Materials
- Candy or some sort of prize, one per student
- Masking tape
- Index cards with a secret messages written on it
These materials are per group
- A set of directions
- Meter stick
- Compass (optional)
- Graph paper
- Pencils
- Rulers
Procedure
- Before the students arrive take some masking tape and mark a big X at the start location of the treasure hunt
- Hide index cards with different phrases on them. This insures that students can’t cheat and look for the treasure (the index card) without actually doing the activity
- Hide the index card with the real message on it 4 meters West of your X
- You may need to modify these instructions to fit your class size or treasure hunt area
- Give students a bag of directions that are cut up into pieces so that each direction is on a separate piece of paper
- Give the students at least a half an hour to work and provide some sort of reinforcement activity for the students that finish first
- Tell the students that a treasure is hidden somewhere in the classroom and that they are given the directions, however the directions are out of order, it’s their job to find the hidden treasure
- Tell the students that somewhere is an index card that is hidden with a secret message, if they correctly tell you the message and explain how they got their answer, then they win a some candy
- Tell the students that the starting point is the masking tape X and you can either give them compass headings or have them using orienteering compasses
- Some groups may have difficulty with this project, suggest that they can draw a map to scale, or using graph paper making each block worth one meter, the students can also eliminate some directions since some vectors cancel out. For example 5 meters North and 5 meters South will lead you back to where you started
Directions
| 5 Meters North | 5 Meters South | 3 Meters East | 8 Meters West |
| 4 Meters North | 4 Meters South | 1 Meters East | 4 Meters West |
| 3 Meters North | 2 Meters South | 3 Meters East | 3 Meters West |
| 1 Meters South | 4 Meters East |
Reinforcement Activities
Have students practice drawing vectors to scale using graph paper or blank white paper and a ruler. Graph paper works better for students with a lower skill level, and for students who measure accurately or need practice measuring accurately, blank white paper is appropriate. Have the students randomly pick the direction vectors from the pile and draw each one starting from the head of the last vector drawn. Then have two students switch maps and draw the vectors again, this time in a different order. The students should have the same ending point if they measure accurately.
Extend students’ knowledge of vectors by using force tables. A good way to learn about equilibrium and how to draw free body diagrams. Force tables give students a hands-on experience balancing forces that they can use to make sense of drawing and balancing force vectors.
