Safety

In orienteering, participants travel outside over an area that eventually includes locations that are outside the view of the teacher. It’s important that children know and can recognize the boundary of the area in which the games are played, so that the notion of boundaries and safe movement becomes ingrained as the area increases over sessions and years.

Students must also be able to return to the teacher on a signal in order to keep track of everyone, make sure no one is lost or hurt, and to provide necessary instruction and information.

Treating each other with respect and care is important as well. Some students will excel while others may struggle, and it’s important for students on either end of the spectrum to work together for success.

Students need also be aware of the environment around them to avoid physically running into objects such as trees and rocks, as well as one another.

Observation and Mindfulness

Orienteering is an excellent way for students to practice observation and mindfulness. Being observant of one’s surroundings is a simple necessity for all movement sports, and orienteering includes an added layer of interpreting the map and surroundings, and of making small and large decisions about navigating through terrain.

In order to improve, athletes develop an awareness of how their physical and emotional state will affect their performance. When they make mistakes or have trouble finding a checkpoint, they have an opportunity to review why the mistake occurred, and reflect on how they can try things differently in order to improve.

These lessons are designed so that students who are successful have the opportunity to help their classmates improve. As part of this, students must actively listen to and observe their classmates to understand their needs, and be able to address those needs based on their own experiences. Not only do they experience their own success, but they also experience the feeling of helping others succeed.

Roles

By using and naming roles, the activities keep children busy and engaged even when they are done with their own course. Including the “Helper” role distributes the responsibility away from the teacher, and helps to ensure every child gains competence in the skills being learned. Both teacher and students should have an explicit goal of making sure that everyone in the class understands the material and achieves success. Having explicitly named roles provides a shortcut in explaining the games, as the roles are used over and over again in different games.

• Finder

  • Synonyms: Runner, Orienteer, Participant, Athlete

• Hider

  • Synonyms: Course Setter, Game Designer

  • Finding opportunities to give children the chance to design the game is a great way to engage them more fully.

• Helper

  • Synonyms: Teacher, Coach, Instructor

  • The Helper gets consent before helping a Finder. The Finder may refuse help in order to accomplish the task on their own.

  • The Helper does not do the task for the Finder, but rather helps the Finder learn and succeed. Give the Helper specific rules about what they can and can not say. For example, you may restrict them to “warmer/colder”. Or to asking questions such as “Where are you on the map?” “Is your map oriented?” “What do you see around you that matches the map?” “Where on the map are you going?” “Which way is that in real life?”

  • Children are often better than the teacher at figuring out how to explain things to a struggling classmate.

• Spectator

  • Synonyms: Official, Timer, Counter, Cheerer, Supporter

  • When children complete their activity while others are still on their course, you may give them the option of helping or spectating. Spectating encourages paying attention to others.

In a team orienteering game, members of the team may have various roles relating to executing the task. One person may specialize in reading features on the map; another may ensure that the map is correctly oriented; another may keep track of time; another may make sure that everyone’s input is considered, and so on. Building a practice of naming roles sets the groundwork for these future games, and develops life skills for successful collaboration with others.

Maps tell you how to find things

Maps are a way for one person to tell another person how to find things. Some children will be able to understand maps easily, but others will struggle with map interpretation. Therefore, we start with other ways of communicating location and direction, before introducing the map.

To emphasize efficient communication of how to find things, instead of timing the activity, try counting the number of instructions that the Helper gives, and reducing those. (A Spectator can do the counting!)

Timing individuals

There is a timing component built in to some of these lessons, and orienteering is normally a timed sport (similar to cross country running, cycling, skiing, speed skating, etc.). Timing students as they participate is an excellent way to encourage them to develop their speed, improve their skills, and even practice their memory. It can also provide competition for students who are interested.

It is important to remember, however, that not all students feel comfortable being timed, especially when this is a new activity they are still learning. Even when timing is used, it’s important to emphasize accuracy in orienteering as opposed to raw speed. Finding all of the correct checkpoints is more important than finding them quickly.

