Maps and Directions
Directions and the compass
Use the four main directions and the four that lie between them to say where one place is from another, and read the direction arrow on a map.
"Turn left at the big tree" only helps someone standing where you are standing. Directions solve that: north, south, east and west mean the same thing to everybody, everywhere, whichever way they happen to be facing. That is why every map carries an arrow showing which way north lies, and why you can hand a map to a stranger and expect it to work.
The four main directions
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Stand facing the sunrise and east is ahead of you, west is behind you, north is on your left hand and south is on your right. North and south are opposites; so are east and west. On nearly every map north is at the top of the page.
Four directions are not always enough. A village that lies neither straight north of you nor straight east of you, but somewhere between the two, is north-east. The four in-between directions are made the same way, each from the two main directions it sits between: north-east, south-east, south-west and north-west. Their names are always built with the north or south part first.
Worked example
A well lies between the west and the south of a field. Which direction is it in, and which direction is the field from the well?
It lies between south and west, so it is in the south-west.
An in-between direction takes both its names from the two main directions on either side of it, north or south first.
Try it together
A school stands at the center of a village. The pond is straight north of it, and the market is straight west of it.
Answer each step with one direction.
1.In which direction is the school from the pond?
Have a go
Have a go on your own. You are walking north and you turn to your left. Which direction are you walking now?
Ready to practice?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.