Dear Tweeters,

I'm ordering a GPS unit for use with 9-12 year-old children (grades 4,5,6)
and several pairs of binoculars (hopefully ten) that students can use during
nature trail lessons and stream study. If you have experience using either
of these tools with children, I would appreciate your recommendations.

Currently, I'm guessing that I and a student can have reasonable success
operating a Garmin GPS II Plus with a little practice. I'm a little
reluctant to get a unit with fewer features or less quality because we'd
want our data on stream features and bird nest sites, etc., to be credible
and verifiable, and we'd want to be able to transfer data to a classroom
computer. But I haven't had any experience with this unit or any of the others.

I have had experience with donated six-power and seven-power binoculars in
the field with kids. Some models are inconveniently heavy and/or the strap
rubs the neck. Also, there are always some students who never get the hang
of it (zeroing in on a duck in the creek, for example). I am considering
ordering Tasco Zip Focus binoculars for the light weight and speedy focus
feature (7x35, 1 lb 6oz, $44.30 from the Nasco Science '98 catalog), or for
durability the Tasco Rubber-coated binoculars (7x50, 2 lbs 4 oz, $97.80 from
the same Nasco catalog).

An alternative from Acorn Naturalists is their "starter" binoculars for
students. These are 4x35 and cost only $14.50. Are these too weak or
otherwise disappointing, or are they just what the kids need in order to get
regular success fairly quickly?

Please share your experience with me and with Tweeters (since everybody out
there probably knows at least one floundering outdoor educator in a nearby
school). Thanks in advance.

Darrel Whipple
Rainier, Oregon
dwhipple at columbia-center.org