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Map Skills - Compass Points and Direction
Objectives
To know the eight main compass bearings, and to be able to use them to find our way on a map.
Resources
📄 Compass Grid Worksheet | 📄 Compass Points Map Worksheet | Coloured pens or pencils | Compass
Today's Lesson
Main Activity
Your student will probably know the four main points of the compass already - North, East, South and West. Ask them if they know a mnemonic to remember the order (for example, ‘Naughty Elephants Squirt Water’ or ‘Never Eat Shredded Wheat’). Can they think of their own silly mnemonic?
Today we will cover the eight-point compass and finding our way around a map with compass directions. Look at the Compass Grid Worksheet together. The compass in the corner shows the eight points of the compass. Explain how the eight points are named (North or South always comes first, followed by East or West). Ask your child to complete the worksheet tasks.
Now have a go at the Compass Points Map worksheet (the answers are given at the end). If your student finds this easy, ask them to make up some extra questions for you using the eight-point compass, for example, “What direction is it from Lisa's House to Corey's?”
Challenge Activity
If you have a real compass, your student can challenge themselves by directing a member of your family around the house. (If you don’t have a compass, you could just pretend the back of the house is north). Can they get them from this room to the next room/corridor by giving only compass directions (for example, “Take four steps North and then eight steps North-West”)?
Quiz
All quizzes on this course are optional. They are designed to check your student's progress but it is not compulsory for your student to complete them.
Also note that quizzes can be completed at any time through the course should you wish to return to them for revision purposes.