Description
This one- or two-day activity introduces students to cardinal and ordinal directions using a compass to navigate a course. The course allows up to eight teams to follow separate paths using a compass. This strategy prevents teams from simply following each other around a circuit. Each path is a zigzag course of seven short walks separated by 90-degree turns along the cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west).
The files that are part of this lesson include:
- Compass Basics slideshow titled, This Way or That?
- Navigating with a Compass activity (lesson)
- Orienteering Course Excel workbook (used to set up your own course)
- Lesson Resources including
- Chart: Parts of a Base Plate Compass,
- Chart: Magnetic North vs Geographic North
- Student Handout: How to Use a Compass,
- Practice Handout: Ordinal and Cardinal directions
- Lab Route Worksheet for students with a Teacher’s Key,
- Compass Rose images for SRN entries
- Teacher Notes
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Highlights
Grades
3rd - 6th
Subjects
Standards
NGSSMS-ETS1-2
NGSSMS-PS2-4
NGSSMS-PS2-3
Tags
Pages
70
Teaching Duration
1 hour
Description
This one- or two-day activity introduces students to cardinal and ordinal directions using a compass to navigate a course. The course allows up to eight teams to follow separate paths using a compass. This strategy prevents teams from simply following each other around a circuit. Each path is a zigzag course of seven short walks separated by 90-degree turns along the cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west).
The files that are part of this lesson include:
- Compass Basics slideshow titled, This Way or That?
- Navigating with a Compass activity (lesson)
- Orienteering Course Excel workbook (used to set up your own course)
- Lesson Resources including
- Chart: Parts of a Base Plate Compass,
- Chart: Magnetic North vs Geographic North
- Student Handout: How to Use a Compass,
- Practice Handout: Ordinal and Cardinal directions
- Lab Route Worksheet for students with a Teacher’s Key,
- Compass Rose images for SRN entries
- Teacher Notes
Report this resource to TPT
Reported resources will be reviewed by our team. Report this resource to let us know if this resource violates TPT's content guidelines.
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It got the job done! Helped them hone in their compass skills.
I used this with a homeschool book club group and it was perfect for what I needed it for. Thanks
A comprehensive and thorough resource for teaching orienteering and cardinal directions. Great activities for outdoor learning!
Great resource - thanks!
We love getting outside to learn about our cardinal directions and how to read a compass. I have a question: with the team workbooks, what is to prevent them from just going to their next destination (ex. B1) and getting the value and writing it down? Should I take the label off and just leave the distance? I'm confused as the best way to do this. I'm new at this, so it is completely my misunderstanding that is causing the confusion. Thanks!
Hi Krista, First... THANK YOU! for purchasing this unit. We had a lot of fun creating it. Second, we agree. The next marker can sometimes be predicted by our very observant students; however, each route has at least two red herrings that could trip them up if they always choose the nearest marker. I created a sample field that lays out each team's coordinates for a quick visual in this google sheet. https://tinyurl.com/yew27u9y
Questions & Answers
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Standards
to see state-specific standards (only available in the US).
NGSSMS-ETS1-2
Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
NGSSMS-PS2-4
Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects. Examples of evidence for arguments could include data generated from simulations or digital tools; and charts displaying mass, strength of interaction, distance from the Sun, and orbital periods of objects within the solar system. Assessment does not include Newton’s Law of Gravitation or Kepler’s Laws.
NGSSMS-PS2-3
Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces. Examples of devices that use electric and magnetic forces could include electromagnets, electric motors, or generators. Examples of data could include the effect of the number of turns of wire on the strength of an electromagnet, or the effect of increasing the number or strength of magnets on the speed of an electric motor. Assessment about questions that require quantitative answers is limited to proportional reasoning and algebraic thinking.
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