Timing the whole class

Timing is also used to measure the success of the class overall. This is a very effective way of uniting the students, developing their teamwork, and emphasizing cooperation. In addition, it establishes the expectations that the students are working together as a class, and that every person’s individual actions can affect the group as a whole. It encourages the practice of helping each other learn.

Building a mental map - remembering where things are

Developing a mental map is a very useful skill in understanding the spatial relationships between objects. By learning and remembering a specific location, students are developing the areas of their brains associated with relative positioning, distance, and imagery, as well as memory itself. When they remember a location, they must recall information important for finding that specific point, such as which side of the space, whether is underneath or on top of something, and what other objects were nearby. While a visual memory such as this may not resemble a standard map, their brains are still creating a guide from one place to another based on spatial information.

Matching patterns on a map to patterns in terrain

Spatial pattern identification is the cornerstone of understanding map orientation. The concept is very easy, although it might take a bit of prompting for them to make the connection. It is generally helpful to start out with something simple, but also unique, such as the layout of cones in the Geometric Animal-O.

The important connection the students develop is the relationship between the layout of space and the layout of the map, specifically in how they match up. Starting with something simple like a pattern of cones to help establish this connection is an important intermediate step between understanding a basic map and a full-scale orienteering map. As the layout becomes more and more abstract (like a real map) it becomes more and more of a challenge to establish this connection.

Orienting the map

Orienting the map is one of the most fundamental skills necessary for navigation, and for many students is also one of the most challenging concepts to grasp. On the surface this is very simple—the map matches the area around you, so hold the map so that everything matches up—but for a student whose brain is still developing its capacity to understand the relationship between objects, this is an incredibly confusing task. Make sure students who are struggling receive patient instruction where basic and distinct landmarks are used to convey distance and direction when orienting the map.

This is one area where using Student Helpers can be tremendously useful. Students who recently acquired a skill will be better able to communicate the steps necessary for other students to grasp the same concept. It will also keep successful students occupied and interested, while students who struggle will receive the individualized attention they need to learn the skill.

Authorship and Acknowledgments

Navigation Games staff, including Barb Bryant, Cristina Luis, Ethan Childs and Adam Miller, wrote the orienteering content of the lessons. Cambridge Public School teachers Katelyn Greene and Thomas Materazzo provided the SHAPE America standards and feedback on the lesson plans.

The orienteering lessons are based on curricula developed by Navigation Games in work from 2015 to 2019 with the Cambridge Community Schools JK-5 after-school classes (led by Barb Bryant, Ethan Childs and Adam Miller), and with JK-5 Physical Education classes at Cambridge Public Schools in the spring of 2018 (led by Melanie Serguiev). A previous four-lesson version was presented at the MAHPERD 2018 conference.

Cambridge Public School teachers Linda Fobes and Julia Bishop advised Navigation Games on lesson plan development and welcomed us into their classrooms. Navigation Games teachers who contributed to the lessons and approach include Evalin Brautigam, Marie Berzinova, Tomáš Kamaryt, Keegan Harkavy, David Landrigan, Priya Landrigan, Juan de Oliveira, Pavla Zdrahalova de Oliveira, Juan Manuel Merida Sanchis, Violeta Feliciano, Eugenio Trevisio, Geoff Pingree, Anaka Landrigan, Jason Tong, Sarah Gregorio, Mike Porter, Anna Swan, and Anna Lenihan. In the summers, interns and high school students (most from the Cambridge, MA, Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program) taught Navigation Games classes at summer camps. Kristin Hall and Julia Bishop helped those students develop lesson plans for the summer programs. Our summer staff included Ethan Childs, Isak Prellner, Evalin Brautigam, Adam Miller, Melanie Sergiev, Maiken Sandberg, and Marina Carlson. Interns and students included Aidan O'Keefe, Chanpera Toeumhernandez, Colin Harmer, Connor Bresnahan, Ellen Jacobson, Emie Gerard, Ethan Hall, Ethan Rothenberg, Gabriel Nielsen-Nunez, Hersh Kanner, Jackson Codd, Jeffrey Chen, Julia Armand, Keegan Harkavy, Lincoln Craven-Brightman, Lucas Oliveira-Chace, Maggie Bayly, Nathaniel Saintfort, Peter Cannistaro, Peter Phan, Phineas DeSola, Sarah Hughes, Sam Peck, Shanti Söderström, Shayne Thorpe, Sophia Price, Theo Boehm, Vincent Chen, Walter Ditrani, Yasser Elfathy, and Zoe McNerney.

