Teacher's Guide

Orienteering trip

Activity theme: • a trip within your ability

Activity theme: • a trip within your ability • practise map and compass • plan a trip within your ability FLL1 competence aims : • explore and carry out activities and trips in the local area across the different seasons • understand the importance of, and use, appropriate clothing in various kinds of friluftsliv • travel safely and practise a friluftsliv that takes account of nature • cooperate in order to contribute to community, social experiences and mastery FLL2 competence aims : * plan and carry out activities and trips in the local area independently and together

  • use equipment and tools in a sustainable way,
  • apply first aid and life-saving skills in connection with the friluftsliv the pupil practises
  • practise and reflect on sustainable travel in nature
  • reflect on how new outdoor activities are changing traditional friluftsliv
  • plan, carry out and assess activities and trips as a guide for a group
  • carry out and assess friluftsliv trips where a sense of mastery, experiences of nature and community are central
  • assess possible health benefits of friluftsliv Relevance to the subject / specification: Work on basic skills • plan a day trip, a plan B and safety • learn what a day-trip pack should/ought to contain • use map and compass actively on the trip • work on taking a compass bearing • practise taking a grid reference • gain experience of walking pace on and off the path, in flat and undulating terrain Type of trip: Day trip, Mountain, Local area, Overnight trip Season: Autumn, Summer, Winter, Spring

Suggested teaching plan:

  • Practical session outdoors - orienteering

    This is what we need:

    • a day-trip pack
    • food and drink for being out half or a full day (preferably a hot drink in a flask)
    • clothes and shoes to be outdoors in

    The teacher provides compasses and an orienteering map of the area.

    This is what we are going to do:

    1. We go through a little theory about map, compass and GPS indoors.
    2. We put on outdoor clothing, take a map and compass (two pupils share one map and one compass) and go out. Pupils work together in pairs on the tasks, and the whole group should stay reasonably close to one another so that the teacher can help those who need it along the way.
    3. We go over the names of the various parts of the compass again.
    4. Look at the map you have been given. Work out where you are on the map, the scale, the contour interval and these map symbols near you: ◦ building ◦ road ◦ deciduous forest ◦ coniferous forest ◦ bog ◦ water ◦ steep slope ◦ gentle slope ◦ cultivated land
    5. Find the same places in the terrain, take a photo of them, go back to the agreed meeting point and show them to the teacher.
    6. Take a compass bearing from the meeting point (where the class is gathered) to: ◦ the nearest road junction, and from there to ◦ the nearest place that lies 20 metres higher than this road junction, and from there to ◦ the nearest building, and from there ◦ back to the meeting point
    7. We work out what we can use as sighting points and catching features in each of these compass legs.
    8. You are to find a place where we can make a campfire and eat our packed lunch, and you use map and compass to find a good route there. In pairs you draw up a proposal for where we should go, and present it to the rest of the class (outdoors).
    9. You are to explain why you would choose this particular place and this particular route.
    10. We agree on one place and one route to get there.
    11. We use map and compass to reach this place. Pupils work together in pairs.

    After this session you should be able to:

    • explain how you can find the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west) out in nature without using a compass
    • explain why it is useful to be able to use map and compass
    • explain what the scale on a map tells us, and work out the distance in reality when you have a map with a known scale
    • explain what a contour line and contour interval are
    • explain these words: map contact, sighting point and catching features
    • read map symbols on the orienteering map, and find these both on the map and in the terrain: building, road, path, forest, bog, water, steep slope, gentle slope facing west, cultivated land
    • point to these parts of a compass: direction-of-travel arrow, ruler, north arrow (or the bed), compass needle and compass housing
    • take a compass bearing from one place to another
    • explain where north on the map is, and orient the map towards north
    • explain what can cause the compass to show the wrong direction

    Assessment:

    Download: First session with map and compass. Self-assessment form.

    Text: Tone Olavsdotter Mosebø (2017), NDLA (CC BY-SA)

Map and compass tasks

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