Introduction: Elementary School O Lessons

If you are looking for the at-home orienteering lessons, suitable for use during the pandemic, please start here.

Orienteering is a running and navigation sport in which competitors travel through terrain to visit checkpoints marked on a map. Orienteering is great for kids because it develops their physical abilities (speed, agility), mental abilities (map navigation, critical thinking), and provides an opportunity for outdoor play. Our lesson plans also emphasize teamwork, roles (and responsibilities), helping each other learn, safety, and obtaining consent. Please see the section “About these lessons” for more background on our approach.

These lesson plans were prepared for Cambridge Public School PE teachers in March, 2019. We will pilot the lessons in the spring of 2019 and update them, with a goal of publication in the summer of 2019. This work is a collaboration between Cambridge Public Schools and Navigation Games, a Cambridge MA 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to bringing orienteering to children.

Note that Lessons 1 and 4 can all be adapted for use indoors, and there is an indoor alternative to Lesson 4.

Update January 2023: we are in the process of updating these lessons.

Summary Table

Lesson	Set Up	Materials	Activities
1: Boundary & Geometric Animal-O	10-15 min: place checkpoints & poly spots Optional: prepare timing equipment	Animal cones Geometric Animal-O maps Animal Stickers Large whiteboard & markers Handouts Timing Equipment	Boundary Animal-O (on Geom-O pattern) Fix map drawn on whiteboard Geometric Animal-O Place cones drawn on whiteboard HW: Match cones to map
2: Animal-O & Isometric Map Introduction	10-15 min: place checkpoints Optional: prepare timing equipment	Animal-O supplies Large isometric map Handouts Timing Equipment	Find Fast Animal-O Isometric Map Discussion Feature Sprints Checkpoint Collection HW: Isometric map drawing
3: Orienteering with an Isometric Map	10-15 min: place checkpoints Optional: prepare timing equipment	Controls Isometric courses Large isometric map & orienteering map Handouts Timing Equipment	Find Fast Courses on Isometric Map Introduce orienteering map HW: Compare isometric map to orienteering map
4: Orienteering with an Orienteering map	10-15 min: place checkpoints Optional: prepare timing equipment	Controls Large isometric map & orienteering map Orienteering courses Handouts Timing Equipment	Find Fast Map Compare Orienteering Courses HW: draw your own map