COMPASS FRISBEE GOLF COURSE Environmental Education Lesson Plan Edwards Camp and Conference Center

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1 COMPASS FRISBEE GOLF COURSE Environmental Education Lesson Plan Edwards Camp and Conference Center Summary After learning how to use a compass the students will complete our orienteering course in the form of a nine or eighteen hole Frisbee golf course. Usage - 5 th -12 th Year round. IL Standards 17.A.1b, 17.A.3a, 17.A.3b. Objectives Upon completion of this lesson students will understand how to find compass bearings. list the four cardinal directions. NSEW complete an orienteering course. Materials 15 compasses and 15 Frisbees demonstration compass score card and dry erase markers Introduction Some History of the Compass Begin the lesson by discussing the origin of the compass. Orienteering is the navigation across a terrain with the use of a map and/or compass. The Chinese are credited with the discovery of the compass. The compass has been around for a millennium. The first known compass is from China about a thousand years ago. Europe began using them about 300 years later. It was invented when travelers noticed that a magnetized needle floating on a chip of wood always swung around to point north. Some other first magnets were made by using a piece of lodestone, a naturally magnetic material, suspended by a thread. The lodestone pointed north. In the beginning people believed the needle or lodestone was being moved by magic or a great magician. They knew no scientific reason for it to spin around and point north. Today we know that the Earth is a huge magnet. The earth has two poles one on the top and one on the bottom of the earth. But the north geographic pole and the north magnetic pole are not one and the same on the earth. The magnetic north pole is 1400 miles away from the geographic North pole. The magnetic North pole is in northern Canada. One end of every compass needle is drawn towards magnetic north. 1

2 ACTIVITIES How to Use a Compass 1) Show them how to hold the compass properly: Start by holding the compass parallel to the ground with the flat edge and the direction of travel arrow pointing straight-ahead and away from your body. Do not allow the students to twirl the compass on their fingers! This will cause air bubbles in the housing and render the compass useless. 2) Discuss parts of the compass: The magnetic needle. This is the needle in the middle that is red and always points towards earth s magnetic north pole. We call this Red Fred. Orienting arrow. This is an outline of an arrow or the Shed in the middle of the compass. The orienting arrow is used to help orient your compass, so that you will move in the right direction. Direction of travel arrow. This is the arrow that you follow to move in the right direction after you set your bearing. Rotating Dial. The turnable dial that divides the 360 of the compass into 2 increments. 3) Reading a Bearing: This is used to explain how to find a direction on the compass. 1. Set the dial on 360 so it lines up with the direction of travel arrow. 2. Now turn your body, NOT THE COMPASS, until the red needle (Red Fred) is over the orienting arrow (the shed). 3. When this is lined up you are facing the direction you need to go. Look at the Direction of travel Arrow. This arrow shows you which direction to go. In this case it is 360 degrees, which is north. After everyone has found it, practice another bearing. Have the students take a bearing of 180 degrees. The red arrow will point north, but the directional arrow will point them South. This is a bearing of 180 degrees. *Have the students stand during this exercise and try not to allow the compass to come in contact with metal objects (or near them) because it will throw off the reading. Tricks to help students find directions: Give the red magnetic needle the name Red Fred and explain that the orienteering arrow is his shed. Any name game can be given, but Red Fred will be used for the remainder of the lesson. Remember that the red arrow always points north. So if the students follow the red arrow, they will always go north. Set your reading at the read bearing here mark and follow the direction of travel arrow AHEAD, not the red North arrow! Remember the phrase: Put Red Fred in the Shed 2

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4 The Course The course consists of a competitive orienteering course where the markers are approximately 6 feet above the ground on a tree. The markers are made of a one inch round piece of silver metal and is visible from the previous marker. There are numbers under the markers. Students take the directional reading (bearing) from the degree column on the scorecard. Students set the bearing on their compass. When students sight down their compass it should be pointing at a large tree with a marker. Students throw their frisbee until they hit the tree, keeping count of the number of throws it takes, like strokes in golf. Par is the goal score. Students throw the frisbee differently so their score may not equal the par. Start at the utility light in the parking lot. The first bearing is 68 degrees and the par is 2. Find 68 degrees on the compass and throw the frisbee in that direction. When you reach the marker, mark down the number of throws and proceed to the next marker. Everyone has the same course. Students should start the course in small groups. Some could also start on the back nine. 4

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