Map Skills and GPS

More fun with Mr. Jack today!  A lesson on map skills and GPS was the topic.  He had the students recall latitude and longitude from a previous class.  They reviewed the terms and then he had them practice locating places on a map using the degrees of latitude and longitude.

After they became efficient at locating places on the map, he explained how GPS works.  They discussed homing beacons, triangulation and satellites.

In true Mr. Jack fashion, he had three students become 'satellite' beacons.  They were given little shakers to make noises for the blind folded student to use for reference.  The blind folded student had to figure out where the center of the room was and turn to face north based upon the 'satellites' noise.

Depending upon the 'satellite' beacon's position in the room the blind folded student had an easy or difficult time finding the center of the room.  There was discussion of how the satellite needed to be positioned and consistency in signal was important to find north.

We love learning things with Mr. Jack.