The Team Goal
Ideas for the Team Goal which each walking group must have
Agree your Goal and plan properly
Every Qualifying Expedition must have a Team Goal, usually some sort of project involving all members of the group. You should discuss this in your walking group – live, or online, whatever suits you best. You should then do any research and preparation you need to. A well chosen Goal can make your expedition much more fun!
Note, too, that every group at Silver and Gold has to prepare and deliver a Presentation about their expedition, which is usually linked to the Team Goal, so it is worth choosing something interesting, and agreeing how you can make sure you will have the photos etc for the presentation.
The presentation is best done a couple of weeks or so after the expedition, while it is fresh in your mind.
Notes
- Study in advance helps – online, or leaders could point you to a course on plants, trees, birds etc.
- Advance preparation using suitable maps can make the activity much more productive.
- Many topics lend themselves to recording by photo/video.
- A number of topics lend themselves to marking up observations on maps.
- e.g. Trees; Birds; Plants; Photos; Notes; Recording on map …Each member can focus on a specialist task within an overall topic.
Also see DofE poster about the Team Goal (for Leaders, but worth reading).
Some ideas others have used
Topic for Goal | Topic area | B | S | G |
Land use | Geography | B | S | G |
Weather observations | Geography | B | S | G |
Impact of tourism | Geography | B | S | G |
Farming | Geography | B | S | G |
Landforms | Geology/Geography | S | G | |
Glaciation features | Geology/Geography | S | G | |
Find and record interesting rocks | Geology/Activity | B | ||
Wildlife | Nature/Biology | B | S | G |
Trees | Nature/Biology | B | S | G |
Plants | Nature/Biology | B | S | G |
Pollution levels | Nature/Biology | S | G | |
Energy input/output | Biology | G | ||
Group dynamics | Group | S | G | |
M/F dynamics within group | Group | G | ||
Learn about each other | Group | B | S | G |
Effect of being off-grid | Group | G | ||
Learn a skill from one member (eg a language) | Group | G | ||
Supporting member(s) with additional needs | Group | B | S | G |
Record detailed timings for legs of route, with observations | Group | B | S | |
Take photos at agreed points and make observations based on a topic: land, nature, weather … | Research | B | S | G |
Video of Expedition | Media | B | S | G |
Photo record | Media | B | S | G |
Diary/blog | Media/Personal | B | S | G |
Poetry/song record | Media/Personal | B | S | G |
Sketches record | Media | S | G | |
Multimedia record | Media | B | S | G |
History of area | History | B | S | G |
Compare historic maps | History/Geography | S | G | |
Place names (Gaelic etc) | History/Geography | S | G | |
Religious/supernatural links | History | B | S | G |
Geocaching | Activity | B | S | G |
Alphabet observation | Activity | B | ||
Litter – mapping, collecting | Activity | B | ||
Map erosion on tracks | Activity | B | ||
Take photos of group at different points and map location of photos | Activity/Media | B | ||
Taking selfies as a group at main waypoints to create a collage of our expedition journey | Activity/Media | B | ||
Researching named features, notices, plaques … Perhaps part of a topic. | Activity | B | S |