ORIENTEERING USING REALISTIC MAP (COLORED AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY) WITH KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN

Abstract

Orienteering is the capacity to be able to locate ourselves in a space and to move to a desired location, using autonomously a map; and develops the capacity of visual perspective, spatial structuring, detection and combination of relevant information (Barroso, Bento, & Catela 2014; Heft, 2013; Jansen-Osmann & Wiedenbauer, 2004). The use of a map implies that the child perceives and associates three-dimensional information (environment) with two-dimensional information (map/photography); being expectable an association between spatial orientation capacity and the development of cognitive abilities (Allen & Ondracek, 1995).

From the age of 3 years, children can orient themselves in small spaces (Bluestein & Acredolo, 1979; Blaut, Stea, Spencer, & Blades, 2003), as well as in unknown spaces, looking for hidden objects, if the map they use is realistic, e.g., aerial photography of the space to be explored (Barroso, 2014). If the map has colors, the children's orientation capacity increases (Gouteux & Spelke, 2001; Herers & Spelke, 1996; Jansen-Osmann & Wiedenbauer, 2004). If the map is not aligned with real space, the orientation becomes inefficient (Presson & Hazelrigg, 1984); and, if children can analyze the map before using it, they become faster to orient themselves in the space (Uttal & Wellman, 1989; Sandberg and Huttenlocher, 2001), e.g., at the beginning of the activity, helping them to identify in the map where they are at the moment and to associate space locations with locations represented in the map, other than those that they will search for (e.g., Barroso, 2014). The ability of children to orient themselves in enlarged spaces increases with age (Cohen & Schuepfer, 1980; Jansen-Osmann & Wiedenbauer, 2004), with no gender differences found (Barroso, 2014).

After informed consent and assent, we asked 12 children, aged between 3 and 6 years (4.67 ±, 89, 4 girls) to find 5 small objects (e.g., Barroso, Bento, & Catela 2014), hidden always in the same places in the playground of their school. The time spent on the task, the number of objects actually found and the number of map reorientations made were obtained. The photograph was in color (Gouteux & Spelke, 2001; Hermer & Spelke, 1996); before starting the activity, the child was helped to locate himself/herself and to identify an existing building on the map (Uttal & Wellman, 1989; Sandberg & Huttenlocher, 2001; Barroso, 2014). A child of 3 years interrupted the activity after arriving at the third place. The Kruskall-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used for intergroup comparisons and the Spearman correlation coefficient for association between variables, for a level of significance of 05; through the IBM-SPSS program, version 24.

The results revealed that there were no significant differences between genders (cf., Barroso, 2014) nor between ages. There was a significant direct association between age and number of map reorients performed (rho (12) =,582, p˂,05), and a significant inverse association between age and time spent performing the activity (rho (12) = (-),726, p˂,01). An analysis of the sequence of visited sites reveals that each child did so in it own way; with no common pattern identified among them (cf. Græsli, Bjerva, & Sigurfónsson, 2009).

This study confirms Barroso (2014, cf. Barroso, Bento, & Catela, 2014) results, i.e., preschool children can successfully use a photograph as a map to orient themselves in an enlarged space; however, age, as a general indicator, suggests that older children can do it more quickly (Cohen & Schuepfer, 1980; Jansen-Osmann & Wiedenbauer, 2004) and better manage the spatial alignment between the map and real space (cf. Presson & Hazelrigg, 1984). Given the importance of this activity for the development of competences in children (e.g., Heft, 2013, Blaut, Stea, Spencer, & Blades, 2003; Hermer & Spelke, 1996), it inclusion and implementation in the kindergarten education programs, as well as in the formation of teachers for basic education, are strongly encouraged.