Reading a Map: Cardinal Directions - Free Printable

Let’s go step by step to solve this map reading worksheet.

First, we need to understand the compass rose. The cross with an arrow pointing up means that direction is North. So:

- Top = North (N)
- Bottom = South (S)
- Right = East (E)
- Left = West (W)

Now, let’s look at each question one by one.

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Question 3: The rowboats are _________ of the campfire.

Find the campfire on the map — it’s near the bottom center, just above the water edge.
The rowboats are in the water, to the right side of the map.
Right = East → So, rowboats are east of the campfire.

✔ Answer: east

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Question 4: The camping trailers are _________ of the tents.

Camping trailers are the little car-like symbols at the top left.
Tents are the triangle shapes in the middle-left area.
Trailers are above and a bit to the left of the tents → That’s northwest, but since we only use north/south/east/west, and they’re mostly *above* the tents → north

Wait — let’s be precise. Looking at their positions:

- Trailers are higher up (north) and slightly left (west) of the tents.
But since the question likely expects one cardinal direction, and they are clearly more “up” than “left”, we’ll say north.

Actually, looking again — if you draw a line from tents to trailers, it goes up and left — so northwest. But the instructions say to use only north, south, east, or west. So pick the dominant direction. Since they are significantly farther north than west, north is acceptable.

But wait — maybe the worksheet wants exact relative position? Let’s check other questions for pattern.

Looking at Q5: Cabins are ___ of tents → cabins are to the left (west) of tents → so answer should be west.

Similarly, Q6: Campfire is ___ of camping trailers → campfire is below and right → southeast → but again, must choose one. Probably “south” because it’s much lower.

So perhaps we should pick the primary direction based on vertical/horizontal alignment.

For Q4: Trailers are directly above the tents? Not exactly — but closer to north than anything else.

Actually, let’s count grid mentally:

Assume tents are around center-left. Trailers are top-left. So same column roughly? No — trailers are further left too.

Hmm. Maybe better to think: from tents, where do you go to get to trailers? Up and left → so northwest → but since we can’t say that, and the worksheet says “write north, south, east, or west”, we have to pick the most accurate single direction.

In many elementary maps like this, if something is diagonally placed, they expect you to pick the main axis. Here, trailers are clearly NORTH of tents (higher on page), even if also west.

I think north is correct here.

But let me double-check with actual layout:

Map layout (approximate):

Top row: Camping trailers (3 of them) — all near top edge, left side.

Middle: Tents (3 triangles) — centered vertically, left side.

So yes — trailers are north of tents.

✔ Answer: north

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Question 5: The cabins are _________ of the tents.

Cabins are the house-shaped icons on the far left.

Tents are to the right of the cabins.

So from tents’ perspective, cabins are to the LEFT → which is WEST.

✔ Answer: west

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Question 6: The campfire is _________ of the camping trailers.

Campfire is near bottom center.

Camping trailers are at top left.

So from trailers, campfire is DOWN and RIGHT → south and east.

Again, must pick one. Which is stronger? Vertically, campfire is much lower → so south.

Horizontally, it’s also to the right, but distance-wise, vertical difference is bigger.

Also, in such worksheets, often the vertical direction takes precedence when diagonal.

✔ Answer: south

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Question 7: The island is _________ of the cabins.

Island is the small landmass inside the lake, toward the upper right.

Cabins are on the far left side.

So from cabins, island is to the RIGHT → EAST.

Also, it’s a bit higher, but mainly east.

✔ Answer: east

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Now, let’s recap all answers:

3. east
4. north
5. west
6. south
7. east

Double-checking:

Q3: Rowboats (right side water) vs campfire (bottom center) → rowboats are to the right → east ✔️
Q4: Trailers (top left) vs tents (middle left) → trailers are above → north ✔️
Q5: Cabins (far left) vs tents (to their right) → cabins are left → west ✔️
Q6: Campfire (bottom) vs trailers (top) → campfire is below → south ✔️
Q7: Island (upper right) vs cabins (far left) → island is to the right → east ✔️

All make sense.

Final Answer:
3. east
4. north
5. west
6. south
7. east