9 questions
4th - 4th Grade
Social Studies
Reading Directions on a Map is a Grade 4 social studies worksheet that helps students identify and apply cardinal and intermediate directions. Through nine multiple-choice questions, students distinguish north, south, east, and west from northeast, southeast, northwest, and southwest, then use those direction terms to determine travel routes between U.S. cities such as Miami, Washington, D.C., Dallas, New York City, and Houston. This worksheet gives students focused practice connecting map-based location reasoning with directional vocabulary. It is useful for introducing compass directions, reinforcing lessons on reading maps, or checking whether students can select a direction based on the relative locations of two places. This free printable worksheet includes a complete answer key for efficient review and grading.
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WorksheetsAnswer Keyintermediate
cardinal
North
South
East
Northeast
Northwest
Southeast
Southwest
This Grade 4 social studies worksheet covers cardinal directions—north, south, east, and west—and intermediate directions—northeast, southeast, northwest, and southwest. Its nine multiple-choice questions ask students to classify direction terms and determine the direction of travel between pairs of U.S. cities, building accuracy in applying directional vocabulary to map locations.
Introduce the four cardinal directions first, then show how combining two cardinal directions creates intermediate directions such as northeast or southwest. Have students use a map to trace the city-to-city routes named in the worksheet, explain their reasoning aloud, and complete the multiple-choice items independently or with a partner.
Students may confuse cardinal directions with intermediate directions, especially when selecting northeast, southeast, northwest, or southwest for diagonal routes. They may also reverse the direction of travel by identifying where the starting city lies from the destination instead of determining where the destination lies from the starting city, such as choosing southwest rather than northeast for Dallas to New York City.
You can assign this worksheet as a printable PDF or as a digital quiz on Wayground. It includes a complete answer key, and printable submissions can be graded by scanning student work with the Wayground for Teachers app. The printable format also gives schools an option for reducing screen time while students practise cardinal and intermediate directions.
For the multiple-choice direction items, use the worksheet’s Advanced Settings to adjust font spacing and font size, or enable a dyslexia-friendly font to make the choices easier to read. You can also translate the worksheet into another language when students need language support while learning terms such as cardinal, intermediate, northeast, and southwest.
Wayground offers a comprehensive collection of free printable worksheets and practice problems across all subjects, including downloadable PDFs and answer keys to support essential skills and concepts. Browse more resources at https://wayground.com/en-us/worksheets.
