Orienteering Activity

To view the related article "Get Your Bearings" click here.

In the January 2004 issue of Teaching K-8, you'll find information about this outdoor activity, as well as information about the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, its mission and its programs.

Objective: Students will identify the key components of a topographical map, explain their function and interpret map features to actual terrain features.

Materials: USGS (Quadrangle) Topographical maps of your region, Terrain Features handouts, Compass Basics sheet, compasses.

Procedure: Arrange students into groups of three or four. Distribute topographic maps of your region to each group. Review the following information to familiarize students with the maps.

Title (upper left) indicates the State and Quadrangle portion.

Source (upper right) indicates the map maker – USGS or DMAT.

Scale (lower center) indicates the conversion data: 1 unit of actual measure = x unit of ground data. For example, one inch of map measure equals 24,000 inches of ground measure on a 1:24,000 scale map.

Distance measuring bars in feet or meters.

Contour interval (lower center) showing the elevation between contour lines.

Coloration standards for various map features:
green – foliage
blue – water
black – buildings, manmade boundaries
red – roads
purple – seasonal flooding, unverified or projected features

Compass rose and angle of declination diagram (lower left/right/center) that indicates differences in True North, Grid North and Magnetic North.

Once you've reviewed the maps, use the "FIST" model to explain the seven standard terrain features used in orienteering – hill, ridge, saddle, valley, spur, draw and depression. Allow students time to study and locate examples of the terrain features on their maps.

Review the use of a basic compass, using the Compass Basics sheet as a guide and give students time to practice using them.

Measuring pace. When orienteering, students will need to interpret their maps, determine directions using a compass, and measure the distance they have traveled. Measuring distance traveled on foot can be estimated fairly well through the use of pacing. Each person's pace is different depending on how long their legs are and how far apart they tend to place their steps.

A pace is defined as the distance between toe-fall to toe-fall of the same foot. Pace is not the distance between left foot-fall and right foot-fall.

Here's how to calculate each student's pace. Measure a distance of 100 meters and mark the beginning and end with tape. Count how many paces it takes for a student to walk the distance. Be sure to count paces and not steps; i.e. count each time the student's left foot hits the ground.

Now calculate the average length of the student's pace. For example, if it took the student 62.5 paces to walk 100 meters, the average length of that student's pace would be:

62.5 paces	1 pace
100 meters	x meters

62.5x = 100

x = 1.6 meters

The student's pace is 1.6 meters long.

Getting your bearings. Practice orienteering skills in your study area. Help students begin by determining their location on the topographic map and orienting the map to the proper compass heading. This can be done by laying the compass on the map with the lines on the compass pointing to north on the map, then turning the map and compass together until the north needle indicator and grid lines are parallel. Verify by viewing the surrounding terrain features and matching them to the compass heading.

Let students practice by assigning different directions and distances in which students should travel, or by assigning directions and having students report which direction they traveled and how far it was from the starting point.

You can also set up pre-polotted orienteering courses for even more practice, or allow students to plot their own courses for each other.

To view the related article "Get Your Bearings" click here.

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This activity and supplementary materials are available in Learning About Our Place, a book of 47 lesson plans from the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. For more information about the book, visit www.rtpi.org

January, 2004, Vol.34, No.4