Topics · Shapes & Measurement
Grids, moves and flips
Plot points on a grid, then slide, flip and turn shapes — and predict where they land.
Maps and games run on coordinates.
More ways into this idea
- Play with itCoordinate PlaygroundSlide, flip and turn a shape — the pairs keep score
Step into a storyThe Treasure GridThe map is a grid. The clue is a pair of numbers.- Make it a gameMirror MazeSlide, flip and turn the marker onto its glowing target
- Make it a gameMove MakerA shape, a target, and the move that joins them
- Test yourselfA fresh mixed set, whenever you likeExplanations after every question. Nothing is recorded.
Common sticking points
- The big one is reading the pair the wrong way round. (2, 5) and (5, 2) are two different places — the first number is always how far across, the second how far up.
- Another is counting gridlines instead of reading what the axis says. On a grid that counts in tens, a dot three lines along is at 30, not 3.
- A third is expecting a shape to change when it moves. A slide, a flip and a turn all leave every side exactly the same length — only a flip changes anything else, and what it changes is which way round the shape reads.
Try this together
Draw a 6-by-6 grid and number the edges. Take turns hiding a counter and describing where it is with two numbers — across first, then up. Then swap the two numbers on purpose and see where you end up. Finish by putting a shape on the grid, sliding it three right and two up, and checking that every corner moved the same way.
1–5 minutes, no materials to buy, nothing to hand in.
Ontario curriculum details
- E1.4Plot and read coordinates on a grid
- E1.5Perform and predict slides, flips and turns
Plain-language summaries. See the full curriculum for every expectation and the official source.