Erin Schirm (Orienteering USA coach) developed and shared with us orienteering lesson plans for middle school. The boundary run and game, as well as the gathering in response to a signal, were based on his first lesson plan. Erin’s approach of using games and emphasizing communication has been an inspiration.

Andrea Schneider of Orienteering USA and David Yee of Navigation Games observed and reported to us the use of Animal Orienteering at a European orienteering event.

Resources and References

• Discovering Orienteering: Skills, Techniques and Activities by Ferguson and Turbyfill

• OrienteeringUSA.org website

• Orienteering and Map Games for Teachers by Mary E. Garrett

• Lesson Plans - Orienteering from the Orienteering Service of Australia

• Start Orienteering, a series of books aimed at different ages, by Carol McNeill and Tom Renfrew, published by Harvey

Learning Goals

SHAPE America Standards:

• S2E2.3: Recognizes locomotor skills specific to a wide variety of physical activities.

• S2E5.3a: Applies simple strategies and tactics in chasing activities

• S4E2.3: Works independently for extended periods of time

Standards Based Objectives:

Students will be able to:

• Complete a course in order, with start, controls, finish, and check-in

• Recall landmarks in order to build a mental map of the controls

• Execute timed activities faster each time by practicing to get faster

• Identify aspects of a map to show understanding

• Match map symbols with corresponding objects in real life

• Use an electronic timing system with minimal help from the teacher (if used)

Materials and Set-Up

• Isometric maps of the space

• Map key showing what object each map symbol represents

• Optional: timing equipment

• Whiteboard, markers, eraser

• Orienteering maps with courses

Introduction for Students

“Orienteering is a sport where you find things using a map drawn with symbols. Today you will use a regular orienteering map to find your way between checkpoints.”

Activities

1. Find Fast

   • The students run throughout the area to visit all of the checkpoints.

   • Encourage students to remember which animals are where, although they do not have to memorize them.

2. Map symbols

   • Discuss what a symbol is. What are the students’ current understanding of symbols. Explain that a symbol is something that’s used to represent something else. Highlight examples: Company logos, stick figure boys/girls on bathroom doors. Can the students think of other symbols?

   • Identify important areas and symbols on the map, and see if the students can figure out what each symbol represents. (e.g. Field = Yellow, Tree = Green dot/circle, Fence = Black line with tag marks)

   • Point to a symbol on the map and have students run out to a feature that matches the symbol (e.g. If you point to a tree symbol on the map, students should run to a tree. It does not matter which tree they run to).

3. Orienting the map

   • Ask the students to orient their maps to their surroundings (if they haven’t already).

   • Point out that everything in real life is in the same position as shown on the map when the map is oriented. Indicate one of the checkpoints on the map that is currently visible, and demonstrate how it is the same direction in real life as indicated on the map.

   • Have students turn their maps so they are no longer oriented. Demonstrate how trying to point the same direction on the map as in real life no longer works when the map is not oriented.

   • Instruct the students to orient their maps and identify the other visible checkpoint(s) using the same process.

4. (Handicapped Orienteering Course)

   • Have the students divide into pairs or small groups.

   • Pass out an orienteering map with a course to each group. (You may also choose to pass out an isometric map without a course to groups.)

   • Tell the groups they must find the checkpoints on the orienteering map. (They may compare the orienteering map to the isometric map to help them think about where each feature is, and where the checkpoint is located in real life.)

