This activity is the continuation of Activity #5, in which students learned the basics of distance bearing navigation and developed navigation maps of the Priory in Eau Claire, WI. These maps will now be used by students at the Priory as they complete a pre-established navigation course with only a map and orienteering compass.
Study Area
The study area chosen for the navigation exercises is the Priory in Eau Claire, WI. This land was acquired by UWEC in October of 2011 and has since been used by the university in a variety of ways including being the new location of UWEC's Children's Center, now referred to as the Nature Academy, and being the location of a living-learning community in collaboration with the Ho-Chunk Nation. The area consists of 112 acres of mostly forested land which is the real focus of this activity.
Figure 1: The priory is located about 3 miles south of the UWEC campus area.
Figure 2: This map illustrates the elevation characteristics of the Priory through use of a DEM and contour lines. Without this elevation data, the Priory grounds seem flat in aerial imagery and it could be assumed that traversing the area would be relatively easy. However, the closeness of the 5 meter contour lines indicate the areas true characteristics. The elevation of the Priory grounds ranges from 310, near the course staring points, to 250, with multiple steep slopes.
Methods
The navigation course entails 15 white and orange "flags" hung in trees throughout most of the Priory grounds. Each flag has a number and a unique punch-stamp attached to it. To confirm that the flag has been reached, the unique punch-stamp is used on a laminated piece of paper. For this activity, each group was assigned 5 flags to locate using only their self generated maps and an orienteering compass.
Figure 3: Group 3 was assigned to start at point 11 and end at point 15. This map shows each flag location, the no shooting zones (for use in the following GPS navigation exercise, indicating residential areas and the Nature Academy), and the path taken to reach each point from 11 to 15.
The maps used for this activity did not have the flag locations on them. When students arrived at the Priory, each group was given their flag numbers along with the corresponding coordinates. The students then had to manually plot these points on their maps and find the bearing to each point. This process is detailed in a previous blog post, Activity #5. Two different maps were made for this activity, one with UTM coordinates and another with latitude and longitude. Once the flag positions had be plotted and the bearings to each found, the groups then ventured into the woods returning after finding the five flags assigned.
Each groups consisted of three students, each playing a role in the navigation process. One student (the navigator) used the map and compass to point another student (the runner) at an object in the direction of the next flag. Once the runner had reached the object (usually a tree in this case) the last student walked to the runner taking a pace count as they went. Through combined effort, each group of three repeated this process until each flag was found.
Figure 4: Here is Eric, posing with a map, taking his turn as the navigator.
Figure 5: Here Morgan, taking her turn as the navigator, is pointing the runner (myself) to the location of a flag.
Figure6: Here I am, taking my turn as the runner, posing with the last flag we needed to find.
Discussion
When starting out, Group 3 decided to use the latitude/longitude map first and switch to the UTM map after a couple flags had been found to compare the maps and determine if one coordinate system is better for this scale navigation than the other. We got our answer immediately. It took us the longest to find the first point because tying to accurately plot the position of the flags using the latitude/longitude coordinates was quite difficult.
We ended up plotting flag 11 near flag 15 and somehow found flag 14 first. After about a half hour of climbing up and down steep slopes, we regrouped, ditched the latitude/longitude map, and used the UTM map. After switching the coordinate system the flags were much easier to find. This makes sense because latitude and longitude are geographic coordinates which are useful at small scales. However, the navigation activity at the Priory was conducted on a large scale and as such a projected coordinate system such as UTM is far more accurate and useful.
Conclusions
This activity was not as difficult as I had thought it would be as I had never used a map and compass for navigation purposes before. The varied elevation and, at times, thick vegetation were a major obstacle but once we started using UTM coordinates the whole process went rater quickly and smoothly. As long as proper time is taken to find the points and measure the bearings accurately, using a map and compass is a great way to navigate.
Sources
UWEC Department of Geography and Anthropology
Google Earth
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