An orienteering map of your schoolyard is a resource you will need to bring the excitement of orienteering to your students. The production of the map is a worthwhile project in itself. Some of the skills employed in map making are those practiced when orienteering. Before you start making your map, decide how much information you want to include and who is going to use it. Approach the task logically and be resourceful. The following resources may be available to you.

A site plan of your school may include positions and orientation of buildings, boundaries and maybe some topographic information. The school principal or head custodian should know where it is. It could make your map making task easy. Blueprints of your school yield floor plans and often outside information.

U.S.G.S. topographic maps may be helpful in adding contours to your map. Local sportsman stores or bookstores often sell them.

Your Town Offices will have tax maps showing boundaries and the size and shape of the school grounds. There may be adjoining town property that you can include on your map. The town offices or planners may have aerial photos of your school and town.

Aerial photos of any US location can be purchased from the US Department of the Interior. Visit www.usgs.gov. Scroll through mapping products, then aerial photos , to photofinder. A 36 X 36 inch photo is $33. They have a lot of mapping information and the kids think they are cool. Aerial photos of many US locations are available on the USGS Terraserver web site hosted by Microsoft ( http://terraserver.microsoft.com) .

Up North Orienteer’s Tony Federer has a lot of experience making schoolyard maps. Visit his web site at www.nh.ultranet.com/~compassb for his compendium of knowledge and advice for making schoolyard maps for orienteering.