Some ideas for teaching Navigation

A Few

Ideas

For

Teaching

Navigation

lochnagar-07.jpg (16556 bytes)

Navigation is not always the easiest of subjects to teach
(either to young people or to adults)

There are lots of both theory and practice that needs to be learnt
if a person is to become
a confident navigator.

This page lists has just a few ideas and examples, there are many many more.

bela-2.jpg (11006 bytes)

Indoor

Exercises

# Simple map making

Get people to make a map of a known area, e.g. school, street, home, classroom, etc.

# Jigsaw - Cut an old map up into a jigsaw (the size and number of pieces depends on the age of the people using it) get participants to put the jigsaw together.

An added task could be for people to chose a piece and describe every thing that is shown on that piece.
or name every symbol on that piece

This exercise can be also be used using set areas for each piece e.g. 1 km squares. (these can be enlarged to a big area)

example

of a commercially purchased
map jigsaw

and a home made one

# Pictures and symbols - get a map of an area near you, go out and take some pictures of the area, and draw some symbols of what you have taken pictures of
get the participants to match the pictures and symbols, and then find examples on the map
again people can draw a map of the view on the picture

example Irchester Country Park navigation exercise

# route recognition ~ Go out and walk a route choosing checkpoints along the way
take photographs of these checkpoint whilst on your walk, and of your start and finish points

complete a route card for you route marking only checkpoints you have a photograph of on your route card, and the start and finish points

use either a full size map of the area or small areas around each check point that have been cut out and stuck to card

give each student the map(s) photographs, and route card and the match them

example map / route card visualisation Long Myndd

# Contour recognition - try simple line drawings of features, and small contour only maps of these features to match together. Use dot to dot type maps to make contour maps, joining areas of equal height.

a height graph of a route is a very useful tool at the planning stage

it allows people to work out where in the day the uphill sections are, and how long they are

this is an example from a magazine, but it is relatively easy to draw your own

# Car rally type exercise - Set up a car rally style exercise were people are given a set of questions and a map
participants can then have to follow a course around the map using various questions

example Buxton, Matlock & Dovedale

# Map Symbols
simple recognition exercises can be used in many, many ways

from a traditional
"name the symbols"
to treasure hunts etc. etc.

they can be professionally made and purchased or home made

example
do you know your map symbols ????

# Computers and navigation

generally - young people like using computers, they do not like using paper and pens

There are many things that you can get people to do on a pc and still help them learn their navigation

Route cards can be produced in a spreadsheet and set to add up totals automatically

There are loads of programmes on the market that teach various aspects of navigation

And of course LOTS of navigation information on the internet

# Traditional "exam paper"
type map work tests
can be much more interesting
if they are set in the form of a walk

example
walk the Snowdon Horseshoe

snowdon-2.jpg (16020 bytes)

ml-2.jpg (14924 bytes)

there are many ways
to learn how to navigate
walking long distances is only one of them

Outdoor

Exercises

# Permanent Orienteering Courses - Visit a permanent orienteering course these are very good areas with ready made controls for teaching and practising navigation

example right
Irchester Country Park

# Set up an orienteering course - Set up an orienteering course within your grounds. Get others to do this course
(setting up a good orienteering course is very time consuming)

example right
a orienteering course set up for a day by a British Orienteering Federation member club

# String courses - lay out a length of 200 to 400 metres of string between trees or tent pegs, over a varied area

Get people to follow the course taking bearings or drawing a map as they go

# Go on a guided walk with your group, letting each person find features

example night navigation exercise ~ Long Myndd

# Set a course out in a field or large area such as a football pitch, give each participant a list of bearings and a compass and walk over the course

See how near to the finish they end up when completing the course

This can be done with a single bearing, and a card with grid lines and another line for the bearing on it

The participant then has to work out the bearing and then walk on it

example right

# Set a course on a map,
(for this exercise to work the route must not cross itself)
and then cut out the route from the map with a border of around 5 mm to its side, (the route will look like a snake)

Paste this route onto a card. Give the participant this route and get them to follow it using just the new "snake" map

As a harder example of the same exercise, instead of following paths, and features make "the snake" direct from checkpoint to checkpoint.
thus making the participant walk in a straight line over the ground either interpreting the ground as they go or walking on a bearing

example online soon

# Set an area on a map, get each participant to mark a selection of grid references, bearings, items to find etc.

Give each participant another persons exercise to walk on
then find / check their exercise