   • Students may proceed at their own pace. Time does not matter for this activity.

5. Orienteering Courses

   • Pass out an orienteering map with a course to each group.

   • The students should work together to complete the course. If they need help, they may return to look at the isometric map, but they may not take the isometric map with them.

   • Students who wish to be competitive may keep track of their time.

   • If any groups are particularly successful, they may choose to complete orienteering courses on their own, or assist other groups who are struggling.

Wrap-Up

• Discussion:

  • How are the maps different from last week?

  • Why might we want to use a map using symbols instead of pictures?

  • Why do we make maps as though we’re in the sky looking down?

  • What strategies did you use to find the correct checkpoints?

Indoor Alternative

1. Basketball-O

   • Place differently colored sheets of paper at either end of the gym (e.g. Red at one end, blue at the other). Prepare courses with checkpoints located along the lines of the basketball court. Mark each side of the map with the color corresponding to the paper at that end.

   • Have students pair up or work in small groups and pass out maps, but do not have any groups start yet.

   • Indicate the colored papers at either end of the gym, and how they match the colors on either side of the map. Have everyone turn their map so that the colors are oriented with the gym.

   • Point at individual cones around the gym. Can students indicate where each checkpoint is located on their map? Then point to a checkpoint on the map and see if they can identify which cone it matches in the gym.

   • Once students are able to orient themselves within the gym, they may begin the course.

Extension: Students may only moved along the lines of the basketball court. This will challenge the students to consider the best route to get from one place to another. Lines may also be blocked in certain areas to make selecting a route more challenging.

Learning Goals

SHAPE America Standards:

• S2E1.3: Engages actively in the activities of physical education class without teacher prompting

• S4E3.3: Accepts and implements specific corrective feedback from teacher

• S4.E1.3: Exhibits personal responsibility in teacher-directed activities

• S4E4.3a: Praises others for their success in movement performance

• S4E5.3: Recognizes the role of rules and etiquette in physical activity with peers

Standards Based Objectives:

Students will be able to:

• Remember and stay within a boundary

• Gather in response to teacher’s signal

• Show awareness of others; respect personal space while moving in general space

• Establish pattern of completing an activity faster on repeated tries

• Communicate which way to go with a partner using directions

• Use orienteering specific vocabulary: Boundary, Orienteering, during activities

• Visit checkpoints in order

• Learn to use the electronic timing equipment for orienteering (Clear, Start, course in order, Finish, Download)

Materials and Set-Up

• Have a method ready for assigning pairs

• Map of the area (optional: master map with locations of name tags)

• 10 cones with animal pictures on them

• 4 different colored poly spots

• 5-animal and 10-animal picture cards

• Geometric Animal-O maps

• Set up Animal-O according to the configuration on the map

• Whiteboard, eraser, whiteboard markers

• Whistle (for gathering if needed)

Introduction for Students

“Orienteering is a sport where you run around and find things using clues. It’s important to know how to be safe when you are orienteering.”

Activities

The extensions can be used with extra time or older students.

1. Run the boundary

   • Teach the word “Boundary”. Explain that you will run the boundary for today’s activities, and that everyone should pay attention to where you go. They must always stay inside the boundary.

   • Have the students follow in a well-formed line as you run the boundary.

   • Check their understanding: ask them to name things that are inside the boundary (e.g. that tree, that rock), and outside the boundary (e.g. the street, that fire hydrant). Draw attention to any areas within the boundary that should be avoided as well (e.g. the flower beds).

2. Animal-O

   • Students take a strip of paper depicting all of the animals shown on the cones in order from first to last.

   • Encourage students to remember which animals are where, although they do not have to have them memorized.

3. (Remove any cones not used for Geometric Animal-O Lvl. 1)

4. Map introduction with whiteboard

   • Draw a map of the cones on a whiteboard, but draw several cones out of place. Ask the students how to fix the map.

   • Talk about parts of the map. Discuss how students can identify different cones based on their relative position to one-another. (e.g. “The cone all by itself,” “The cones in a line/square,” “The cone by the blue spot.”)

