Lesson 2: Search and Remember


Time	30-45 minutes
Space	Gym, schoolyard, or local park
Materials	Checkpoints (cones with animal pictures), Cones (optional, for marking boundaries)
Setup	Place animal checkpoints around the space within the boundary
Vocabulary	Boundary, Gathering signal, Checkpoint

Activities

warm-up

Review the boundary (quick refresher).

core

Explore to find animal checkpoints within the boundary.

Orienteering Goals

PE Standards (SHAPE America)

Standard 1: Motor Skills

Demonstrates a variety of locomotor skills with the concepts of space, effort, and relationship awareness (1.2.1). Students walk, jog, and run through the space exploring, then move like animals during Animal Parade.

Standard 2: Movement & Fitness Concepts

Recognizes personal space and where to move in general space (2.2.1). Students navigate a shared space, avoiding collisions while exploring and during Run to the Animal.

Standard 3: Social Skills

Uses communication skills to share space and equipment (3.2.3). Students describe animal locations to the group using spatial language during report-back.
Discusses problems and solutions with teacher support in a physical activity setting (3.2.8). When students disagree about an animal's location, they talk through it and can run over to check.

Standard 4: Personal Skills

Recognizes individual challenges through movement (4.2.5). Students notice which animals were hard to find and reflect on how their spatial memory improved across rounds.

See PE Standards alignment for the full framework.

Boundary Run: quick review of the boundary.
Explore & Find: "I've placed animals around our space. Go find as many as you can, but stay inside the boundary. When you hear the signal, come back." Students explore freely. No set order.
Gather on the signal. Report back: which animals did you find? Where were they? "The elephant was near the fence." "The giraffe was by the big tree." Build a group picture of the space together. Ask: "How did you find them? What did you do?"
Send out again. "Can you find ones you missed? Can you remember where the ones you already saw are?"
Gather and report again. Did anyone find new ones? Can the class name all the animals and their locations? "Was it easier the second time? Why?"
Run to the animal. "If you know where the Lion is, stand up. When I say go, run to the Lion, run around the cone, and come back." Repeat with different animals.
Animal Friends. Name two animals that are friends. "The Lion and the Elephant are friends. Go visit the Lion first, then the Elephant, and come back." Start with nearby pairs, then try animals that are farther apart.
Animal Parade. Visit every animal and move like that animal on your way to the next one. Stomp like an elephant, stretch like a giraffe, hop like a frog.