Lesson 1: Alphanumeric Grids — Finding Animals on the Map!
Learning to use letters and numbers together to find exact squares on a map — the foundational skill for all map reading and coordinate geometry.
🎯 Ngā Whāinga Akoranga | Learning Intentions
What an alphanumeric grid is (letter for columns, number for rows); how to read a grid reference (letter first, then number); how to use this system to find exact squares on the Hamilton Zoo map.
Locate 6 Hamilton Zoo animals using alphanumeric grid references; give accurate grid references for 4 animals that a partner must find.
🎥 Media Anchor & Mathematical Scaffold
Alphanumeric Grid References — Map Reading for Kids
Video Anchor: Mathematical reasoning and spatial thinking in real-world contexts (Runtime: 0:00-1:19).
🧠 1. Get Ready
Look at the zoo map. See the letters A, B, C… across the top and numbers 1, 2, 3… down the side? These form a grid. How is this like a secret code for finding things? Let's crack it!
👁️ 2. Key Ideas to Cover
This lesson runs as a discussion and map task — no video is required. If your class has one you like on alphanumeric grid references (5–10 min), it fits well as an optional opener before the task below.
🗣️ 3. Kaiako Move
Kaiako Move: Demonstrate on the projected zoo map — point to a grid square and ask students to tell you what's in it. Make it a fast-paced, game-style introduction.
Task: Grid Detective: Using your zoo map, complete the Grid Reference Scavenger Hunt card — find 8 animals using their grid references and match them to their names.
⚡ Whakaoho | Do Now (5 mins)
Challenge: Can you find a grid square that contains TWO animals? Write both grid references. Fastest pair wins!
📐 Activity 1: Guided Mathematical Exploration (25 mins)
Partner grid challenge — one student describes a grid square, partner finds the animal. Then swap. Play 10 rounds each, track score.
✍️ Activity 2: Application & Reflection (20 mins)
Design your own grid: create a simple 5×5 grid map of your classroom, playground, or home, placing 6 'hidden objects' at specific grid references. Partners use the grid references to find all objects.
🏫 Kaiako Planning & Pedagogy Notes
Curriculum Alignment: Te Mātaiaho Mathematics Phase 2 — Geometry: use alphanumeric grid references to describe position on a map; understand the letter-number convention.
Hamilton Zoo Context: Tasks are set at Hamilton Zoo as a familiar shared context. The grid, the distances and the routes in these lessons are teaching constructions, not surveyed zoo data — there is no zoo map supplied with this unit. If you want ākonga working from the real layout, bring the zoo's own visitor map to the lesson and say plainly that you are swapping the constructed grid for a real one.
Cultural Connection: Connect coordinate navigation to traditional Polynesian wayfinding — stars as coordinate systems, waka routes as vectors, mauri/kaitiakitanga of animal species at the zoo.