Home Geography for Primary Grades · Lesson II · Unit 1: Finding direction
2. How the sun shows direction
Goal: Your child finds east from where the sun rises, west from where it sets, then stands with arms out to find north and south.
You'll need
- A sunny morning or late afternoon, and a spot outside
- Four sheets of paper and a marker to make N, S, E, W signs
- Tape
- A geography notebook (any notebook kept just for these lessons) and a pencil
What's in the book
The book explains that "the way to a place is called direction," that the sun seems to rise in the east and set in the west, and shows how to stretch out your arms to find north and south. Two sentences to copy and a set of oral questions about the schoolroom and neighborhood follow.
The lesson, step by step
Which way is home?
Read the opening aloud.
The way to a place is called direction.
SayDirection means which way. We have four special names for directions that never change: north, south, east and west.
Where does the sun rise?
Go outside (or to a window) and ask your child to point to where they have seen the sun come up in the morning.
The direction in which the sun seems to rise is called the east.
Then ask where it goes down in the evening. That is west, the opposite way. Never look straight at the sun; just point toward that side of the sky.
Arms out
Stand together outside. Your child stretches the right arm toward the east (sunrise side) and the left arm toward the west.
SayNow you are facing north. Behind you is south.
Have your child say all four directions while turning to face each one.
Label the house
Back inside, work out together which wall of the main room faces each direction. Make four signs, N, S, E and W, and tape them up. Leave them up for the next lessons.
Copy the sentences
Your child copies the book's two sentences into the geography notebook, or copies the first and you write the second while they watch.
The sun seems to rise toward the east, and set toward the west.
For a younger writer, one sentence is plenty.
Oral questions about home
Ask some of the book's questions, changed to fit your home: Which side of the house is the north side? Who sits to the north of you at the table? In what direction is the street from the house? In what direction is the nearest church, store or park? In what direction is Grandma's house?
The fireplace puzzle
Ask the book's puzzle: if a room has a fireplace in the middle of the east side, which side of the room faces the fire? If the wind blows from the north, which way will the smoke go?
Afterwards
Every morning this week, ask "Where is the sun?" and "Which way is north?" until it comes without thinking.
Tip
The sun rises exactly in the east only around late March and late September. In summer it comes up a little toward the northeast, in winter toward the southeast. For finding the four directions roughly, "sunrise side is east" works fine.
Answers to the book's problems
The sun seems to rise in the east in the morning and set in the west in the evening. Fireplace puzzle: the west side of the room faces a fire on the east wall. A north wind blows the smoke toward the south. If we walk with the morning sun in our faces we are going east, and west is behind us. Questions about your own home, street and town have no fixed answer; check them together outside.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.