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Activity 8 Treasure Hunt Overview Learners work in small groups to search for clue cards within a specified area. They work out where to find the next clue and move to that area, then repeat the process. Activity Explain to the learners that they are going to try to find a prize or object and tell them where they will find their first clue. Give the learners time to search the area thoroughly. When they find the clue card (developed using the template in Resource 10), they read it and decipher the clue to work out where they need to go next; for example, they might read ‘you eat your lunch here’ or ‘you leave your coat here’. They travel to the next area and search for another clue card. Continue this until they have resolved several clues. Then, in the final area, the learners find the prize/object they have been looking for. Ask the learners to return to class with the object and the clue cards. Allow them to relay to their peers the clues they deciphered, how they deciphered them and the order of the locations they went to. Ideas for Differentiation Decreasing Difficulty Use picture clues instead of written ones. Use a small, familiar search area. Call out ‘warmer’ or ‘colder’ as signs to the learners that they are moving closer to or further away from finding the next clue card. Allow deciphering one clue to lead to an immediate prize/ desired object. Increasing Difficulty Set more cryptic clues for the learners to decipher. Specify a wider search area. Give each learner a role within the group. For example, there could be a reader, a leader when travelling, searchers, learners who decipher the clue, and a person who keeps the clue cards. Split the class into groups and ask them to make up a treasure hunt of their own. Then give their treasure hunt to another group to try out. Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities Progression Maps Curiosity, Exploration and Questioning Working as a Group Cross-Curricular Skill Communication Area(s) of Learning Primary The World Around Us Post Primary Environment and Society: Geography Learning Outcomes Learners will: follow directions; interpret clues; and work co-operatively. Resources Required Resource 10: Treasure Hunt Clue Template Class Organisation Group activity