   • Rotate the map so it is no longer oriented in the same direction as the cones. Ask the students if the map is correct each time it is rotated. Can anyone explain why the map needs to be pointed (oriented) a certain way?

5. Geometric Animal-O Lvl. 1

   • Pass out stickers and maps with blank circles matching the locations of the cones. Have students place the stickers on the map to match that animal’s location.

   • When students are finished with their maps, have them compare with one-another to see if they have the same solutions. If their maps are different, have them discuss why that is, and what needs to be changed.

6. Place cones to match a new map

   • Redraw the whiteboard to reflect a different setup of cones.

   • Assign each student (or pair of students) an animal cone, and indicate where it should go on the new map.

   • Once all cones are placed, review with the class if each cone is correct. Address any mistakes, and give groups who placed their cone incorrectly a chance to adjust their placement.

7. Extension: Geometric Courses

   • Pass out courses using the Geometric Animal-O arrangement. (The map should NOT show the location of each animal, only the cones.)

   • Students visit the cones in the order indicated by the map.

   • They may complete as many different courses, or repeat courses, as they wish.

8. Hand out the worksheet. Tell the students that we will review the answers at the next class.

Wrap-Up

• Discussion:

  • Was it ever challenging to keep your map matching the cones? Why was that?

  • What happened if the map was no longer oriented to match the cones? Why does it make a difference?

  • Did you change anything about how you moved to make sure your map always faced the correct direction?

  • How could you tell if you were in the right place or not?

  • What sort of mistakes did people make? Why did those mistakes occur? How did you figure out what to do after making a mistake?

Video

Learning Goals

SHAPE America Standards:

• S1.E2.3 Travels showing differentiation between sprinting and running

• S4.E4.3a Works cooperatively with others

• S4.E4.3b Praises others for their success in movement performance

• S4.E5.3 Recognizes the role of rules and etiquette in physical activity with peers

• S4.E6.3 Works independently and safely in physical activity settings

• S5.E4.3 Describes the positive social interactions that come when engaged with others in physical activity

Standards Based Objectives:

Students will be able to:

• Use a map drawing for navigating a course

• Execute all steps of an orienteering course, including clear, start, visit controls in order, finish, download, assess errors.

• Relate objects on a drawing to symbols on a map

• Identify and define symbols on an orienteering map

Materials and Set-Up

• Isometric maps of the school grounds or a local park with a variety of basic courses

  • Isometric maps with 5 checkpoints each

  • Place checkpoints as shown on the map

  • Regular orienteering maps as well if available

• Extension: Poison score-O course using the same maps

• Orienteering flags or other suitable markers

• Optional: timing equipment

• Optional: whiteboard for a leaderboard

Introduction for Students

“Orienteering is a sport where you use a map to find marked locations. Today you will use a picture map to find checkpoints in order and complete a real orienteering course.”

Activities

1. Find Fast

   • The students run throughout the area to visit all of the checkpoints.

   • Encourage students to remember which animals are where, although they do not have to memorize them.

2. Orienteering course on the isometric map

   • Assign students to work in pairs. (Groups of 3 are fine if there is an odd number.)

   • Pass out maps with a course. Make sure at least two checkpoints on the map are visible from the start/finish (does not have to be the first two checkpoints; any two will do).

   • Have the students identify where they are on the map. (Ideally this would be the starting triangle). Ask them to describe how they know their location.

   • Point out one of the visible checkpoints in terrain and ask whether they can identify it on their map. Demonstrate how features and directions match up when the map is oriented.

   • Students complete a course working together. Students may choose to repeat a course or try a new one regardless of whether or not they make mistakes. If a group does make mistakes, review with them which checkpoints they visited, which one they were looking for, and how they can tell the difference.

   • (If a group is successful, they may be given the option to complete additional courses individually, or assist other groups in need of help.)

   • Extension: Keep a leaderboard of the fastest times on each course for students who wish to compete. Make sure students know that competing against others is an option, and they may choose to complete their courses without keeping track of their time if they wish.

