Setting up a GEOCACHE

Setting Co-ordinates.

Here the team members have located a spot to set up a geocache. They have decided to put a pencil sharpener into the container. There is also an EXCEL sheet in the container. To-day the waypoint will be entered in Latitude/Longitude format. These co-ordinates will be released at school later in the day. Whoever finds the cache will remove the sharpener, relace it with some other "treasure", sign and date the logbook (EXCEL sheet) and then republish the co-ordinates.

First GEOCACHE

Last week we set up our first Geocache. We started with a very simple exercise. A team member hid a 10 cent coin under a recycling bin on the school grounds. This location was set as a waypoint and given a name. The rest of the team using the electronic compass on the device logged on the geocache icon and followed the directions. Another bonus associated with this exercise is the fact that the device records walking speed which creates more problem solving testing Speed, Time and Distance. As we get more familiar with geocaching we will enter more waypoints. Instead of naming the waypoints we will now enter latitude and longitude as location clues.

Report from The Summit

Reporting on a Trip to Ireland's Highest Peak.

On the 29th of January 2012 I was in a party of thirteen people which climbed the highest mountain peak in Ireland. This peak is called Corrán Tuathail. Master gave me the GPS (Global Positioning System). I tracked to the foot of the mountain. Before I trekked I entered Cronin's Yard as a waypoint. After we got to the foot of the mountain we started climbing. We had to climb rocks and cross waterfalls.Then we stopped for a break. I was the
youngest on the climb. The second leg was the hardest of them all because of the snow. When we got to the top there was another break. I saw a cross and the ruins of a house at the summit. The highest point is 1045 metres. We came down "The Devil's Ladder" which is very steep. When we got to the bottom we went to the cafe. Here I signed the visitors' book.
Overall it was a very good experience !
I would love to do it again sometime when the weather gets better !!!!!

More of Corrán Tuathail.

Here is the active log approaching the summit.
We have established an Index No. and captured Time, Date, Altitude, Latitude and Longitude.

Problem Solving

Look at the 2 logs in this post.

At 09:06:24 the group has arrived at an altitude of 356 metres.

On this data capture work out how many more metres must be climbed to reach the summit.

Also calculate how much time it took to reach the summit.

Document changes in Latitude and Longitude between the 2 locations.

Local natural climbers

The log at the top.

Corrán Tuathail the Highest Peak in Ireland.

One of our GPS team members climbed to the summit of Corrán Tuathail last Sunday morning 29th January 2012. This was a mighty task and experience. She travelled with her GPS tracking routes, entering waypoints and capturing as much raw data as possible. We publish her findings. She is at the moment writing a scientific report on her expedition and when it is ready we will post it.

This is a big post so keep scrolling.

Do not forget to click on image for a better view.

The other team members think she did a great job.

General Overview

Where are we?

Here we are in relation to Dublin, London, Amsterdam and Brussels to mention just a few.

Nearest Geocache to Knockaclarig NS.

Here are some details on the nearest Geocache (Locate the Geocache icon on your GPS) to Knockaclarig NS.

Raw Capture changes to Terrain.

Here we look at our post from a different point of view.

On the R576 by The Feale.

Here is a team member's route from school via Guiney's Bridge on the R576 by the River Feale. This route will take you to the N21 which is at right angles to the R576. At this T-Junction you may bear South (left) to Castleisland, Tralee, Kerry Airport and Killarney. At this junction you may also bear North (right) towards Abbeyfeale and on to NCW., Adare and Limerick.

Just what is GEOCACHING ???

We shall explain in the days ahead !!!!!!!

Problems on Speed, Time and Distance.

Here is our first posting for February. We are using captured real time data. We know the index no., the date, time to the hour, minute and second. We know the altitude. Most important we know the distance of each leg in the route. We also now the time taken to travel each leg. With these two very valuable pieces of information we will now calculate the speed per hour across each leg. We have been studying Time, Speed and Distance in our Maths class since we came back to school. Now we will apply those skills to work out and solve the real time problems in above chart.

Remember

SPEED = DISTANCE/TIME

DISTANCE = TIME X SPEED

TIME = DISTANCE/SPEED

So start calculating !!!!!!!!!

School Home Profile

Refer to the last two postings.
Distance = 5.8 km.
Minimum Altitude = 79m.
Maximum Altitude = 273.5m.
Descending by 195m. to the nearest metre
Arrival at Maximum Altitude after a journey of 3.24km.
Make up 6 Mathematical questions based on the data on the profile.

