The key idea of position and orientation at level 1 is that the position and movement of an object can be described.
At level 1, students are developing an awareness of the position of an object in relation to another object. They will be using everyday language to describe where something is in relation to other things, for example ‘in front of ...’ ‘to the left of ...’ and so on. Direction can be described with words such as ‘toward’ and ‘facing’. Directions for movement are given in simple units that can be counted for distance such as 8 steps, and in simple fractions for turns such as half and quarter turns. As well as both following and giving directions for a series of movements, imaging the shape or endpoint of movements help in developing the spatial awareness and reasoning of students. This key idea links to the key idea of measurement at level 1, where distances can be compared directly or indirectly using a unit of measurement.
This key idea develops from informal exploration of position and movement during pre-school years.
This key idea is extended in the key idea of position and orientation at level 2 where the use of simple maps to show position and movement is explored.