We had a super fun day. It was sunny and cool—a perfect day for running in the woods. We met in the Seawell Elementary School parking lot and the course was set in the adjacent section of Carolina North Forest. Three teams went out. In total, we had 6 participants (4 middle school students and 2 family members). Once again, we had Dale Haiducek (CTE teacher at Phillips) come to support us and try out the course. And we had Nadia and Charles Scharlau from the Backwoods Orienteering Klub (BOK) also there to help. Nadia ran the class and took some of the students on the course. Thanks guys! All the help is really appreciated.
As usual, we modeled an 80m classic ARDF event (5 foxes and one homing beacon). This time, we also added a practice transmitter in the parking lot. For those who tried the full course, the straight-line best path through all the controls was 2 km. The longest distance across the course area was 1.1 km.
Again a hearty thanks goes out to the middle school and high school teachers who helped get the word out. Rachel Hopler (Science Teacher, Culbreth Middle School), Christine Lippy (Science Teacher, McDougle Middle School), Dale Haiducek (CTE Teacher, Phillips Middle School), Haley Wamble (Science Teacher, East Chapel Hill High School), SaCola Lehr (Media Specialist, Chapel Hill School), Paula Dey (Science Teacher, Carrboro High School). Thanks also to Marny Ruben (Principal at Seawell Elementary School) for the use of the Seawell area and Greg Kopsch (Park Manager at Caronlina North Forest) for the use of CNF. Again, we especially thank Dale Haiducek for coming out to support us at the event.
Participant Activities
We have a Participant Activities section rather than a Results section because all participants were new to ARDF and we did not record time-on-course. All participants started out with the class. Then a search for the homing beacon that was close by in the woods. Foxes #1, #2, and #3 were next and all three were at least 200 m away. Lucy and Isaac had a good time finding #1 and #2, and then the homing beacon as second time ☺ ! We placed foxes #4 and #5 much further out in case we had more experienced participants. But we still had two student/father teams find every fox. Viktor and his father Rod found all five together ☺ . Toby found all five totally on his own ☺ while out with Nadia. And his father Jason also found all five independently. A special thanks to Rod and Jason for staying and trying ARDF themselves. Having family members there also trying out ARDF is especially enjoyable. The finds column notes the controls found: foxes 1 through 5 and home (H). The time column is blank. We didn't keep track of the times since the class merged into the search for foxes. Everyone was done by 1 PM. The schools are abbreviated, Phillips (PMS), Smith (SMS).
| entry # | participants (school, grade) | finds | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Viktor Panasevics and Father Rod (SMS, 7th) | 1 2 4 5 H | --- |
| 2 | Toby Reed and Father (PMS, 6th) | 1 2 4 5 H | --- |
| 3 | Lucy and Isaac Robinson (PMS, 6th) | 1 2 H | --- |
Pictures
Clicking pictures will bring up original full-sized versions.
Nadia with Toby during the class. Jason in the foreground.
Lucy and Patrick apparently talking about the antenna.
Isaac, Nadia, and Toby after having tested their receivers around the practice transmitter and on their way to search for the foxes.
Rod, Victor, and Patrick talking about techniques before going to search for the homing beacon.
Toby taking a bearing before heading into the woods.
Isaac on his search for the homing beacon. "This way guys!"
Victor and his father Rod proudly displaying the finder tabs showing all the foxes they found.
Isaac and Lucy proudly displaying their finder tabs.
Toby proudly displaying his finder tabs.