K-12 Project in Oxford, Ohio

GISCorps volunteers assisted Caching Our World, a K-12 non profit organization, in conducting several events during the Geography Awareness Week. This was a collaborative effort between Caching Our World, Miami University, and a number of other sponsors and publishers. The main theme of the event was "Africa 3D: Discovery, Diversity, Demographics". The event was held on November 13-15, 2007 at the campus of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where tens of third to fifth grade students from Hamilton and Cincinnati public schools participated in a 3-day event. GISCorps volunteers, Tara Havens, Lucia Barbato, Megan Winnenberg, and Patricia Moehring assisted Caching Our World in:

Figure 1: Map Gallery - Maps by students and GISCorps Volunters

Figure 2: Students participated in a Treasure Hunt

- Logistics (creating name tags, certificates, etc.) prior to the event

- Making Maps for the Map Gallery

- Guiding and mentoring students throughout the event

Figure 3: The Oxford Gourd and Drum Ensemble introduced African instruments

Activities included:

1. A treasure hunt where students learned about directions of a compass.

2. Hands-on Google Earth activities where students were given a series of clues and had to figure out which regions were being mentioned.

3. Oxford Gourd and Drum Ensemble provided musical entertainment from various regions of Africa.

4. Students made African tribal masks.

5. Wings of Wonder bird show from Cincinnati Zoo.

6. Nationally known storyteller from Oxford United Methodist Church, Pastor Fred Shaw, told fascinating children stories.

Figure 4: A map of where African masks have come from

To read more about this year's event and learn more about Caching Our World and their activities, visit their web site.

Figure 5: Students at the Map Gallery

Caching Our World is looking for volunteers to help them with developing an image portal:

Caching Our World would like to start building an image portal where teachers can download images of different regions for classroom instructions. We are looking at forming a committee to help make this a reality. Please contact us if you are interested in helping out with this project. You can either contact Rose Haverkos at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or GISCorps volunteer Laura Horton at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Figure 6: Pastor Fred Shaw, telling fascinating children stories

Figure 7: GISCorps volunteer Tara Havens describing a clue