Map & Compass
The Map & Compass event is composed of 3 separate subcatagories. They are:
Finding a bearing
Determining distance
Identifying map symbols
The event begins with the Patrols standing in single file
lines. When the judge yells go, the
first Scout runs up to the where a judge is sitting with a map.
Note that on the map the exact center has a “+” on it, and is circled. It also has up to 6 points circled. Each item circled could be any one of a dozen or so map symbols. Those are the items that you will need to locate.
The judge will then give the Scout a card that has one of the three above catagories on it and a number. If it is the “Find the bearing” card with the number 3 on it, you will need to find what the compass bearing is to the item circled with a 3 beside it on the map. The best way to do that is to place the piece of paper on the map, with one end on the center spot, and the other end on the #3 circle, and then put the compass over the top of the center of the map. This makes it easier to tell on the compass exactly what the bearing is to the circled item.
If the card says “Distance” with the #2 on
it, that means you must find the exact distance from the center of the map to
the item circled with a #2 beside it. The
best way to do this is to place one corner of the piece of paper on the exact
center of the map, then move the paper so that the edge of it is right over the
#2 item. Then make a small mark on the
paper next to it.
(Ignore the compass in this picture. The Scout is working on distance, not bearings)
Then take the paper down to the distance key on the bottom of the map. The key looks something like this:
You can see that there are two miles show on the top bar. There is one mile to the left of the “0”, and one mile to the right. What you can do is put the corner of the piece of paper that you placed on the center of the map on one of the “1’s”, and then move the piece of paper so it’s laying right along the key. If the mark you made on the paper is further to the right than the other “1”, then that means the distance is at least 2 miles, NOT 1. (this has messed up MANY Scouts in the past). So a that point you just make a mark on the paper where the 2nd “1” is, and then slide the paper to the left until that mark is where the first “1” is. Once again, if the mark is further to the rigth of the other “1”, then your distance is more than 4 miles. If it’s between the “0” and the 2nd “1”, then you just make a mark where the “0” is, and then slide the paper to the left again until that new mark is where the first “1” is. Then you count the number of little boxes to find out how many tenths of a mile the distance is. So if the original mark you made is at the 4th little box, that means your distance was 3.4 miles.
Lastly if the card you are handed has a list of 10 different map symbols on it, and a #5, then you need to look at what item is in the circle next to the number 5 and check off on the card what that object is. Here are some different symbols that you might see on a map:
This score for this competition is based off of both time and accuracy, with accuracy being the most important. While it’s important to go fast, it’s more important to get it right. If you get up to this event and realize you don’t know the answer, it’s better to run back and let the next Scout go try it than to just guess and get it wrong.