Colour Coding

The YELLOW Colour shows the School to Home route for a pupil.
The RED colour shows the Home to School route.

In our next postings we will explore, compare and contrast distance, route profiles.

School Bus Circuit

This is our school bus circuit showing 6 waypoints complete with icons.

Google Format : School -Knockatoon.

Here is the Google Earth format of the route. You now notice that at this stage we have presented this route in 3 formats.........Raw Capture, Profile and now Google. The route takes in the R576. Abha na Féile and Taedo's Cross. Also take note of the townlands of Knockaclarig, Knockavinna, Knockatoon all suggesting high elevation. You can also see the townland of Glencarney...the GLEN suggesting the presence of a stream.

School Trip Profile.

Here is a profile of the trip from Knockaclarig NS. to Knockatoon, Rockchapel, Co. Cork.
We are concentrating on Elevation and Distance. Note the Maximum Height, Minimum Height.

REMEMBER

1000 METRES = I KILOMETRE = 1.000 KILOMETRE

1000M = 1KM. = 1.000KM.

(Here we are working off a base of 1000)

Capturing Knockatoon Data.

This is a data capture on the route from school to Knockatoon, Rockchapel, Co. Cork.

Daylight Increase.

We are tracking daylight hours and minutes, sunrise and sunset in our locality from Monday 16th - Friday 20th 2012.

REMEMBER

60 MINUTES = I HOUR.

(Working on a base of 60)

Here is an example of Solar and Lunar activity at Knockaclarig NS.

Mirroring.

Mirroring occurs when you display two images of the one location side by side in two different formats, in this case a photograph and an OSI chart.

Can you see?

Knockaclarig NS and Knockaclarig Hilltop.

This map includes Knockaclarig NS., Church of Assumption, Knocaclarig Hilltop and its associated contour lines, Knockaclarig Townland, An Bhréanach and Forestry.

OSI Image

Here is an OSI (Ordnance Survey of Ireland) showing an amount of ancient heritage such as..............Fulacht Fia, Burial Ground, Stone Row, Standing Stones and a Barrow mound.

Coming home another Route.

Just like The Three Wise Men another route was chosen for the return journey. Here is the profile.

Start analysing.

Point out some differences.

Vertical Profile of a Route.

Here is a Vertical Profile of a route captured between Knockaclarig and Newmarket Co. Cork.
It contains an amount of interesting data.
The route is just over 20kms. The maximum elevation is 328m. above sea level.
Find out the minimum elevation.
What is the exact elevation after journeying 5km., 10km., 15km.?

Hint: Click on image for a better view !!!!

Message from The Project Leader

GPS

The GPS is a handheld device. GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It is for tracking your route, making points of interest, checking altitude and gathering celestial information. Information is sent by satellites about different items to the handheld device. We first started using GPS devices around Easter 2011. Master Roche brought it to the school and taught us how to use it. I started using it to track my journey to and from school. As I got used to it I started gathering more information about the surrounding area. I entered waypoints around the locality. At school we put the waypoints on the Interactive White Board and typed in the proper names for these waypoints. We also entered suitable icons for these places. The GPS has a library of icons for town and country.

I like the GPS. I get a lot of information from it. I learned about latitude, longitude and altitude, how to name routes and waypoints, how to find icons and how to use the hidden keyboard in the GPS.

There is still plenty more tasks to be done.

Our school is preparing a GPS project which we will share with schools in Portugal, Czech Republic and Slovenia.

K-----(The Project Team Leader)

Weekend Tasks

The team will over the weekend set up routes, insert waypoints, name these waypoints and assign the proper icon to the waypoints.

The members will also get prepared to track increase in daylight hours from Monday 16th January 2012 to Friday 20th January 2012 in our local area.

They will publish a chart on their findings.

Refreshing

On Thursday we refreshed our thoughts by exploring the Garmin Hardware and Software.

Hardware Exploration:
We checked adaptors, power source, USB cable,  our laptop, projector, connection to the IWB. We also calibrated the devices.

Software Exploration:
We explored the GPS alpha-numeric keyboard, routes, waypoints, the proximity alarm, the electronic compass, the altimeter and we also scrolled through the icons.We further explored the FIND icon on the main menu.

GPS Team

This is our GPS team. The members are very busy at the moment.

GPS Equipment

We are using Garmin eTrex Vista equipment for this project.

Calendar 2012

Our school calendar will be available at the school when we re-open on Monday 9th January 2012.
Interesting images depicting school activities during 2011.

Welcome2012

For the New Year we have decided to add a blog to our activities.