Unit 6 - Hop to Grid
Hop to Grid
Exploring Settlements and Spatial Relations through STEAM
General Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Understand the differences between rural and urban settlements.
- Recognize how people, buildings, and infrastructure are spatially arranged in different settlements.
- Apply spatial relations using a square grid system.
- Develop orientation skills and understand practical applications of maps and navigation.
- Enhance motor skills through movement games.
- Collaborate creatively to represent and design settlements.
Materials
- Costumes and props for dramatization
- 10x10 square grid paper (A3 size)
- Pre-cut cardboard shapes (houses, schools, trees, roads, etc.)
- Markers, glue, scissors, rulers
- Tablets or mobile phones with Google Maps
- Large outdoor chalk grid or masking tape grid (for floor)
- Printable task cards with coordinates and directions
- Drawing paper and colored pencils
- Optional: Cardboard boxes and building materials for 3D models
Introduction
Objective:
Introduce the concepts of rural and urban settlements in an engaging, relatable way.
Materials Needed:
- Simple costumes or props (e.g., scarf for farmer, hat for city worker)
Activity 1: Build a Settlement on the Grid (Mathematics + Social Science)
Objective:
Use coordinate grids to plan a realistic settlement and practice spatial reasoning.
Materials Needed:
- 10x10 square grid paper (A3 size)*
- Object cutouts or tokens (house, school, bakery, park, museum, post office, tree, etc.)
- Markers, scissors, glue
- Instruction/task cards*
- Students work in pairs or small groups.
- Each group receives a grid (blank 10x10 square grid), object cutouts (e.g., bakery, school, museum, park), and 3 task cards with instructions (e.g., "Place the school at B2" or "Place the house next to the bakery").
- Once all objects are placed, students describe the movement between places using number of steps and directions (e.g., “Move 2 squares right and 1 down from the house to the school.”).
Activity 2: Movement Challenge – Human Grid Game (Mathematics + PE)
Objective:
Apply grid navigation and spatial awareness through physical movement.
Materials Needed:
- Large grid taped on the floor (5x5 or 6x6 squares, each ~60x60 cm)
- Task cards with start and end coordinates (e.g., “Move from A1 to C3 using hops”)
- Chalk or masking tape
- " Go from the park at B3 to the bakery at E5. Count and name each step.",
- "Travel to school only using left or down moves."
Activity 3: Design a Settlement – Engineering + Art (STEAM Challenge)
Objective:
Design and build a creative settlement using visual and spatial skills.
Materials Needed:
- Grid paper OR cardboard base with drawn squares
- Cardboard shapes or recycled materials for buildings
- Markers, glue, scissors, drawing paper
- Colored pencils
- 1 public building (e.g., school, museum)
- 2 homes
- 1 green area
- 1 shop or service
Activity 4: Navigate Like a Pro – Using Google Maps (Technology + Math)
Objective:
Connect real-world digital tools with spatial learning and direction-following.
Materials Needed:
- Tablets or mobile phones with Google Maps application
- Pre-written routes or challenges (e.g., “Find your route from school to the library.”)
- Paper for sketching route lines
- Which direction do you go?
- Are there straight, curved, or zigzag roads?
- How many turns?
Activity 5: Streets and Alleys – Movement Game (PE) – 10 minutes
121 Streets and alleys
Streets and Alleys is a dynamic chasing game where players form a human grid by standing in rows and columns, creating "streets" (forward/backward paths) and "alleys" (sideways paths). One player is the chaser and another is the runner. At the teacher’s signal, the group can change orientation (from streets to alleys), forcing the chaser and runner to adapt their movement. The game promotes agility, spatial awareness, and quick decision-making, making it ideal for developing coordination and teamwork.
Streets and Alleys
Objective:
Practice spatial orientation and agility through group play.
Materials Needed:
- Open space (classroom, gym, or outdoors)
- Whistle or signal sound
- Students stand in rows and columns forming a human grid.
- When the teacher calls “Streets!”, they face one direction and create straight paths.
- When “Alleys!” is called, they turn 90° to form perpendicular paths.
- One student (the cat) chases another (the mouse) through the grid until caught.
- Switch roles and repeat.
- What are the biggest differences between cities and villages?
- How does knowing where things are help us move safely?
- When would we use a map or navigation app in real life?
- Why do people design places the way they do?
Activity 6: Line Tag
In Line tag, all the players must walk or run only along the lines on the ground. The playing area should be large enough to run in with connected lines on the ground (use already existing lines from basketball, volleyball and handball courts if available). If there are no lines on the outdoor court, they can be drawn with chalk on the ground. One player is chosen to be the tagger. The goal of the game is to avoid being tagged by the tagger. The tagger wins when there's no one anymore to be tagged. Everytime the player is tagged, a punishment comes (like doing sit-ups).
Line Tag
STEPAM Components
- Science: Differences in settlement types and human impact on environment.
- Technology: Using Google Maps for navigation and digital exploration.
- Engineering: Designing and constructing model settlements using logic and creativity.
- Physical Education: Movement-based games reinforcing agility, coordination, and directional awareness.
- Art: Drawing maps and building creative representations of settlements.
- Mathematics: Working with coordinate grids, spatial reasoning, directions, and patterns.
