Lesson B: Indoor Orienteering

"A map can come before the place, or after it"


Time	45-60 minutes
Space	Gym or other large indoor room
Materials	Cones (optional, for marking boundaries), Gym mats, tables, chairs, jump ropes, or other equipment on hand, Checkpoints, Clue sheets or blank cards (for recording courses), Paper and pencils (for map making)
Setup	Clear the gym; gather mats, ropes, tables, and chairs so groups can build obstacles
Vocabulary	Obstacle, Map, Course, Route choice

Activities

warm-up

Warm up: run the boundary of the gym.

core

In groups, build obstacles, explain the rules, and play a clue sheet course through it.

Variation: build a world to match a finished map instead of mapping a world you built.

Orienteering Goals

Use available equipment to build a world with clear obstacles and rules
Draw a map of a world you built, including its obstacles and checkpoints
Design a course and record its checkpoint sequence so a partner can check it
Run a course someone else designed, using their recorded checkpoint sequence to self-check
Understand that a map can represent a place you already know, or guide you to build a place you don't

PE Standards (SHAPE America)

Standard 2: Movement & Fitness Concepts

Applies movement concepts and strategies for safe movement within dynamic environments (2.5.1). Students navigate around obstacles they helped build, applying the world's rules to move safely.
Demonstrates problem-solving strategies in a variety of games/activities (2.5.5). Students plan a course through their built world and figure out how to represent its obstacles on a map.

Standard 3: Social Skills

Negotiates roles and responsibilities in a physical activity setting (3.5.2). Groups decide together which obstacles to build, where, and what the rules are.
Solves problems independently, with partners, and in small groups (3.5.5). Groups check a partner group's recorded course and confirm the sequence is correct.

Standard 4: Personal Skills

Explains rationale for choices based on personal interests (4.5.4). Students explain why they chose a particular obstacle or route on their map.
Identifies movement strengths and opportunities for practice for individual improvement (4.5.7). Students repeat courses they designed, refining their map as they find mistakes.

See PE Standards alignment for the full framework.

Boundary Run: quick review of the gym boundary
Build the World: in small groups, use mats, ropes, tables, and chairs to build obstacles. Decide together what's passable and what's off-limits
Walk through each group's world as a class; each group explains its rules
Play an Animal-O style course through the world using a clue sheet
Draw a map of the world, including obstacles and checkpoints. Compare maps within your group
Draw a new course on the map and record its checkpoint sequence
Trade maps and recorded courses with another group. Run their course, then check your recorded sequence against theirs
Variation: if time allows, try Match the World to the Map: bring a finished map and have a group build the world to match it, instead of mapping a world they built

How did you decide what an obstacle would represent: a wall, a river, a building?
What was hard about drawing a map of a place you built yourself?
When you recorded your course, how did you make sure someone else could check it?
Did the group you traded with run your course correctly? What would you change about your map?
If you built a world from a map instead, how did that change what you paid attention to?