Understand the idea.
Choose the important features
Start a simple plan with the boundary of the room or park. Add the important objects as shapes seen from directly above. Label each shape so the reader can tell which object it represents.
Use the instructions to place objects before decorating. For “shelves right of the table”, locate the table first and use it as the reference. A neat drawing still needs the correct relationships.
Check and improve
Check each instruction against the finished plan, one at a time. Confirm that every required object appears, every position is correct and each label points to the right shape. Ask another person to read it too.
Different plans can satisfy the same instructions. If no measurements or scale are supplied, exact sizes may vary. The important test is whether every stated shape and position condition is met.
See the method in action.
Three plan features
Draw a rectangular room with a table in the middle and shelves to its right. What should you check?
Worked solution
- 1
Check the room boundary.
It must be a rectangle, because the instruction specifies a rectangular room.
- 2
Check the table’s position and label.
A labelled table should be in the middle of that boundary.
- 3
Check the shelves against the table.
The labelled shelves must be on the table’s right, using the same top-down viewpoint.
- 4
Review all three instructions together.
Any clear plan meeting these conditions is valid; no exact dimensions were required.
Any clear plan meeting all three instructions; exact sizes may vary.
Repair a plan
The instruction puts a pond right of a garden, but the drawing puts it left. What must change?
Worked solution
- 1
Keep the garden as the reference place.
The instruction tells where the pond belongs compared with the garden.
- 2
Move the pond to the garden’s right.
Its current position on the left contradicts the required relationship.
- 3
Check the labels after moving it.
The pond must still be identified correctly, and the new position must read pond right of garden.
The pond must be moved to the garden’s right.
Try it yourself.
Check your understanding
Two plans have different-sized tables, both left of a doorway. Can both be correct if no sizes are given?
Show answer & reasoning
Yes.
Yes. Both plans put the table left of the doorway, which is the stated requirement. With no sizes given, different table sizes do not make either plan incorrect.
Keep practising
6 worksheet questions
Read the questions online
- Draw a top-down plan with a round mat above a rectangular table. Label both.
- Draw a gate, a bench to its right, and a kiosk right of the bench. Label them.
- A plan must show windows along the top wall. It puts them along the bottom. Does it follow the instruction?
- Name two features that make a plan easy to read.
- Make a park plan with a pond between a playground and garden. Explain how you checked it.
- Why do two rectangular objects need labels on a plan?
Read the worked solutions
- Draw a top-down plan with a round mat above a rectangular table. Label both.
Use the shapes seen from above.
Check that the mat is above the table.
A labelled circle above a labelled rectangle. - Draw a gate, a bench to its right, and a kiosk right of the bench. Label them.
The bench must be between the other two.
Gate, bench, kiosk from left to right. - A plan must show windows along the top wall. It puts them along the bottom. Does it follow the instruction?
Check the stated viewpoint before deciding top and bottom.
No. Move the windows to the top wall. - Name two features that make a plan easy to read.
A key and a clear boundary are also useful answers.
Example: clear labels and one consistent top-down view. - Make a park plan with a pond between a playground and garden. Explain how you checked it.
Exact sizes and the left/right arrangement may vary.
Check that there is a named neighbour on both sides of the pond.
A labelled pond with playground and garden on opposite sides. - Why do two rectangular objects need labels on a plan?
Shape alone may not distinguish a table from a cupboard.
Labels identify what each rectangle represents.
Curriculum reference & lesson scope
Australian Curriculum v9 and SA Curriculum
Bird's-eye representations; landmarks; relative position; making plans.
Official curriculum source ↗