Position & direction
Describe position & direction relative to self; whole/half/quarter turns; movement & routes.
Position and direction are the words we use to say where something is and which way it is facing or moving.
What it means
To describe position, you say where a thing is relative to something else — usually yourself or another object. The words that do this are left, right, in front, behind, above, below, next to, between. Position always needs a reference point: “the cup is on my left” only means something once we know where I am and which way I am facing.
Direction is the way you are heading. You can face forwards, backwards, left or right, and you can change direction by turning on the spot.
A turn is measured as a fraction of one full spin:
- A whole turn brings you all the way back to face the way you started.
- A half turn is exactly half of that — you end up facing the opposite way.
- A quarter turn is half of a half — you end up facing “side on”, at a square corner (a right angle) to where you began.
Turns also have a handedness: clockwise follows the way a clock’s hands move; anticlockwise (counter-clockwise) is the reverse.
A route is a sequence of moves and turns strung together — “go forward, quarter turn right, go forward again” — that carries you from a start to a finish. Order matters: swap two steps and you usually end up somewhere else entirely.
Worked examples
1. Facing. You start facing the door. Make a half turn. You now face away from the door. A second half turn brings you back — two half turns make a whole turn.
2. Quarter turns add up. Starting facing North:
| Turn (clockwise) | Now facing |
|---|---|
| quarter | East |
| another quarter | South |
| another quarter | West |
| another quarter | North (whole turn done) |
Four quarter turns make one whole turn.
3. Follow a route. On a grid, start at the bottom-left facing up. Forward, forward, quarter turn right, forward. You have drawn an L-shape and now face right.
The generative-art connection
Turns are the engine of rotational art. A turtle — a pen you steer with “forward” and “turn” commands — turns your route into a drawing. Tell it forward, quarter turn, forward, quarter turn four times and it closes into a square; every corner is one quarter turn. Change the turn to a fifth of a full turn and you get a pentagon. The shape is the sequence of turns.
You can watch a turn directly in dot-multiplier: one dot is copied and rotated around a centre, so a quarter turn drops a copy at the side, a half turn drops one opposite. The starburst you build is a picture of “the same turn, again and again”. Try it hands-on with Turtle Blocks or ScratchJr, where a character walks the exact route you sequence.
Common misconceptions
- Left and right are not fixed places — they depend on which way you face. Turn around and your left becomes what was on your right.
- A quarter turn is not a small nudge. It is a proper square-corner turn (a right angle), a quarter of the whole way round.
- Two half turns undo, they don’t double a bump — a half turn then another half turn returns you to the start, not somewhere new.
What a learner should be able to solve
The benchmark for mastering this concept — the problems a child at this stage is expected to be able to work through.
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You are standing up facing the window. Make a **half turn**. What are you facing now? Then make another **half turn** — what are you facing?
Answer
After the first half turn you face *away* from the window (the opposite way). After the second half turn you face the window again. Two half turns make one whole turn, bringing you back to the start.
Art hook A Canvas-2D dot with a little arrow (nose) drawn on it and one 'half turn' button. Each press rotates the arrow 180 degrees. Watch it flip to the opposite way on the first press, then back to the start on the second.
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Start facing **North**. Make a **quarter turn clockwise**, then **another quarter turn clockwise**. Which direction (North, East, South or West) are you facing? How is it related to where you began?
Answer
East after one quarter turn, then South after the second. South is the *opposite* of North — two quarter turns make one half turn.
Art hook Draw N, E, S, W as four dots on a circle. An arrow from the centre snaps a quarter turn (90 degrees) clockwise each tap, landing on each label in turn.
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On a square grid you start facing **up**. Follow this route: forward 2, **quarter turn left**, forward 2, **quarter turn right**, forward 2. Trace the path in your head. Which way are you facing at the end, and what does the path look like?
Answer
Facing **up** again. Track the turns: start up, forward 2 (go up); quarter turn left makes you face left, forward 2 (go left); quarter turn right makes you face up again, forward 2 (go up). The path is a **step / staircase shape** (up, across to the left, then up again), and you finish facing up — the same way you started, because the left turn and the right turn cancel out.
Art hook A turtle-style pen on a grid: type forward/turn commands and watch it trace. This route draws a staircase step; a left turn then a right turn cancel, so the pen ends up pointing the same way it began.
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A robot faces **East**. To face **West**, is it quicker to make one **half turn**, or **two quarter turns**? Explain what you notice.
Answer
Both work and both leave the robot facing West (the opposite of East). A half turn *is* two quarter turns joined together, so they take you to exactly the same place.
Art hook Show two arrows starting at East. One does a single 180-degree flip; the other snaps two 90-degree steps. Both land on West, revealing a half turn = two quarter turns.
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Look at a route that goes: forward, **quarter turn left**, forward, **quarter turn left**, forward, **quarter turn left**, forward, **quarter turn left**. Starting facing up, what shape does the path close into, and which way do you end up facing?
