Orienteering in Jamaica

· Latitude and longitude

· Magnetic principals of compasses (demonstration by magnetizing a sewing needle and using a cork to float it on water)

· Parts of a compass

· Triangulation

· Map alignment

· Compass alignment

· Principles of contour lines

· Elevation

· Landform types (e.g., hilltops, depressions, cliffs, valleys)

· Other topographic features, include river drainage and contour interval

· Line orienteering

· Route orienteering

· Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)

· Global Positioning System (GPS)

· Geographic Information System (GPS) and ArcView software

With the exception of the one participant who failed the training workshop, all other participants rated the content and presentation of the lectures as very good or excellent (ranking system: poor, fair ,good, very good, excellent). The person who failed rated the content as fair, but it was not clear to the instructors whether he found the material too difficult (or not presented in enough depth) or whether he merely had difficulties keeping his attention focused for the lectures, which typically lasted two hours. Participants were encouraged from the start of the course to ask questions if a concept was unclear (S. Koenig emphasized that their lives could depend on whether they understood the concepts) and to add comments from other experiences they have had. To this end, it appeared that no one hesitated to speak in class and there was good dialogue between instructors and participants.

12. APPRAISAL OF PRACTICAL FIELD EXERCISES

· Field exercises included:

· Using a compass to find a bearing or orient towards a given bearing

· Triangulation

· Determining paces for 100 meters along (1) paved, level road; (2) unpaved, level road; (3) unpaved track with gentle incline; (4) winding trail with uphill and downhill segments; and (5) no trail, ascent and descent on steep hillside.

· Identifying topographic map features (e.g., hills, cliffs, saddle corridors) in the landscape

· Orienteering along a pre-determined route

· Developing an orienteering route, including providing written instructions

· Ground-truthing an orienteering route

All participants, including the individual who failed the training, rated the practical field exercises as either very good or excellent. The Windsor area was very suitable for this training because it is in a polje immediately adjacent to cokpit hills: On the one hand it includes many easy-to-identify natural and man-made features, including a well-defined junction of Class B and Class C roads, two bridges (one of which includes a Bench Mark), the headwaters of the Martha