Year 1: Forwards, backwards, up and down
Part of the Year 1 position and direction chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
Forwards, backwards, up and down
We can say how things move. Forwards means going towards the front. Backwards means going back the way you came. Up means going higher. Down means going lower.
The car on the track faces the right. So forwards is to the right, and backwards is to the left. In the lift, going up takes you to a higher floor number, and going down takes you to a lower one.
Key ideas
- Forwards is towards the front. On the track that is to the right.
- Backwards is the way you came. On the track that is to the left.
- Up means a higher floor. Down means a lower floor.
Method. Move the car forwards (to the right), one square at a time.
- Find the square the car is on. Each square has a number.Start: square 2
- Move the car 6 squares forwards (to the right). Each move goes to the next square.2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7 → 8
- Write the square it is on now. 8
Check. Count back 6 squares from 8 to check you reach 2. ✓
Watch out. Count the squares one at a time. Do not count the square the car starts on.
Method. Move the car backwards (to the left), one square at a time.
- Find the square the car is on. Each square has a number.Start: square 7
- Move the car 4 squares backwards (to the left). Each move goes to the next square.7 → 6 → 5 → 4 → 3
- Write the square it is on now. 3
Check. Count back 4 squares from 3 to check you reach 7. ✓
Watch out. Count the squares one at a time. Do not count the square the car starts on.
Method. Go down 2 floors from floor 3.
- Find the floor the lift is on. Floor 0 is the ground floor.Start: floor 3
- Go down 2 floors. Each step is one floor.3 → 2 → 1
- Write the floor the lift is on now. 1
Check. Go up 2 floors from 1 to check you reach floor 3. ✓
Watch out. Up means a higher floor number. Down means a lower floor number.
Watch out
Watch out: on the track, count the squares one at a time. Do not count the square the car starts on.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Use a row of coins or stickers on the floor as a track. Move a toy car along it and ask: “Which number is it on now? Is that forwards or backwards?” For up and down, use the stairs at home and count the steps up and down.
Exercise 11D Forwards, backwards, up and down
Non-calculatorMethod. Move the car forwards (to the right), one square at a time.
- Find the square the car is on. Each square has a number.Start: square 3
- Move the car 4 squares forwards (to the right). Each move goes to the next square.3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7
- Write the square it is on now. 7
Check. Count back 4 squares from 7 to check you reach 3. ✓
Watch out. Count the squares one at a time. Do not count the square the car starts on.
Method. Move the car backwards (to the left), one square at a time.
- Find the square the car is on. Each square has a number.Start: square 8
- Move the car 3 squares backwards (to the left). Each move goes to the next square.8 → 7 → 6 → 5
- Write the square it is on now. 5
Check. Count back 3 squares from 5 to check you reach 8. ✓
Watch out. Count the squares one at a time. Do not count the square the car starts on.
Method. Move the car forwards (to the right), one square at a time.
- Find the square the car is on. Each square has a number.Start: square 2
- Move the car 5 squares forwards (to the right). Each move goes to the next square.2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7
- Write the square it is on now. 7
Check. Count back 5 squares from 7 to check you reach 2. ✓
Watch out. Count the squares one at a time. Do not count the square the car starts on.
Method. Move the car backwards (to the left), one square at a time.
- Find the square the car is on. Each square has a number.Start: square 9
- Move the car 4 squares backwards (to the left). Each move goes to the next square.9 → 8 → 7 → 6 → 5
- Write the square it is on now. 5
Check. Count back 4 squares from 5 to check you reach 9. ✓
Watch out. Count the squares one at a time. Do not count the square the car starts on.
Method. Move the car forwards (to the right), one square at a time.
- Find the square the car is on. Each square has a number.Start: square 4
- Move the car 2 squares forwards (to the right). Each move goes to the next square.4 → 5 → 6
- Write the square it is on now. 6
Check. Count back 2 squares from 6 to check you reach 4. ✓
Watch out. Count the squares one at a time. Do not count the square the car starts on.
Method. Move the car backwards (to the left), one square at a time.
- Find the square the car is on. Each square has a number.Start: square 4
- Move the car 1 square backwards (to the left). Each move goes to the next square.4 → 3
- Write the square it is on now. 3
Check. Count back 1 square from 3 to check you reach 4. ✓
Watch out. Count the squares one at a time. Do not count the square the car starts on.
Method. Move the car forwards (to the right), one square at a time.
- Find the square the car is on. Each square has a number.Start: square 4
- Move the car 3 squares forwards (to the right). Each move goes to the next square.4 → 5 → 6 → 7
- Write the square it is on now. 7
Check. Count back 3 squares from 7 to check you reach 4. ✓
Watch out. Count the squares one at a time. Do not count the square the car starts on.
Method. Go up 3 floors from floor 2.
- Find the floor the lift is on. Floor 0 is the ground floor.Start: floor 2
- Go up 3 floors. Each step is one floor.2 → 3 → 4 → 5
- Write the floor the lift is on now. 5
Check. Go down 3 floors from 5 to check you reach floor 2. ✓
Watch out. Up means a higher floor number. Down means a lower floor number.
Method. Go down 2 floors from floor 5.
- Find the floor the lift is on. Floor 0 is the ground floor.Start: floor 5
- Go down 2 floors. Each step is one floor.5 → 4 → 3
- Write the floor the lift is on now. 3
Check. Go up 2 floors from 3 to check you reach floor 5. ✓
Watch out. Up means a higher floor number. Down means a lower floor number.
Method. Go up 4 floors from floor 1.
- Find the floor the lift is on. Floor 0 is the ground floor.Start: floor 1
- Go up 4 floors. Each step is one floor.1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5
- Write the floor the lift is on now. 5
Check. Go down 4 floors from 5 to check you reach floor 1. ✓
Watch out. Up means a higher floor number. Down means a lower floor number.
Method. Go down 4 floors from floor 4.
- Find the floor the lift is on. Floor 0 is the ground floor.Start: floor 4
- Go down 4 floors. Each step is one floor.4 → 3 → 2 → 1 → 0
- Write the floor the lift is on now. 0
Check. Go up 4 floors from 0 to check you reach floor 4. ✓
Watch out. Up means a higher floor number. Down means a lower floor number.
Method. Count each move. Ravi moves forwards, then he moves backwards the same number of squares.
- Start on square 4. Each move starts from where the car is.Start: square 4
- Move forwards 3 squares. Forwards is to the right.4 → 5 → 6 → 7
- Move backwards 3 squares. Backwards is to the left, back the way he came.7 → 6 → 5 → 4
- Write where he finishes. He is back on the square he started on.square 4
Check. Three squares forwards and three back is the same as no move at all. ✓
Watch out. Forwards then backwards by the same number always brings you back to the start.
Method. Find the floor, then count the floors up and down, one at a time.
- Start on floor 1. The lift starts on floor 1.Start: floor 1
- Go up 4 floors. Each step up is one floor higher.1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5
- Go down 3 floors. Each step down is one floor lower.5 → 4 → 3 → 2
- Write the floor the lift is on. floor 2
Check. Four up and three down is one more up than down: 1 + 4 - 3 = 2. ✓
Watch out. Up and down go in opposite directions. Count each one separately.