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Lesson B: Indoor Orienteering

"The map and the terrain are two sides of the same idea"

Time	45-60 minutes
Space	Gym or other large indoor room
Materials	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, Route choice, Map, Course

Activities

core

Build the World

In groups, build a world, map it, design courses, and trade with another group.

variation

Match the World to the Map

Variation: build a world sight-unseen from another group's map.

Goals

Orienteering Goals

• Build a world and represent it accurately on a map, or build a world to match a given map
• Apply route choice to plan efficient courses around obstacles
• Design and record a course precise enough for a peer to run and self-check
• Compare the two directions, world-to-map and map-to-world, and explain what each teaches about the map-terrain relationship

PE Standards (SHAPE America)

Standard 2: Movement & Fitness Concepts

• Identifies the effective use of movement concepts within multiple dynamic environments (2.8.1). Students plan routes through a built world, applying route choice to work around obstacles.
• Demonstrates problem-solving skills in a variety of games and activities (2.8.7). Students represent a built world accurately on a map, or build a world accurately from a map.

Standard 3: Social Skills

• Uses communication skills to negotiate strategies and tactics in a physical activity setting (3.8.3). Groups decide on a layout and rules together, then negotiate how to represent it on a map.
• Solves problems with teammates and opponents (3.8.8). Students check a peer's recorded course against what actually happened when running it.

Standard 4: Personal Skills

• Choice and interests impact engagement (4.8.4). Students choose whether to build first and map second, or map first and build second.
• Reflects on movement experiences (4.8.9). Students compare what building-then-mapping and mapping-then-building each taught them.

See PE Standards alignment for the full framework.

Delivery

1. Build the World: in groups, build a world using available equipment. Decide the rules and be ready to explain them
2. Explore each other's worlds. Discuss route choice: "If you had to get from here to there, what's your best path around this obstacle?"
3. Draw a map of your own world, including obstacles and checkpoints
4. Design and record a course on your map. Trade with another group
5. Run the course you received, using route choice to plan your path; record your own checkpoint sequence as you go
6. Compare your recorded sequence to the map's designer. Discuss any mismatches
7. Match the World to the Map: reverse it. One group hands another a finished map, without showing the built world; that group builds a world to match it, then the two groups compare
8. Debrief: which direction, world-to-map or map-to-world, was harder? Why?

Reflection

• What route choice did you make around a tricky obstacle? Why?
• How did you decide what belonged on the map and what could be left off?
• When you built a world from someone else's map, what was hard to interpret?
• Which direction, building-to-map or map-to-building, revealed more mistakes? Why do you think that is?
• How did your group divide the work of building, mapping, and recording?

Extensions

• Time both the course-running and the world-building-from-map steps; compare
• Introduce compass bearings for the map-first variation: describe obstacle placement using cardinal directions
• Have one group build a world with a "trick" obstacle, something that looks passable but isn't, and see if the mapping group catches it