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You already know words like in front of and behind. They tell you where things are. Mia stands in her kitchen. She faces the door. The window is at her back.
Mia does not turn. Which way is the window from Mia?
Turns & Directions
Describe movement and direction, including whole, half, quarter, and three-quarter turns
What a learner can do afterwards
- Follow instructions to move forward, backward, turn left/right
- Demonstrate a whole turn, half turn, and quarter turn with their body
- Describe a route using directional language
- Work out how many steps you are from the start after moving forward and backward.
1 · Read
You know in front of and behind. A turn spins you in one spot, like spinning on your toes. A quarter turn is a small turn. A half turn is two quarter turns. A three-quarter turn is three quarter turns. A whole turn brings you back to the start. If you take fewer steps back than forward, the back steps undo some forward steps.
Try it together
Mia faces the door. She turns halfway around. Now she faces the window behind her.
Turns fit inside each other when you turn the same way. 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 make a whole turn, and a whole turn brings you back to where you started. That also means a whole turn is two half turns.
In a route, some words tell your feet to move, like forward and backward. Some words tell your body to spin, like turn left and turn right. A move takes you to a new place. A turn keeps you in one spot. A quarter, half, or three-quarter turn faces you a new way. A whole turn brings you back to the way you started. Turn left faces the other side.
A quarter turn one way undoes a quarter turn the other way. Do one after the other and you end up facing the way you started.
Quarter, half, or three-quarter, every turn faces you a new way. A whole turn brings you back to the way you started. Turns add up when you turn the same way.
Extra items and readings are authored originals. Media is Khan Academy 'Relative position'.
2 · Watch
3 · Play
Take it off screen
Print a worksheetA4 with an answer key page for grown-ups. No screen, no internet.
Where it sits
This opens up
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.