|
|
Article: Putting Civil War History on the Map; Farm Is a Scenic Locale To Learn Orienteering
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- November 25, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
|
First, they had to learn how many of their footsteps make 50 feet.
Next, they had to learn to use a compass to find this rock or that
tree. No sweat.
But then, there was triangulation: They had to figure out their
exact whereabouts on a map.
The four fourth-grade students from The Hill School in Middleburg
hunkered over a topographical map and set upon their latest task at
Learning Tree Farms near Markham, on farmland where the son of Chief
Justice John Marshall once lived. The students struggled at first,
squinting at distant landmarks to take their bearings, penciling in
correlating lines on the map and seeing where they intersected.
"It's a very simple but powerful thing," instructor ...