Pattern Orienteering

Participants complete short orienteering courses using a simple map and arrangement of checkpoints.

"Today we will be using landmarks and a simple map to help us find checkpoints."

Time and Space

Minutes

Materials and Set-up

Master map, course maps, cone checkpoints, landmark cones

Vocabulary

Map, orienting the map, landmarks

Summary

Participants use maps of varying difficulties to find specific checkpoints among a simple arrangement. This activity develops map reading, orientation, relative position, and spatial relationships. The activity starts by showing a large map of the space and challenging participants to consider how the map must be oriented in order to match the arrangement of checkpoints. Once they’ve done so, participants will advance through a progression of maps which require them to think about where checkpoints are in the space relative to one another, using the cones themselves as landmarks. Participants may complete as many courses as they wish, repeat courses to improve their score (time), or choose to help any peers who are having difficulty.

Standards

List of specific outcomes from SHAPE America, OUSA ODM, STEM standards

O Goals

Orienteering involves making connections between the map and reality, and using distinct landmarks to help navigate to specific locations.

• Use landmarks to distinguish between checkpoints

• Orient a simple map

• Find checkpoints in order

Target Audience

The typical range for this activity is grades 1-5 (~6-10 years old), although it can be extended beyond that range—in both directions—with certain adjustments. This activity targets participants who have developed their sense of spatial awareness, and are ready to practice relative position between objects, and how to relate a 2D representation to 3D space.

Delivery

Set-up and Clean-up

(Insert diagram of the pattern layout)

1. Arrange cones to match the master map. Place the corresponding SI Box with each cone.

   1. Distances between cones don’t have to be perfect as long as they are in the correct locations relative to the landmark cones (colored dots in the corners).

2. The CLEAR, START, FINISH, and download should be set up somewhere outside of the arrangement.

3. Draw the arrangement of cones on a whiteboard, but do not indicate which animal is at each location in the drawing.

Step-by-step

1. Animal-O (See “Animal-O” activity)

   1. Find all 10 animals in any order

   2. 5-Animal sheets

   3. 10-Animal sheets

   4. 5-Animal sheets by memory

2. Whiteboard

   1. Have participants gather around outside the arrangement of cones, facing toward them. Hold up the whiteboard with the drawn map for all of them to see. Hold the map upside down for now (so the map is not oriented to the cones).

   2. Quiz participants on what they think different objects on the map represent. Orange dots are the orange animal cones. Colored dots are the colored cones in the corners of the space. Point out how each color cone is shown on the map.

   3. Tell the participants the map shows where all the cones are, but there is a problem with the map. See if they can figure out what the problem is (it’s upside down). Once participants figure it out, demonstrate how they can tell by pointing out that the colored cones in the corners are in different places than the map suggests.

      1. Tell the participants they need to “orient” the map. Orient is just a fancy word for “turn things”. You (the teacher) are going to turn the map in your hands, and you want the participants to shout “Stop!” when they think the map is oriented so all the colored cones on the map match up with real life.

      2. Turn the map. Stop when the participants say “Stop” regardless of whether they’re correct or not. Double check the location of the colored cones on the map and real life to see if they match up. If not, acknowledge they are closer, and continue to orient the map.

      3. When the map matches the space, demonstrate how the colored cones are in the same place on the map as real life. Also point out how the orange animal cones now match up as well (one animal cone near the red cone, four near the green cone, etc.). Do this forwards and backwards (point out something on the map and where it is in real life, then point out something in real life and where it is on the map).

   4. Circle a couple cones on the map. Ask participants to identify each one as you circle it. Explain how you can tell they are correct/incorrect by looking at the “landmarks” colored cones and other orange animal cones in the space.

3. Spatial Descriptions

   1. Ask the participants to find a specific checkpoint based on a spatial description. As participants successfully find their checkpoints, you (the teacher) may increase the complexity of the spatial description and vocabulary used. For example:

      1. Easy: Find the animal closest to the Red cone

      2. Medium: Find the animal farthest from the Blue cone

      3. Hard: Find all the cones between the Yellow and Green cone

4. Geometric Courses (older participants)

   1. Complete courses using a simplified map

      1. Start participants on a map with a single checkpoint circled to make sure they can differentiate between checkpoints by using the map and landmarks. They can verbally report which one they found. If they went to the incorrect checkpoint, remind them to orient the map to the space and use the landmarks to find the checkpoint that’s in the same place in real life as the map shows.

