| Geocaches placed by Mr. Gain for CCC members to find! |
| CCC#1 Weed Out Warriors! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Geocaching |
| "The newest sport" as it is sometimes referred to as, is geocaching, and members of the CCC are willing participants in the game, mostly since you get to experience the great outdoors as you take part in the fun. There are many different twists to geocaching, but here's how it normally works: A weatherproof container of some sort is hidden and the person who hid the "cache" as it is called, marks the location with their GPS (Global Positioning System) unit. The coordinates of the hidden cache are then shared with others, usually via the geocaching webite. People who want to search for the hidden cache put those coordinates into their own GPS units and navigate to the location of the hidden cache. When they find it, the cache usually has a log book and some trinkets for trading as its contents. Cache finds are usually also logged on the website so that others can see what kind of comments the searchers have and what kind of activity has taken place with the cache on which days. CCC members have used GPS units and GIS (Geographic Information System) software quite extensively, to have fun as well has to learn some skills that will enhance their technological and computer-based capabilities. Below are some great links for geocaching and other GPS and GIS information. |
 |
 |
 |
| Geocaches placed by the West Allis Central Conservation Club Click here to see "Gainman" and the Conservation Club's profile on the official geocaching.com website - pictures, finds, & more! (you will need to create free account to view these pages) |
 |
|
 |
|
| CCC#2 We Love our Park! |
|
| CCC#5 Home of the Bulldogs! |
|
| CCC#6 Conservation Community |
|
| CCC#3 "Hale Creek" Receives "Central Service" |
|
| CCC#4 Beaver Clean-Up! |
|
 |
| GIS Computer Applications - Using the same software that organizations like the Department of Natural Resources uses, students and CCC members track map data by using ESRI's ArcView program. Here are some examples and explanations of adventures and projects that the kids are part of! |
| Pictures that tell stories: On public access land owned by a paper company, CCC advisor Pat Gain spent some time scouting out the area by seeing which portion of the logging roads in the area were driveable. He set his GPS unit to take a reading every 1/100th of a mile, and the green dots on the map show the roads he drove. He then hid small flags at 3 locations, and identified an area suitable for parking numerous vehicles, as well as a good location near the parking area for students to bring the recovered flags to. The finish location was an old deer stand with a beautiful view! |
| CCC members were brought to the land for the activity, and were divided into 3 groups. GPS units were set to take readings every 1/100th of a mile for each of the 3 groups. All 3 groups went together to find SAMPLE to get comfortable with using the GPS units and bushwhacked through the vegetation to get there. Mr. Gain waited until they were on their way, and then walked up the logging road that he had previously driven to meet the groups. After SAMPLE was located, everyone knew what they were looking for, and understood that they were to find their team # flag, and deliver it to FINISH (by the old deer stand). The race was on! While the kids looked for the hidden flags, Mr. Gain and another chaperone shuttled vehicles from the original parking area to VEHICL. Team #1 (the blue team) made their way through the trees and shrubs to their destination. They followed the page on the GPS that showed the "road" screen towards their flag, and stayed on it pretty well (unless too many trees got in their way!) They radioed in on the walkie talkies that they had been given to complain that they stayed on the "road" on the GPS, but were getting pretty close to the real road that bordered the property! After some discussion, they realized that the distance numbers on the GPS units were getting bigger, indicating that they were moving away from the flag. They realized that they were on the right road, but had walked right past the flag! They turned around 180 degrees, watched the distance decrease as they walked, and found the flag! On their way back to FINISH, they heard the sound of vehicles and hitched a ride in the Suburban. (They never officially made it to FINISH and were disqualified! They were so close, too!) |
| Team #2 (the red team) were no dummies. They began their journey through the thick brush and stumbled onto a road. They decided that they'd stay on the road and see if the distance to their flag decreased as they walked along. 2 boys in the group who didn't have GPS units ran ahead of the other kids and looked near every tree and rock to find the secret hiding place. By luck, they picked out the right hiding place where the flag was hanging in a young jack pine. As they ran back to the road, they met up with the rest of their group, did a "go-to" command for FINISH, and worked their way down another logging road to their destination They finished first by a landslide! Team #3 (the pink team) had their share of problems, which ranged from technical difficulties to dense cover to an inability to find the flag that they were right on top of! After getting turned around a couple of times, and radioing in for assistance numerous times, the team finally found the flag and returned it to the deer stand at the FINISH. Tattered and torn up, sweating and dirty, the pink team seemed to have felt the most exhileration of all having completed their task! Since the blue team skipped the finish point and went to the vehicles, the pink team actually took 2nd place! |
 |
| CCC winter trip participants who took part in the GPS scavenger hunt. |
 |
| Vehicle - Killed Deer Study: For this classroom activity, students used data furnished by the Wisconsin DNR to classify counties by the number of deer that were killed by vehicles. The red counties had the largest numbers killed, and purple had the lowest numbers. Students added additional data layers to attempt to explain why there were differences in the numbers. Layers added included human populated areas, travel corridors, and different landholding classifications. A discussion on how insurance companies take certain types of data into consideration when determining premiums for their customers was a very interesting follow-up to the creation of this map as well. The DNR's deer management decisions for the harvesting of deer were also part of the discussion. |
| (click on the map to enlarge image) |
| FOR OTHER SITES OF INTEREST FOR GEOCACHING AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTALLY-RELATED MATERIAL, VISIT OUR LINKS PAGE |
| ESRI's Community Atlas Project Students are currently developing a website that encompasses the aspects of our community within West Allis. The premier software company that sponsors the project and will award our school district with a lifetime license for use of some incredible mapping software is ESRI. Click here to see the details of the project that we are undertaking. |
| (you will need to create a free account to view these pages on geocaching .com) |