you learn?

There are also some cool GPS facts on the Garmin website: https://www.garmin.com/en-CA/aboutgps/. I could use some ideas from this website for any addition activities I could create.

Depending on the grade level, I would then ask each student to look on their tablet map application (Gaia GPS for older grades, Google Maps for any grade) and look for certain elements of the maps such as, kilometre measurement, land features (lake, river, ocean, etc.), and places. I could remind students about latitude, longitude and altitude when looking on maps.

The students would have time to explore typing in different destinations and exploring the options by foot, by car, by bike.

The activity associated with this would be another treasure hunt, where students would follow written and visual directions (pathway trajectory) and depending on the grade they would have a printed version or tablet based on their responsibility with using the tablets outside. At the end there would be some sort of prize. Maybe a ticket with a class fun activity or event.

If they do not have access to a tablet, I could create an alternate activity where students would need to track their pathway that they are headed to by analyzing a printed GPS map image. I remember when my parents would print out Google Maps written instructions when we would go on road trips.

As another activity, students could illustrate the concept of trilateration. According to Google definition, this is a technique for finding an unknown position by measuring distances from at least three known reference points. This would be the connection between, you, the satellite, and a ground station.