3. Extension: Poison Score-O (if extra time)

   • Place a large number of checkpoints (10-25), but mark only ~½ - ⅔ of them on the map.

   • Students must visit only the checkpoints shown on the map. For each correct checkpoint, they gain +1 point. For each incorrect checkpoint, they lose -1 point. Challenge them to achieve the highest possible score.

4. Compare drawing to map

   • Show students an orienteering map of the space with an isometric map right beside it. Point out to the students that both maps show the same space. Can anyone point out similarities between the maps? Differences?

   • Try pointing at a feature on the orienteering map, and see if the students can find the corresponding feature on the isometric map. Repeat this several times.

   • Try pointing at a feature again, but this time point to a feature on the isometric map, and have students find the corresponding feature on the orienteering map. Repeat several times.

Wrap-Up

• Discussion

  • What is easy about using a map to find things in real life?

  • What was hard about finding things in real life using the map?

  • If the colors on the maps were different, would the map still work?

  • If the shapes on the map were different, but always in the same place (e.g. A tree becomes a triangle), would the map still be usable? Why or why not?

Video

Learning Goals

SHAPE America Standards:

• S.3.E4.3 Recognizes the importance of warm-up and cool down physical activity

• S4.E4.3a Works cooperatively with others

• S4.E5.3 Recognizes the role of rules and etiquette in physical activity with peers

• S5.E4.3 Describes the positive social interactions that come when engaged with others in physical activity

Standards Based Objectives

Students will be able to:

• “Build a mental map” by remembering locations of checkpoints

• Describe a map using orienteering specific vocabulary

• Orient a map using skills and strategies from previous orienteering lessons

• Successfully navigate a course by using a map

• Understand that orienteering involves not only visiting checkpoints in order, but also timing

• Design their own course on a map using landmarks and orienteering vocabulary

Materials and Set-Up

• Large isometric map drawing

• 10 Animal picture cones

• 5-animal and 10-animal picture cards

• SportIdent equipment

• Place cones at distinct “landmarks” throughout the space

Introduction for Students

“Orienteering is a sport where you use a map to find locations marked by controls. Today you will start by finding animals in order, and then show me where those animals are on a drawing of the park/school grounds.”

Activities

1. Find Fast

   • The students run throughout the area to visit all of the checkpoints.

   • Encourage students to remember which animals are where, although they do not have to memorize them.

2. Review the homework from Lesson 1

3. Animal-O

   • (This is the same as the previous week, although the cones are scattered throughout the entire area.)

4. Feature Sprints

   • Show students the isometric map of the space. Discuss how the map matches their surroundings, so everything on the map matches something in real life.

   • Have students try to identify where they currently are on the map. Can anyone explain how they know?

   • Pick a specific feature on map. This feature should be distinct and nearby. Discuss the feature, and where it is in relation to where you are now. Can the class point out the corresponding feature in real life? (Vice versa: Can you point at an object in real life, and have students identify where it is on the map?)

   • Once the class knows which feature you picked, have everyone run there and back.

   • Repeat the process 2 or 3 times, but each time give them less help in identifying where the feature is in real life, and pick more challenging features.

   • Ask whether anyone can point out the location of one of the animal cones. Repeat through several of the animal cones.

   • Extension: Have one of the students pick out a feature for everyone to find. Can they tell if everyone went to the right spot or not?

5. Hand out the homework from Lesson 2 (a black and white map drawing; students can choose whether to color it in or identify three things that are missing or wrong). Tell them we will discuss this homework next time.

Wrap-Up

• Discussion:

  • Was it ever challenging to keep your map matching the cones? Why was that?

  • What happened if the map was no longer oriented to match the cones? Why does it make a difference?

  • Did you change anything about how you moved to make sure your map always faced the correct direction?

  • How could you tell if you were in the right place or not?

  • What sort of mistakes did people make? Why did those mistakes occur? How did you figure out what to do after making a mistake?

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

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