Lesson 1: Map Literacy & "Thumb" Navigation
Duration of Days: 1
Lesson Objective
Students will orient a map to "North" and use the "thumbing" technique to track their location while walking a basic 4-point course.
Why is being able to read a map an important skill?
Orientation
Map Scale
Legend
Thumbing
Standard 2: Applies knowledge related to movement and fitness concepts.
(DOK 1) Can you identify the three different types of "North" found on a topographical map?
(DOK 2) How does the "thumbing" technique help prevent a navigator from becoming "disoriented"?
Beyond the obvious survival skill of knowing how to use a map and compass, orienteering teaches executive functioning. Students must make high-pressure decisions, manage "information overload" while physically exhausted, and learn that the "straightest" path isn't always the fastest. It builds self-reliance and the ability to recalibrate when a mistake (getting lost) occurs.
Orienteering is just using a map.
Create groups with varying skills and abilities
Create challenges with varying levels of difficulty
Students will be able to identify the 3 different types of "North" on a map.
Laminated maps of school campus
Dry-erase markers