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Lesson 2: Match the Code

"In orienteering, you find checkpoints in order using clue sheets"

Time30-60 minutes
SpaceGym, schoolyard, or local park
MaterialsCheckpoints (cones with animal pictures), Clue sheets, Start/finish markers, Cones (optional, for marking boundaries)
SetupPlace animal checkpoints and start/finish markers around the space
VocabularyClue sheet, Course, Spatial memory

Activities​

warm-up

Explore & Find

Warm up: explore to find checkpoints (refresher from Lesson 1).

Explore & Find
core

Animal-O

Find the animals in order using clue sheets.

Animal-O
variation

Animal Relay

Take turns running to animal checkpoints.

Goals​

Orienteering Goals
  • Use a clue sheet to complete a course in order
  • Confirm you are at the right checkpoint by checking its code, as orienteers always do (in Animal-O, the code is an animal picture)
  • Build spatial memory by repeating courses
  • Learn that orienteering is a timed activity, and try to beat your own time
  • Check a partner's work by confirming they visited the correct checkpoint
PE Standards (SHAPE America)

Standard 1: Motor Skills

  • Combines varied locomotor skills in a variety of practice tasks (1.5.1). Students run and change direction while navigating between animal checkpoints.

Standard 3: Social Skills

  • Demonstrates respectful behaviors that contribute to positive social interaction in group activities (3.5.3). Partners take turns as Navigator and Checker, respecting each other's roles.
  • Solves problems independently, with partners, and in small groups (3.5.5). Pairs decide how to divide navigation tasks and work together to complete courses.

Standard 4: Personal Skills

  • Identifies movement strengths and opportunities for practice for individual improvement (4.5.7). Students repeat courses to improve their time, identifying what helped them get faster.

See PE Standards alignment for the full framework.

Delivery​

  1. Explore & Find: quick round of exploring to find animal checkpoints; return on the gathering signal. How many can you remember from last time?
  2. Pair up
  3. Animal-O: use clue sheets to find checkpoints in order. Progression:
    • Start with a 5-animal clue sheet
    • Try a different 5-animal clue sheet
    • Try a different clue sheet
    • Repeat from memory: one partner is the orienteer, the other keeps the clue sheet as the checker. At each checkpoint, the orienteer calls out the animal name. The checker says "correct" or "incorrect." Then switch roles.
    • Repeat for a faster time. Students can now self-check: carry the clue sheet and confirm each animal yourself before moving on. See Checking
  4. Animal Relay: take turns running to checkpoints (described on the Animal-O page under Differentiation)

If you have electronic timing: Electronic timing confirms correct checkpoints automatically. Without it, students need to learn to check each other (and eventually themselves). See Electronic Timing for how lessons change with electronics.

Reflection​

  • What do you like most about orienteering so far?
  • What helped you get faster?
  • At each checkpoint, how do you check you are at the right place?
  • How did you remember where the animals are?
  • Were some courses easier or harder? Why?
  • How did you work together?

Extensions​

  • Track course completion or times on a whiteboard
  • Move the checkpoints to new locations and start over
  • Have students draw a map of the area showing checkpoint locations