AC9M4SP02: Create and interpret grid reference systems using grid references and directions to locate and describe positions and pathways

Grid references identify positions consistently. A system must define how letters, numbers or coordinates are read, and pathway instructions must use a fixed orientation and clear sequence.

Learning routine: Orient grid → Read horizontal reference → Read vertical reference → Locate cell/point → Follow ordered directions → Verify endpoint

Success looks like

• Read grid references
• Create reference systems
• Use compass directions
• Describe pathways
• Check conventions/endpoints

grid reference

coordinates used to locate a cell or point

pathway

an ordered route through a representation

direction

the orientation of movement or location

The content description and elaborations below show the curriculum ideas taught in this unit. Items marked as teaching context support lesson planning.

• Content description: create and interpret grid reference systems using grid references and directions to locate and describe positions and pathways
• E1: interpreting a grid reference map of a familiar location of interest, such as a map of the showgrounds, a food festival, a botanical garden, a park in the local area or a train station, and writing instructions using grid references for a friend to find them at a specified location
• E2: recognising that a spreadsheet uses a grid reference system, locating and entering data in cells and using a spreadsheet to record data collected through observations or experiments
• E3: comparing and contrasting, describing and locating landmarks, people or things in a bird’s eye picture of a busy scene, such as people in a park, initially without a transparent grid reference system overlaid on the picture, and then with the grid overlaid; noticing how the grid helps to pinpoint things quickly and easily
• E4: using different sized grids as a tool to enlarge an image or artwork
• E5: simulating the actions of autonomous or robotic vehicles moving to different positions within a grid, using grid references and directional language to describe positions and pathways; for example, imitating an autonomous mobile warehouse robot moving stock to different aisles, using grid reference systems to locate positions

Core idea: Grid references identify positions consistently. A system must define how letters, numbers or coordinates are read, and pathway instructions must use a fixed orientation and clear sequence.

Remember

• Read grid references
• Create reference systems
• Use compass directions
• Describe pathways
• Check conventions/endpoints

Important questions

• Locate C4 on a grid. Explain using the model or evidence above.
• Follow E2, west 2, north 1. Explain using the model or evidence above.
• Explain column-then-row. Explain using the model or evidence above.
• Why must orientation stay fixed? Explain using the model or evidence above.
• Compare a cell and coordinate point. Explain using the model or evidence above.

Read the topic guide and use the teacher slide for instruction. Students can then use the worksheet for written work, open Practice for supported feedback, or take the Test when they are ready.

• Row and column order switched — State and follow the convention, usually column then row for letter–number cells.
• North changes during route — Grid orientation remains fixed even after turns.
• Moves counted by lines instead of cells — Define whether a move crosses cells or grid intervals and apply consistently.
• Cell reference and point coordinate mixed — They locate different features unless the system defines otherwise.

This table gives closest-topic mapping for search and planning. The Australian Curriculum code is exact; overseas entries are broad equivalents because each jurisdiction structures outcomes differently.

Year-level boundary

Must teach creating and reading labelled cells, directions and pathways, spreadsheet entry, overlay comparison, grid enlargement and route simulation. Prerequisites are row/column language and simple turns. Distinguish map rows from spreadsheet rows; do not replace cell references with Cartesian-coordinate algebra, bearings or formal scale-factor notation.

Support / Core / Extend

Support: locate one named cell using a finger along the column and row. Core: trace and write a two-stage route and enter observed data in cells. Extend: debug a route around a blocked cell and compare two legal paths.

Exit ticket and adult checks

Make a labelled map, locate two landmarks and act out a route with a turn. Enter three observations in specified spreadsheet cells and enlarge a small picture cell by cell.

Expected evidence and reteaching: Inspect actual map, movement record, spreadsheet and paired drawings. Reteach column-before-row, row direction or equal relative position in enlarged cells according to the observed mistake.

What does B3 identify in the park grid?

The cell in column B,row3. It contains the cafe; it is a region, not an exact point.

Does turning west move the traveller?

No. Add a movement and a number of cells after the turn to change position.

Why does up from B3 become B2 in a spreadsheet?

Its row numbers increase downward. Check each grid’s labels before following directions.

Assessment: enlarge a 3 by 3 picture from 1 cm cells to 2 cm cells. What changes?

Both width and height double; the arrangement and relative positions in matching cells remain. Review both dimensions if the image is stretched.

Curriculum equivalents for And interpret grid reference systems using grid references and directions...

Mapped skill: create and interpret grid reference systems using grid references and directions to locate and describe positions and pathways

These references identify matching or closely related learning. Curriculum sequence, terminology and depth vary, so teachers should use the mapped skill and lesson difficulty to confirm suitability.

Australian Curriculum v9.0 is the canonical source for this SkillrHub lesson. Victoria and NSW entries name the closest published state codes or outcomes; international entries are planning references rather than claims of identical curricula.

• Australian Curriculum Version 9.0
• Victorian Curriculum F-10
• NSW Curriculum
• Common Core State Standards
• Next Generation Science Standards
• England National Curriculum
• New Zealand Curriculum
• NCERT textbooks

• AC9M4N01: Recognise and extend the application of place value to tenths and hundredths and use the conventions of decimal notation to name and represent decimals
• AC9M4N02: Explain and use the properties of odd and even numbers
• AC9M4N03: Find equivalent representations of fractions using related denominators and make connections between fractions and decimal notation
• AC9M4N04: Count by fractions including mixed numerals; locate and represent these fractions as numbers on number lines
• AC9M4N05: Solve problems involving multiplying or dividing natural numbers by multiples and powers of 10 without a calculator, using the multiplicative relationship between the place value of digits
• AC9M4N06: Develop efficient strategies and use appropriate digital tools for solving problems involving addition and subtraction, and multiplication and division where there is no remainder
• AC9M4N07: Choose and use estimation and rounding to check and explain the reasonableness of calculations including the results of financial transactions
• AC9M4N08: Use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving additive and multiplicative situations including financial contexts; formulate the problems using number sentences and choose efficient calculation strategies, using digital tools where appropriate; interpret and communicate solutions in terms of the situation