The idea, step by step
A view from above
A map or plan shows where things are, as if you were looking down from above. A classroom plan can show the door, board and tables without showing their sides.
Real places are much larger than their maps. The map keeps useful positions, but a simple sketch need not show exact distances.
Read the clues
Start with the labels and any key. A key tells you what a symbol means. A circle might stand for a tree on one map, but a different map may use a different symbol.
Check the map’s direction note. On our town sketches, north is up. From the reader’s view of the page, the school is above the park; the pond is to the right of the park.
A common trap
A map shows the view from the front.
Instead: A plan normally shows positions from above, like a bird looking down.
See the thinking
Read a classroom plan
From the reader’s view, what is on the right of the two tables in the classroom plan?
- Find the two round tables in the middle.
- Look to their right on the page.
- The labelled rectangle is the reading mat.
Find the place above
On the map, which place is directly above the park?
- Find the park at the bottom left.
- Look straight up on the same side.
- The school is there.
Check your understanding
On the four-place map, which place is above the pond?
Show answer
The library.
The library and pond are on the same right-hand side, with the library above.
Your turn
6 questions · Work at your own pace.
Read the questions online
- On the classroom plan, name the feature along the top wall.
- Where is the door on the classroom plan: top right or bottom left, as the reader sees it?
- On the four-place map, name the place to the right of the school on the page.
- Does this map let you find the exact number of metres from the school to the pond? Explain.
- A map key says a small star means a drinking tap. What does a star on that map show?
- Draw a simple plan of a room. On your page, put a door at the bottom, a table in the middle and a reading corner on the right.
Read the worked solutions
- On the classroom plan, name the feature along the top wall.
The long narrow rectangle at the top is labelled Board.
The board. - Where is the door on the classroom plan: top right or bottom left, as the reader sees it?
Read the Door label near the lower-left corner.
Bottom left. - On the four-place map, name the place to the right of the school on the page.
Both are in the top row.
The library. - Does this map let you find the exact number of metres from the school to the pond? Explain.
The map says it is not to scale and gives no distances.
No. - A map key says a small star means a drinking tap. What does a star on that map show?
Use the meaning given in that map’s key.
A drinking tap. - Draw a simple plan of a room. On your page, put a door at the bottom, a table in the middle and a reading corner on the right.
Check all three positions: door below, table central, reading corner to the right.
Any labelled bird’s-eye plan placing those three features as stated.
Curriculum reference & lesson scope
Australian Curriculum v9 and SA Curriculum Mathematics
Familiar maps; locating features; following and describing routes.
Official curriculum source ↗