Traffic Light Pacing: Fast on Green, Careful on Amber, Precise on Red

Students apply the traffic light technique, common in orienteering: each leg is split into a green part (rough navigation, full speed), amber (stay alert, ease off a bit), and red (fine navigation near the control). It teaches matching speed to difficulty instead of running the same pace everywhere.

How to play

1. Walk through a sample leg: where you can run without checking the map, where to slow down, and the attack point where red begins (4 min).
2. In pairs, color each leg of a 6-control course green, yellow, and red with highlighters (5 min).
3. Round 1: A runs following their traffic light plan while B follows a few meters back, noting whether A slowed down on amber and red (8 min).
4. Round 2: switch roles on the same course (8 min).
5. Compare: times, mistakes near controls, and whether the planned traffic light matched what happened (5 min).

Rules

• The observer doesn't help or talk during the run.
• Walking is fine in the red zone: precision beats speed.
• No cutting through out-of-bounds areas, even on a green stretch.
• Call out when passing and pass on the open side.

Variations

Adaptations

• Visual impairment: colors an enlarged map and runs with a guide who calls each color change.
• Limited mobility: applies the traffic light in a wheelchair by adjusting push speed on an accessible course.
• Injury: brisk walk on green and slow on red; same challenge.

Learning goals

• Match speed to the difficulty of each part of the leg.
• Identify attack points where fine navigation begins.
• Observe a partner and give them data on their technique.

Equipment for a class of 25

• school maps: 40
• highlighters: 15
• control markers: 12
• crayons: 12
• control cards: 30
• stopwatches: 15

Teacher tip

Regular colored pencils work if you're out of highlighters. The typical mistake is coloring everything green to go faster; ask where the attack point is on each leg, because that's where red starts.

More main activities for High School