Natural Navigation+

P5 have been learning about direction. They used chalk in the playground to chalk out their own compasses. The class identified where north was using the sun and time of day to work it out without a compass (See weblink for more info). Once we had established north the learners place cardinal and ordinal directions on their own compass using chalk. Some groups included bearings in their work.
Once comfortable with the use of direction we started to look at Natural Navigation techniques. What clues in nature could tell us about direction. We observed that moss generally grew on the north side of trees as it prefers a damp environment to grow. During our walk learners pointed out examples and started to observe other clues such as shape of tree. They were able to come up their own hypothesis and started to test ideas through observation.