1

Lesson 3: We’re Going on a Treasure Hunt

Letterboxing is a treasure-hunting game that is similar to geocaching. Whereas geocachers rely on GPS units and coordinates, letterboxers seek out hidden containers following clues. They then record their discovery in their personal journal with the help of a rubber stamp that's part of the letterbox. In addition, letterboxers have their own personal stamps which they use to stamp into the letterbox's logbook.

Lesson in Brief

Students design and set up a letterboxing trail for the whole school. (This can take a few lessons, especially if students make their own rubber stamps.)

Things you will need • Coloured pencils, textas, mini boxes or cardboard and

other materials for creating letter boxes • Small trinkets for swapping (optional) • Materials for making a rubber stamp: an ordinary

butter knife, some pencils, a pair of pliers, some toothpicks and an art gum eraser.

• Instruction sheet for making rubber stamps • Access to books and/or the internet for research • Notes from Activity 4 of Lesson One – Design a Cache

(questions below) • Aerial map of the school – Google Maps

Lesson Description

Health and Physical Education

Being healthy, safe and active.

English

Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1714).

History

Identify questions to inform an historical inquiry (ACHHS119).

Science

The growth and survival of living things are affected by the physical conditions of their environment (ACSSU094).

The Arts

Visual Arts.

Discussion

Explain to the class that they are going to be designing and creating a treasure hunt, or letterboxing trail for the whole school. In Lesson One, students were given some time to discuss the following questions. • What would be some great things to put in a ‘cache’ at our school? (Real caches can’t be put

on school grounds as we can’t invite in strangers. These will be found only by kids at the

Main Curriculum Links

2

school.) Think about what kindy kids, older kids, and even adults would love to find in a cache. This game is for all ages! (If there is only one age level looking for the letterboxes, it can be easier to work out what to put in them. This decision is up to the class and the teacher.)

• Where would be some great places to hide letterboxes around the school? • How could you disguise the letterbox so it is trickier to find?

Students spend a little more time discussing these questions in their groups before sharing their thoughts with the whole class.

Activity One

Planning

In groups, students begin planning what will go in their letterbox.

A “Did You Know?” section could be included in each box. Examples could include: • Local historical events • Local plants and animals

Boxes might also contain: • A secret code • Who am I? • Trinkets for swapping • What else?

Groups develop questions, information and puzzles that could go into their letterbox then conduct research to find relevant information.

Students can: ! Research local information and

write relevant questions or puzzles to go in to the letterboxes.

! Create interesting, informative, creative, fun letterboxes.

! Write codes or hints to be used by the school community finding the letterboxes.

! Design and make rubber stamps. ! Consider the environmental

impact of letterboxes and choose materials accordingly.

Activity 2

Creating

Discuss potential environmental impacts of caches and decide on most appropriate materials to be used. Allow students time to really get creative with their letterboxes. Stop occasionally for updates, to share what each group is up to, and to keep students on track.

Activity 3

Making rubber stamps

Each group gets to design and create a stamp that will go into their letterbox. The instructions can be found at http://www.letterboxing.org/kids/kidstamp.htm.

Learning Objectives

3

Activity 4

The letterboxes are made and a ready to be hidden around the school. Each group marks their hiding spot on the map. Class goes out to hide all of the letterboxes.

Conclusion

Now that the letterboxes are created and hidden, how are we going to let people know about them? This can be the goal for the following lesson.