Navigate by Sun and Landmarks
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What you will learn
- 1Find your direction without a compass
- 2Use the sun and the shadow-stick method to point out east and west
- 3Steer by landmarks and follow handrails to stay found
- 4Explain why the sun is only a rough guide to cross-check
Mini Lesson
No compass? The sky and the land are full of signposts if you know how to read them. The sun travels the same way every day, your shadow can point the way, and big fixed features let you walk a straight line and find your way home. Finding direction is not magic - it is just careful watching.
🌿 The Wild Way (with only what nature gives you)
- READ THE SUN: it rises in the EAST and sets in the WEST. At midday, north of the equator, it sits toward the SOUTH - so it gives you a rough sense of direction all day.
- SHADOW-STICK METHOD: push a stick in the ground and mark the tip of its shadow. Wait about 15 minutes and mark the new shadow tip. The line from the first mark to the second points roughly EAST.
- STEER BY LANDMARKS: pick a big fixed feature - a hill, a tower, a lone big tree - and keep it in view so you can walk a straight line and find your way back.
- FOLLOW A HANDRAIL: a long feature like a river, a fence, or a path guides you along without getting lost - just keep it beside you.
- CROSS-CHECK: never trust one clue alone. Match what the sun tells you against your landmarks so a single mistake cannot send you the wrong way.
The sun is only a ROUGH guide. Its exact position shifts with the seasons, and in the southern hemisphere the midday sun sits toward the north instead. So always cross-check the sun against landmarks, and NEVER wander off to "test" your direction. The real rule is stay found - stay with your grown-up and in sight of home.
Words to know
navigate
To work out which way to go and find your route.
east
The direction where the sun rises each morning.
west
The direction where the sun sets each evening.
shadow-stick
A stick whose two shadow-tip marks make a line pointing roughly east-west.
landmark
A big fixed feature you keep in view to walk straight and find your way back.
handrail
A long feature like a river or path you follow along to stay found.
🧠 Survivor’s Trick: for the shadow-stick, remember "first mark is always WEST, second is EAST" - the shadow creeps eastward as the sun moves west. And with a watch that has hands, you can point the hour hand at the sun: north of the equator, halfway between it and the 12 is roughly south. But whatever the sun tells you, always check it against a landmark before you trust it.
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