Families will have the chance to go on an unusual treasure hunt and explore the University of Oxford Harcourt Arboretum – in Nuneham Courtenay, just outside Oxford – in a completely new Slow Life way during this year’s school summer holidays.
The high-tech treasure hunt, Quest, is a collaboration with the Institute of Physics and takes its inspiration from geocaching, a craze started in the US which is catching on rapidly in the UK. Geocachers look up the coordinates of hidden boxes, known as geocaches, online before navigating to them using their GPS units. There are over 700,000 geocaches to find worldwide and an estimated 25,000 participants in the UK.
As part of the Quest treasure trails, visitors to the Arboretum will use GPS units to guide them to geocaches hidden in the grounds.
The boxes will contain activities relating to both trees and physics, which visitors can try out before tracking down the next geocache. There will be two separate trails available for visitors to choose from, Express Quest, aimed at families with children aged 6 -11, and Mystery Quest, aimed at older children and adults.
Express Quest activities include decoding a secret message using coloured filters and making a paper helicopter, while Mystery Quest involves measuring the UV index and seeing what happens after lightning strikes a tree.
Quest will provide both new and regular Arboretum visitors a unique way to explore this beautiful 130 acre site, with its range of trees, woods and meadow.
GPS units will be available to borrow free of charge in exchange for a refundable deposit, although there is an entrance fee for the Arboretum.
Alex Cheung, Outreach Officer at the IOP, said “Geocaching is a great excuse to get outside and spend the day doing a Slow Life activity, but it’s also a fantastic way for people to explore the Arboretum and find out a bit more about the physics surrounding us.”
image: geocachingsupplies.net