   2. Once participants complete 2+ individual checkpoints, they can complete Geometric courses. Pass out a map with 2-5 checkpoints on it. Remind them they must go to the animal in the Triangle first, follow the line to each checkpoint as they’re circled, and end at the Double Circle last.

      1. If participants are struggling, remind them to orient the map and use the landmarks to identify each checkpoint they are looking for. If there are any participants doing particularly well, ask them to help participants who are struggling.

   3. Participants may repeat courses or try new ones as they desire

Sample script

“The challenge in this activity is to find checkpoints using a simple map. In order to do this, we first have to learn how the map works. Looking at this map here,” show the upside-down whiteboard map, “what do you think the orange dots are?” Orange cones. “What about the colored dots?” Colored cones.

“Now, according to the map, the red cone should be in… this corner!” Point to the corner opposite of the red cone in real life, since the map is currently upside-down. “Is the red cone in that corner? Of course not! What about the blue cone?

“Even though this map has all the objects, there is still something wrong with it. Can anyone tell me what that is?” It’s not turned right.

“Now I’m going to turn the map now, and all of you shout ‘Stop!’ when the dots match up with where they are in real life.” Stop when the participants say “Stop” regardless of whether they are correct or not. Double check the location of the colored cones on the map and real life to see if they match up. If not, acknowledge they are closer, and continue to orient the map.

“Now that our map is oriented, we can see all the colored cones are in the same places in real life as they are on the map. These colored cones are your landmarks, and you can use them to help find the other checkpoints.

“Next I’m going to point to a specific checkpoint on this map, and I want you to point to where that cone is in real life.” Point to a checkpoint on the map. Once they point to the cone in real life, explain how they know it’s correct based on the colored cones and other orange cones in the space. Repeat 2-3 times.

“For the next game, you will receive a map like this one with several checkpoints marked on it. Your challenge is to find those checkpoints marked on the map like we just did, and go visit them. There are several levels of difficulty, so try to get as far as you can!”

Assessment

Reflection

• What was challenging about matching up the animals? What was easy?

• What sort of mistakes did people make? Why did those mistakes occur? How did you figure out the correct answer?

• What happens if we rotate the answer key map? Is the arrangement still correct?

Reaching all learners

Variations

• Hiding the checkpoint markers. This is a good exercise in teamwork and communication, and builds familiarity with the locations of the animal cones. Use this instead of the generic Animal-O in the beginning of the lesson.

  • Pair the class up and have each team do one 5-animal strip 3 times. The goal is to go faster on the second try, and do it from memory on the 3rd try.

  • Cover up or remove the animal pictures at each checkpoint. (We did it with napkins and clothespins.)

  • Give each pair a different 5-animal strip. They will not have visited some of the animal checkpoints, and so will need to communicate with other teams who do know the locations, in order to get the course correct.

  • Talk about how long it took for every team in the class to get it right. What strategies could have been used by the class to get a faster time?

• [volleyball-o: line down the middle; have partner across the line. Partner has to find the checkpoint on the other side. Can’t point; can only use their words. Maybe keep hands clasped behind back so don’t point]

• Without SI: pairs of participants self-assign Runner and Checker roles. The Checker checks that the Runner went to the correct location when using the map. Switch roles.

• Word Bank orienteering: One participant has the map and the other is the Runner. The person with the map must tell the other person which checkpoints to visit, using only words printed on a Word Bank sheet. Words can include directions of the compass (requires participants knowing which way is north), left/right, next to, corner, middle, between.

• Level-up Orienteering. For younger children, this progression leads them into being able to use a pattern (geometric) map with 5 checkpoints. (Link to maps) Levels:

  • 1: the map has a single checkpoint circled. They are to go and stand next to that checkpoint with their map oriented. Teacher comes around and checks, gathering the maps and asking them to return to their home location.

  • 2: the map has two checkpoints; both are on corners.

  • 3: the map has two checkpoints; the first is on a corner and the second is not.

  • 4: the map has two checkpoints; neither checkpoint is on a corner.

  • 5: the map has three checkpoints, all on corners.

  • 6: the map has three checkpoints, not all on corners

  • 7: 5-checkpoint course.

Supporting Information

Younger participants may struggle to understand the relationship between the map and the layout of the objects. Try to walk through it in the simplest possible terms ("There's a group of 4 objects here and nowhere else," "We know these two objects should be next to each other. Can you find where that is?").