Position and Motion

Try This!

In small groups, take turns in describing the positions of objects in your classroom. The first person to guess the correct object is the winner!

Position

Look at the objects in the room below. How can you describe the location of the teddy bear? When you tell where something is, you describe its position. Position is the location of something. You can say the teddy bear is on the table and to the right of the spinning wheel. What other words can you use to describe the position of the teddy bear?

With a partner, take turns to describe the position of the other objects in the room.

Distance and Direction

We can more accurately describe the position of an object by describing its distance and direction. Distance is a measurable amount of space between one object and another. You can measure distance using different units. For objects that are close to each other, you can use units such as millimeters, centimeters and inches.

For objects further away, you can use meters, feet and yards. For even further distances, you can use kilometers and miles.

Direction is the course or line from one object to another. You can use words such as left, right, north, south, east and west to describe direction.

By using both distance and direction, you can describe position accurately.

Go Online!

Learn more about position, distance and direction on the NGScience website. QuickCode: E9V8

My house is two kilometers north of my school.

AB Activity 11.1

The green car is two centimeters behind the orange car.

Try This!

Describe the position and direction of your house to your school.

Describing Motion

Look at the skier in the picture. How does the position of the skier change? We know that something has moved when it has changed position. When something is in the process of changing position, we say it is in motion. We can describe and measure motion in different ways.

With a partner, compare the motions of the people and objects on these two pages. How are the motions different?

The skier is in motion when he is in the process of changing position.

Go Online!

With a partner, go to the NGScience website and watch the ‘Describing Motion’ video. Take turns to describe the motion of different objects. QuickCode: S7Q7

We can describe motion in many ways. A bowling ball moves in a straight line towards the pins. On a swing you move back and forth.

What’s your favorite ball sport? What words can you use to describe the motion of the ball?

Think about the different things in a playground. How can you describe your motion when you play on different equipment? On a swing, you move back and forth. On a seesaw, you move up and down. On a carousel, you move round and round.

AB Activity 11.2

A downhill skier moves from side to side in a zigzag motion.

What are some other ways we can describe motion?

Try This!

The fastest man on Earth can run 100 meters in less than ten seconds!

Time how long it takes you to run 100 meters. Compare your time with your friends.

Measuring Motion

Like describing the position of an object, we can use distance and direction to describe and measure motion.

An airplane travels about 3,200 kilometers in an easterly direction to fly from San Francisco to Denver.

You can also use time to describe motion. Time is how long it takes for something to move from one position to another. You can measure time using seconds, minutes and hours.

Use distance and direction to describe your motion as you get from your home to your school.

AB Activities 11.3 – 11.4

Compare the motion of the bicycle and the motorbike. How is the motion different?

The motorbike is moving much faster than the bicycle. How fast or slow something moves is its speed. We can measure speed by calculating the time it takes an object to cover a certain distance.

If a cyclist rides 30 kilometers in one hour, we can say the speed of the cyclist was 30 kilometers per hour.

AB Activity 11.5 Think Deeply

It takes an airplane about two hours to fly from New York to Chicago. It takes a train about 20 hours to travel the same distance. Which moves at the greater speed? How do you know?