Expected level of development
Australian Curriculum Mathematics V9: AC9M5SP02
Numeracy Progression: Positioning and locating: P5
At this level, students use a grid coordinate system to locate and describe the position of objects, and use relevant positional and directional language to describe position and movement.
Make explicit how to use coordinates on the first quadrant of the Cartesian plane referenced as x and y, for example, (3, 4). Explain the order of the paired coordinates.
Teaching and learning summary:
- Revise and, where necessary, make explicit how to use the grid coordinate system to describe location.
The Learning from home activities are designed to be used flexibly by teachers, parents and carers, as well as the students themselves. They can be used in a number of ways including to consolidate and extend learning done at school or for home schooling.
Learning intention
- We are learning how to use a grid reference system to describe a location.
Why are we learning about this?
- We use directional language and a reference system in navigation.
What to do
- Open this website to play an interactive game to locate a treasure. Input coordinates to find the treasure with the fewest guesses. The interactivity gives you the shortest distance you'd have to travel (along the grid lines) to reach the treasure.
- The coordinates are given as x and y. Here is an example plotting two pairs of coordinates: (2, 3) and (5, 5).
3. Enter your own coordinates. Use the steps to work out the coordinates of the hidden treasure.
4. Explain your strategy to work out the location of the hidden treasure.
Success criteria
I can:
- locate a position using a grid reference system
- explain why a grid reference system is helpful in identifying a position.
Please note: This site contains links to websites not controlled by the Australian Government or ESA. More information here.
Teaching strategies
A collection of evidence-based teaching strategies applicable to this topic. Note we have not included an exhaustive list and acknowledge that some strategies such as differentiation apply to all topics. The selected teaching strategies are suggested as particularly relevant, however you may decide to include other strategies as well.
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Explicit teaching
Explicit teaching is about making the learning intentions and success criteria clear, with the teacher using examples and working though problems, setting relevant learning tasks and checking student understanding and providing feedback.
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Mathematics investigation
By giving students meaningful problems to solve they are engaged and can apply their learning, thereby deepening their understanding.
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Teaching resources
A range of resources to support you to build your student's understanding of these concepts, their skills and procedures. The resources incorporate a variety of teaching strategies.
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Osprey position and location
In this lesson, students describe location and position on a Cartesian plane using paired coordinates.
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Journeys in Numberland
Use this task to demonstrate that there are multiple ways to describe a route to a destination using a grid reference system.
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Treasure hunt
This problem offers students a chance to consolidate their understanding of coordinates while challenging them to think strategically and work logically.
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Transformation tease
Students plot the new position of a shape translated from a position shown in the first quadrant.
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A map of a neighbourhood block
In this lesson, students learn how to determine the coordinates of a point on a coordinate grid.
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Battle Ship Using Grid Paper
Students draw 5 ships on ordered pairs and label the ordered pairs on a grid to play a game of battleship.
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