2024 Workshops on Teaching Orienteering

All students deserve to explore the outdoors. Doing so while engaging in meaningful math discussions is a win-win for everyone. This orienteering workshop walks through creating a project-based middle school math unit. students learn map-reading, gather data, hone estimation and measurement skills, and apply proportional reasoning and problem solving skills to create scale drawings (maps!) of their local community. Students collaborate on a final product: making a map and setting up an orienteering course for younger students.

In this workshop, we’ll walk through the unit in detail. Participants will get to try out orienteering on the Holy Cross campus. Come to our session prepared to go outside!

Slide deck (includes map)

NH Environmental Education

College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA -- March 19, 2024

Conference link

Presenter: Barb Bryant, Maija Pratt

NG staff only: OP; planning; maps

Building Orienteering Expertise in Children and Youth

Orienteering is a physically active experience that develops map navigation skills. In our workshop, we will orienteer in teams, and play a progression of navigation skill-building exercises outdoors. Participants will identify skills that they used, and skills that can be taught, through orienteering.

Map

Slide deck

Association for Experiential Education - Mid-Atlantic Region

West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV -- March 22, 2024

Conference link

Presenter: Barb Bryant

NG staff only: OP; planning; maps

Building Orienteering Expertise

Orienteering is a physically active experience that develops map navigation skills. In collaboration with school teachers in Massachusetts, Navigation Games has created orienteering-based curricula for kids. In this workshop, you will navigate outdoors in teams, reflect on your experience, and adapt the activities to work with your programs’ spaces and communities. I will share our materials and activities. You will leave with information about all the resources you need to implement orienteering in your programs.

Map

Slide deck

SHAPE Vermont

Killington, VT -- March 28, 2024

Conference Link

Presenters: Barb Bryant, Maija Pratt

NG staff only: OP; planning; maps

Orienteering in PE I: Elementary Skill Building (Indoors)

Orienteering in PE II: Map Games (Outdoors)

Map (checkpoints were drawn manually)

Association for Experiential Education - Northeast Region

UNH Durham -- April 20, 2024

Conference link

Presenter: Barb Bryant

NG staff only: OP; planning docs; maps

Orienteering in Schools and Outdoor Programs

Team orienteering game followed by lecture and discussion

Slide deck

Map

CA Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education 2024

May 5, 2024 -- Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center, Orange, CA

Conference link

Presenter: Barb Bryant

NG staff only: OP; planning docs; maps

Orienteering for Environmental and Outdoor Education

Orienteering is a physically active experience that develops map navigation skills. While orienteering is traditionally done in the forest or wilderness, in collaboration with school teachers in Massachusetts, Navigation Games has created orienteering-based curricula that can be used anywhere, for all ages. In this workshop, you will navigate outdoors in teams, reflect on your experience, and adapt the activities to work with your spaces and communities. You will leave the workshop with new ideas and the resources you need to include orienteering in your programs.

Map