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Position, direction, and movement

Use mathematical vocabulary to describe position, direction, and movement, including straight lines and distinguishing rotation as a turn in terms of right angles (quarter, half, three-quarter turns, clockwise and anti-clockwise)

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What a learner can do afterwards

  • Use terms such as clockwise, anti-clockwise, quarter turn, half turn, three-quarter turn
  • Describe a right angle as a quarter turn
  • Give and follow directions involving straight-line movement and turns

1 · Read

You already know how to turn and follow directions. Now let's give turns exact names. A quarter turn is one right angle. Two quarter turns the same way make a half turn. Three quarter turns the same way make a three-quarter turn. Four quarter turns the same way bring you all the way back to where you started, a full turn.

121234567891011
Clock hands always move this way: right, then down, then left, then back up. That direction is called clockwise. The opposite direction is anti-clockwise.

Start at the top of a clock, at 12. Clockwise is the way clock hands move: right, then down, then left, then back up. Anti-clockwise is the opposite: left, then down, then right, then back up. For a half or full turn, both directions end facing the same way. A half turn faces you the opposite way either direction. A full turn faces you the start way either direction.

Try it together

Priya faces the classroom door. She turns a quarter turn clockwise and now faces the window. She turns another quarter turn clockwise, a half turn from where she started, and now faces the back wall.

Quarter turnHalf turnThree-quarter turnFull turn
Turn sizes in order from smallest to biggest: quarter, half, three-quarter, full.

A right angle is the same size as a quarter turn. Direction matters for quarter and three-quarter turns: clockwise and anti-clockwise land you facing different ways. Three quarter turns one way match the final facing of one quarter turn the other way. A quarter turn one way undoes a quarter turn the other way.

In a route, the order of moves matters for where you end up, but not for which way you face. Walking does not change the way you face. A quarter, half, or three-quarter turn changes the way you face. A whole turn brings you back to the way you started.

Turns come in quarter, half, three-quarter, and full sizes. Turns add up when you turn the same way. Quarter and three-quarter turns face different ways clockwise and anti-clockwise. Half and full turns face the same way either direction. Three quarter turns one way match the final facing of one quarter turn the other way.

Extra items and three readings are authored originals. One reading is adapted from Khan Academy 'Right angles in shapes'. Two videos are Khan Academy 'Intro to quadrilaterals' and 'Recognizing shapes', kept as shape and right-angle refreshers.

2 · Watch

3 · Play

step 1 of 6

You already know whole, half, and quarter turns. Priya stands in her classroom. From the door, one quarter turn clockwise faces the window. One more quarter turn clockwise faces the back wall. She faces the door. She makes one quarter turn clockwise.

Which way does Priya face now?

DoorWindowBack wall

Take it off screen

Print a worksheetA4 with an answer key page for grown-ups. No screen, no internet.

Where it sits

Where this leads

Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.

Then practise

34 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.

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Position, direction, and movement · Mathematics, ages 6 to 7 · LightMySky