Grid positions

In your book, Maths Mela (Chapter 14, Maps and Locations), the children look at a map of the zoo drawn on a grid. The vertical lines (columns) are numbered 1, 2, 3 … going east from 0, and the horizontal lines (rows) are numbered 1, 2, 3 … going north from 0.

To reach the panda, start at 0. Move one step east to reach the first column. Then move one step north to reach the first row. The panda is where the first column and the first row meet. We write this place as (1,1). The book's rule is: first move across (east) from 0, and then up (north).

So in a pair like (4,1), the first number tells how many steps east and the second number how many steps north. The tortoise is at (4,1): 4 steps east, then 1 step north. The snake is at (1,4): 1 step east, then 4 steps north. The order matters: (4,1) and (1,4) are different places.

In the same way, the elephant is 6 steps east and 4 steps north of 0, at (6,4). To mark a point, do the same thing: for a red dot at (8,3), start at 0, move 8 steps east, then 3 steps north, and put the dot there.