FIRST CLASS SCOUT

Constellation Method As you become familiar with the constellations, their locations will suggest directions. Scorpius, for example, fills the southern sky in the summer. Orion rises in the southeast on winter evenings. Shaped like a horseshoe, the Northern Crown opens toward the north. Cassiopeia circles the North Star opposite the Big Dipper. [For more information on stars, see the BSA's Fieldbook, No. 33104.)

FINDING DIRECTIONS USING THE SUN

Depending on the season, the sun rises more or less in the east and sets in a westerly direction. At other times of the day, try one of the following methods:

Watch Method

Hold your watch level. Place a short, straight twig upright against the edge of the watch at the point of the hour hand. (If you're wearing a digital watch, note the hour, imagine where the hour hand would be pointing, and place the twig accordingly.) Turn the watch until the shadow of the twig falls along the hour hand's position-that is, until the hour hand points toward the sun.

Notice the angle formed between the numeral 12 (the top of a digital watch) and the shadow lying on the real or imaginary hour hand. A line from the center of the watch that divides that angle in half will point south. Note: This method requires standard time. If your watch is set on daylight savings time, turn it back one hour.