Answer
It closes into a **square**: four equal forward steps with four quarter turns (four quarter turns make one whole turn). You end up facing up again — the same way you started.
Art hook A turtle that repeats 'forward, quarter turn' four times to close a square. Add a slider that changes the turn to a fifth of a full turn and the shape becomes a pentagon.
Training exercises
Practice problems, easier first, that build toward the bar above. Each doubles as a seed for an interactive artwork.
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You are facing a friend. Point to the thing that is on your **left**, then the thing on your **right**. Now turn all the way around to face the other way. Is your friend's coat still on the same side for you?
Answer
No. After you turn around, what was on your left is now on your right. Left and right depend on which way *you* face, so they swap when you turn around.
Art hook A dot with a face on it. A 'turn around' button flips it 180 degrees; small L and R labels on its sides swap places, showing left and right are not fixed.
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Say where each thing is using a position word (like *above*, *below*, *next to*, *between*): a lamp on a table; a rug under the table; a chair beside the table.
Answer
The lamp is *above* / *on top of* the table; the rug is *below* / *under* the table; the chair is *next to* / *beside* the table. Any correct position word for each is fine.
Art hook A little scene builder: drag dots labelled lamp, rug, chair around a 'table' rectangle and the app prints the matching position word (above/below/beside).
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A clock's hand starts pointing straight **up**. Which way does it move first — the way we call **clockwise** or **anticlockwise**? Show the way with your finger.
Answer
Clockwise: it turns to the right first (up, then to the 3 o'clock side, then down). Anticlockwise is the reverse.
Art hook A single clock hand on a Canvas circle. Two buttons rotate it clockwise or anticlockwise by small steps so children feel the two directions.
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You start facing the **door**. Make **one quarter turn**. Are you now facing a square corner away from the door (side-on), or all the way opposite the door?
Answer
Side-on: one quarter turn puts you at a square corner (a right angle) to the door, not opposite it. Facing opposite would need a half turn.
Art hook An arrow at the top of a circle; one tap gives a 90-degree quarter turn, landing side-on. A faint right-angle square is drawn at the corner to show the quarter.
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Count the turns: how many **quarter turns** make a **whole turn**? How many quarter turns make a **half turn**?
Answer
Four quarter turns make a whole turn; two quarter turns make a half turn.
Art hook A pie/arc that fills a quarter of a circle each tap. Four taps close the full circle; a counter shows 1, 2 (half), 3, 4 (whole).
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Start facing **up** and follow: **quarter turn right**, then **quarter turn right** again, then **quarter turn right** again. Trace which way you point after each turn. Which way are you facing now — up, down, left or right?
Answer
Left. Track it: from up, quarter turn right -> right; again -> down; again -> left. Three quarter turns right take you three-quarters of the way round, landing on Left.
Art hook Arrow that snaps 90 degrees clockwise per tap around four dots (up, right, down, left). A trail of ghost arrows shows each stop (right, down, left) so kids see the three-quarters travelled.
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Two children walk the same steps but in a different order. Ali does: forward, forward, **quarter turn right**. Bo does: **quarter turn right**, forward, forward. Do they end up in the same place facing the same way? Explain.
Answer
No. Both finish facing right, but they end up in *different* places: Ali walks up first then turns, Bo turns first then walks right. Order of steps matters in a route.
Art hook Two turtles on a grid running the two orderings side by side, tracing two different coloured paths that end in different squares.
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**Spot the mistake.** Sam says: 'I made a half turn, then another half turn, so now I am facing a brand new way I have never faced.' Is Sam right? What really happens?
Answer
Sam is wrong. Two half turns make a whole turn, so Sam ends up facing the *same* way as at the start, not a new way.
Art hook An arrow that does two 180-degree flips in a row; a ghost of the start pose stays on screen so you can see it lands back exactly on the start.
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Design a route on a square grid that starts at a corner and draws a **rectangle** (longer than it is wide). Write it as forward and quarter-turn steps.
Answer
For example, starting at a corner facing along the long side: forward 3, quarter turn right, forward 2, quarter turn right, forward 3, quarter turn right, forward 2. Four quarter turns and two long, two short sides close the rectangle.
Art hook A turtle where you set two lengths (long/short) with sliders; it runs forward-long, turn, forward-short, turn, twice, and closes any rectangle. Great for a grid of many rectangles.
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You want to face the **opposite** direction. A friend tells you to make **three quarter turns** clockwise. Does that work? Is there a shorter way?
Answer
Three quarter turns clockwise does *not* face you opposite — it leaves you side-on (three-quarters round). To face opposite you want a **half turn**, which is exactly **two** quarter turns. So the shorter, correct way is two quarter turns (a half turn).
Art hook Compare two arrows from the same start: one takes three 90-degree steps, one takes a single half turn. Only the half turn (two quarters) lands opposite; highlight the mismatch.