The World of Orienteering
Imagine you are in a new city. You ask someone how to get to a bookstore. They tell you to go straight, turn left, and you will find it on your left. In fact, you can also find your way with a phone. Now imagine you are in an outdoor game. You only have a map and a compass, and instead of running down a city road, you may need to run around in the woods, climb over rocks and go up and down hills. Welcome to orienteering!
In the game of orienteering, players use a map and a compass to find stations. These stations are called controls. A special flag, usually in bright colours, marks each control. Controls are not easy to find. They may be in front of a big rock or behind a tree. In most of the games, you'll have to find controls in numbered order, but in some games you can change the order.
At each control, players mark a card they carry with them and the card will be marked in different ways (See Figure 1). The cards are very important because players must find all the controls to win. If someone misses a control, they won't have that mark on their cards. They might cross the finish line first, but the next person to finish with a full card will win the game.
Culture Note:
The first compass was invented by ancient Chinese people. It helps you find your way by always pointing to the North.
