Lesson 5

Geometric Animal-O

Description:

Students use very basic maps to locate, identify, and move objects in precise ways. 

Learning Objectives for Lesson:

• Spatial awareness

• Relative positioning

• Map orientation

• Communication 

Materials:

• Blank maps

• Animal pictures

• Stickers matching each animal

• (Traffic) cones

• Answer key

• Pencils

Intro:

In orienteering, you match things on the map to objects in real life. This lesson is about learning how to identify objects based on their location. Students should be able to match the pattern on their map with the layout of objects in real life, and identify each individual object accordingly. 

Warm-Up:

(Active) I Spy: Students play a game of I Spy lead by the teacher, but in each round they must touch an object that matches the teacher's description. 

Main Activity:

Geometric Animal-O: Students use a series of basic maps to identify the location of objects in real life. They will do this by placing stickers on their maps to match the location of that same object. Once this is done, they will use a different map that already has the stickers on it, and will have the move the objects to match what is shown on the map.

Reflection:

• What was challenging about matching up the animals? What was easy?

• What sort of mistakes did people make? Why did those mistakes occur? How did you figure out the correct answer?

• What happens if we rotate the answer key map? Is the arrangement still correct? 

Extra Activity:

Who's My Animal?: Each student will have an animal sticker placed on their forehead, and they must find another student who has the same animal without talking. There are additional variations of this game to make it more difficult, such as also not being allowed to use their hands. 

Notes:

Younger students may struggle to understand the relationship between the map and the layout of the objects. Try to walk through it in the simplest possible terms ("There's a group of 4 objects here an nowhere else," "We know these two objects should be next to each other. Can you find where that is?").