Degrees and turns
Know that angles are measured in degrees, where one degree is 1/360 of a full turn; understand that an angle turning through n one-degree angles has a measure of n degrees
What a learner can do afterwards
- Explain that a full turn is 360° and a right angle is 90°
- Describe what 'one degree' means in terms of a fraction of a circle
- State that an angle of 45° has turned through 45 one-degree angles
The lesson
You already know what an angle is: two lines meeting at a point, showing a turn. Now let's measure exactly how big that turn is. We measure turns in units called degrees. A full turn, all the way around back to where you started, is 360 degrees.
Picture a clock hand starting at 12 and turning all the way back to 12. That is one full turn: 360 degrees. If it only turns to 6, halfway around, that is 180 degrees, half of 360.
Think of one degree as one tiny slice of a circle cut into 360 equal slices. A single slice is a very small turn. Ninety of those slices side by side make a quarter turn, and all 360 together make a full turn back to the start.
A full turn is 360 degrees, and every single degree is just one of those 360 equal slices.
Watch it
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.