Program on the Environment

The ironic thing about teaching environmental education is that the majority of our curriculum is taught indoors. For many students, learning about local conservation or restoration feels out of reach when the curriculum isn’t directly relevant to them and their communities. The aim of this study explores if Geocaching can be used as an environmental teaching tool, and if so, what are the benefits and barriers that should be considered when applying it to how we teach. During my internship with Friends of Lincoln Park (FLiP), I prepared 2000 sq ft of urban forest parkland to lead several on-site community restoration events. I specifically held a Geocaching-inspired restoration event that explored using “A rock in the woods” as educational motivator to increase engagement and awareness from the student volunteers. Along with academic research, I published a survey exploring Geocaching participation and physical accessibility for local Seattle residents. Results showed that Geocaching is an extremely versatile platform for education, utilizing cross-curricular integration between community, nature, and school. Geocaching connects the curriculum from indoors to outdoors by improving a student’s sense of place, local resource awareness and environmental stewardship. Geocaching showcases promising potential as an environmental education tool as long as the environmental, physical, and social barriers are considered in its application. A rock in the woods may challenge our worldview of teaching and learning, but in any case, it doesn’t hurt to get up and find out why for ourselves.