science

Orienteering

Orienteering is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Orienteering rather than just read about it. In short: Orienteering is a group of sports in which participants use a map and compass to navigate from point to point in unfamiliar terrain as quickly as possible. The sport originated from military land-navigation training in the late 19th century.

Key takeaways

Orienteering belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Orienteering to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Orienteering from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Orienteering is a group of sports in which participants use a map and compass to navigate from point to point in unfamiliar terrain as quickly as possible. The sport originated from military land-navigation training in the late 19th century. It has since evolved into several competitive forms where participants race against the clock and other competitors while navigating through checkpoints. Variants include automobile, underwater, mountain bike, ski, and trail orienteering. The most common form is foot orienteering, also known as FootO. In formal foot-orienteering competitions, participants are given a specially prepared orienteering map, usually topographical, which they use to locate control points. Orienteering is part of the World Games and the World Police and Fire Games.

History

Orienteering originated in Sweden in the late 19th century. The term orientering (Swedish for "orientation") was first used in 1886 at the Military Academy Karlberg, describing navigation across unfamiliar terrain using a map and compass. The activity developed from military land navigation exercises into a civilian sport. The first civilian competition open to the public was held in Norway in 1897, when the country was part of the Union between Sweden and Norway. In 1901, the first Swedish public event included control points at historic sites such as Spånga Church and Bromma Church, a round church.

Affordable compasses helped the sport expand during the 1930s. By 1934, about 250,000 Swedes participated, and orienteering had spread to Finland, Switzerland, the Soviet Union, and Hungary. After World War II, it spread across Europe, Asia, North America, and Oceania. In 1959, Sweden hosted an international conference with delegates from 12 countries, leading to the formation of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) in 1961. By 2010, the IOF included 71 member federations worldwide. World Championships were held biennially until 2003 and annually thereafter. Orienteering remains most popular in Scandinavia, home to long-running events such as the Jukola relay and Tiomila, both established in the 1940s. The O-Ringen, held annually since 1965, attracts around 15,000 competitors. The sport was originally practiced in forest terrain but later expanded to fell, heathland, and moorland areas. Urban and park orienteering became established in the 1990s and 2000s through events such as the Park World Tour, supported by dedicated urban map standards (ISSOM) and electronic timing systems. These formats are now included in national and international ranking systems.

Variations Orienteering sports combine significant navigation with a specific method of travel. Because the method of travel determines the needed equipment and tactics, each sport requires specific rules for competition and guidelines for orienteering event logistics and course design. International Orienteering Federation, the governing body of the sport, currently sanctions the following four disciplines as official disciplines in the sport of orienteering:

Foot orienteering (FootO) Mountain bike orienteering (MTBO) Ski orienteering (SkiO) Trail orienteering (TrailO) Moreover, International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) sanctions the following orienteering sport:

Amateur radio direction finding (Radio orienteering or ARDF) [including variants Fox Oring and Radio Orienteering in a Compact Area (ROCA)] Other orienteering disciplines include, but are not limited to:

Biathlon orienteering Canoe orienteering Car orienteering Mountain marathoning Mounted orienteering Rogaining Underwater orienteering (disputed; may be classified instead as a form of scuba diving) Sport Labyrinth – micro orienteering Adventure racing is a combination of two or more disciplines, and usually includes orienteering as part of the race.

Governing bodies

International At international level, the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) defines rules and guidelines which govern four orienteering sports: foot orienteering, mountain bike orienteering, ski orienteering, and trail orienteering. It is based in Sweden and it claims on its website to aim to "spread the sport of orienteering, to promote its development and to create and maintain an attractive world event programme." Since 1977 the IOF has been recognised by the IOC.

National

There are governing bodies for most of the individual nations that are represented in the sport of orienteering. These national bodies are the rule-making body for that nation. For example, the British Orienteering Federation is the national governing body for the United Kingdom. The federation was founded in 1967 and it is made up of 13 constituent associations. For the United States, the national governing body is Orienteering USA.

Regional Most nations have some form of regional governing bodies. These are not rule-making bodies but are there to assist in coordinating clubs within that region, e.g., they may allocate dates so that clubs do not clash with their events.

Local

Clubs are usually formed at a local level and affiliated to their national governing body. It is clubs who put on events usually open to all-comers. Clubs may also put on practice, training, and social events. Open clubs are open to anyone and there is usually no restriction on joining them. Closed clubs restrict their membership to specific groups. For example, BAOC (British Army Orienteering Club) has restrictions on who may join, principally British Army personnel.

Related sports The International Rogaining Federation governs rogaining. Separate organizations govern competitive mounted orienteering in the United States and Europe (and the two sports are dissimilar). The International Amateur Radio Union governs amateur radio direction finding.

Competition and results

Basics The competition, or race, is intended to test the navigational skill, concentration, and running ability of the competitors. High levels of fitness and running speed are required to compete successfully at an international or elite level. To ensure fairness between competitors the map is not usually provided until the start, and starts are normally staggered with competitors starting at not less than one-minute intervals. The objective on each leg is to follow the fastest route between controls. The fastest is not always the shortest route, and can depend heavily on route choice.

Map

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Orienteering

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Orienteering claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Orienteering before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Orienteering ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Orienteering

In research: Orienteering appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Orienteering in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Orienteering is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Individual sports, Navigation, Orienteering, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Orienteering outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Orienteering in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Orienteering means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Orienteering out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Orienteering in simple terms?

Why does Orienteering matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Orienteering?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Orienteering.