New
New
Year 8

Star orienteering

I can work in a pair and race to complete a star orienteering course.

New
New
Year 8

Star orienteering

I can work in a pair and race to complete a star orienteering course.

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Move: altering your pace of running, will allow you to complete a route as a team.
  2. Think: thumbing the map and noticing key features along the route allows you to track your progress.
  3. Feel: being able to orientate and navigate using a map requires confidence.
  4. Connect: retracing your steps when you get it wrong requires resilience .

Keywords

  • Thumbing a map - the technique of keeping your thumb on the map to track your progress as you move through a course

  • Reflect - carefully considering how something went to include the result and what lessons can be taken from it

  • Resilience - staying strong and positive and not giving up when faced with challenges

Common misconception

Requirement to keep checking location to ensure on track. Regular stopping and time wasting as a result of re-orientating the map.

Thumbing the map means tracing your route as you move along the map to represent where you are on the map at any given time.


To help you plan your year 8 physical education lesson on: Star orienteering, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

In learning cycle 2, you can either use your own school orienteering set up or you can use the AdMat to create your own star route.
Teacher tip

Equipment

worksheet printed per pair, worksheet answers printed ready, pencil per pair, 16 cones numbered underneath with 4 x 1's, 4 x 2's, 4 x 3's and 4 x 4's, football pitch, school map or AdMat per pair.

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - outdoor learning
  • Risk assessment required - physical activity

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
What is important about our running speed to enable us to keep going over long distances?
fast then slow
continually fast
Correct answer: pace ourselves
Q2.
To ensure we stay on course, what must magnetic north on our compass line up with on our map?
south
Correct answer: north
the start triangle
Q3.
What must we do to resolve disagreements with team mates?
Correct answer: listen to others
ignore the issue
avoid open communication
Q4.
What trait do we need to keep trying when we are finding it hard to navigate to a control point?
Correct answer: persistence
impulsiveness
self-doubt

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
How would someone with good resilience behave?
Correct answer: never give up
avoid challenges
constantly switch goals
Q2.
What is the technique called when we trace our route on the map to ensure we always know where we are?
Correct Answer: thumbing the map, thumbing
Q3.
What important personal skill develops the more we practice navigating using a map and compass?
empathy
perfectionism
Correct answer: confidence
Q4.
What must we do to ensure we can continually improve our performance in orienteering?
Correct Answer: reflect, evaluate

Additional material

Download additional material