Cardinal directions — Geography, 7–10 years
North, south, east and west give people a shared way to describe where places are. Geography, 7–10 years.
Four shared directions
North, south, east and west are four fixed directions on Earth. A compass rose puts them on a map, and the smaller directions—north-east, south-east, south-west and north-west—describe places between them.
Why directions matter
Saying “the shop is over there” only works if everyone is standing together and looking the same way. Directions solve this problem: “the shop is east of the school” still makes sense from another street, another town or a map.
Finding a direction
On a map, the library is above and to the right of the school. First, use the compass rose: up is north and right is east. The library is therefore north-east of the school. If you walk from the school towards it, you walk north-east.
The reasonable mistake
A common mistake is to call the top of every drawing north without checking. This feels natural because many maps are printed that way, but a map can be turned around, and a plan of a room may not use north at the top. Find the compass rose first.
Directions in real life
Directions help pilots, sailors, hikers and emergency workers describe routes accurately. They also appear in weather reports, such as “strong winds from the west”. A phone compass uses the same shared directions, even when you are far from a paper map.
Keep exploring
Other languages
Loading MyLeoNes™…