Photo warm-up: find the spot and mark it

Warm-up for the orienteering unit: each pair gets photos of details around the school, runs to find them and places them on the school map. It gets students jogging at an easy pace and trains the link between what they see on the ground and its position on the map.

How to play

1. Each pair gets a sheet with 6 photos of details (a trash can, a tree, a corner of the court) and the school map (1 min).
2. Easy search run: the pair jogs together to each photographed spot (4 min).
3. When they find it, they mark the exact spot on the map with a cross and a number (2 min).
4. Back to base and check against the teacher's master map (2 min).
5. Short discussion: which details on the map helped place each photo (1 min).

Rules

• Partners always stay together and within the school boundaries marked on the map.
• Run through open areas only, not through classrooms, stairways or parking lots.
• At 8 minutes everyone returns to base even if they have not finished.

Variations

Adaptations

• Wheelchair users: choose photos of accessible places and the pair shares the search.
• Visual impairment: replace photos with spoken or tactile descriptions of the places.
• Autism: give the photos in a fixed order with a suggested route to start.

Learning goals

• Warm up the body with easy running and changes of direction.
• Connect real features on the ground with their position on the map.
• Cooperate in pairs to make route decisions.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cards: 15
• maps: 15
• pencils: 15

Teacher tip

Take the photos with your phone the day before and prepare two different sets so pairs cannot just follow each other. You can reuse them as controls in the main part.

More activities like this

More warm-ups for High School