Lesson Video: “Left,” “Right,” “Next To,” and “Between” | Nagwa Lesson Video: “Left,” “Right,” “Next To,” and “Between” | Nagwa

Lesson Video: “Left,” “Right,” “Next To,” and “Between” Mathematics • First Year of Primary School

In this video, we will learn how to use the words “left,” “right,” “next to,” and “between” to describe the position of objects relative to each other.

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Video Transcript

Left, Right, Next To, and Between

In this video, we’re going to learn how to use the words “left”, “right”, “next to”, and “between” to describe the position of objects compared with each other.

Here are four characters. They’re going to help us to describe the position of things. We’ve got a pelican, a wobbly looking flamingo, a penguin, and an ostrich. Now we can use four words or phrases to describe where each of the characters are compared to some of the others. Our first position word is “left”. But perhaps it might make sense to look at our second position word too because it can be easy to get left and right muddled up.

To help us, we’ve put “left” on the left-hand side and “right” on the right-hand side. Left is this direction, and right is the opposite direction. If we put our hands flat out in front of us like this, only one of our hands will make an L shape. Can you guess which hand it is? L for left! Hopefully, you’ve learned your left and right. But if you haven’t, this is a good way to help you remember it.

We can use the words “left” and “right” to describe the position of some of the characters on the screen. Who is to the left of the ostrich? Well, here’s the ostrich. And we know that this direction is left. It’s the penguin! We could even write a sentence where we describe the position of the penguin. The penguin is on the left of the ostrich.

Let’s try using the word “right” now. Which character is on the right of the flamingo? Here’s our wobbly flamingo. Now, which direction is right? We know that right is this direction; it’s the opposite to left. Who can we see is to the right of the flamingo? It’s the penguin again! Although the penguin is on the left of the ostrich, we can also say he’s on the right of the flamingo.

Our third phrase is “next to.” Who’s next to the pelican? There’s nobody next to the pelican in this direction. But if we look in the other direction, we can see the flamingo is next to the pelican. This time, it doesn’t matter which way round we say the characters. The flamingo is next to the pelican, and the pelican is next to the flamingo. They’re both side by side.

Our final position word is “between.” We know that when an object is between two other objects, it’s in the middle of them. Who is between the flamingo and the ostrich? Who’s in the middle of the flamingo and the ostrich? The penguin is between the flamingo and the ostrich. Now that we’ve learned how to use the words “left”, “right”, “next to”, and “between”, let’s have a go at answering some questions where we have to describe the position of objects using these words.

Which animal is on the left of the cow?

In the picture, we can see four animals in a line: a sheep, a cow, a dog, and a chicken. And the question asks us, which animal is on the left of the cow? Now, these words “on the left of” are important. They tell us the position of the animal we’re looking for. And they tell us the position of this animal compared with the cow. So, the first thing we should do is find the cow.

Now, which animal is on the left of the cow? Is it the sheep or the dog? Which direction is left? Well, perhaps you already know your left and right. One way that we could remember each direction is we can put our hands out flat like this. Our left hand is the one where we can see the L shape. And so, we know this direction is left and this direction is right. But let’s forget about right for now. We’re asked which animal is on the left of the cow. And if we look to the left, we can see the sheep. The animal on the left of the cow is the sheep.

Which picture shows that the bucket is next to the spade?

We can see three pictures here. And each of the pictures shows a bucket and a spade. But what’s the difference? The spade is in a different place or a different position in each of the pictures. The position words in our question are the words “next to.” Now, we know when two objects are next to each other, they’re side by side. So, we’re looking for a picture where the bucket is side by side with the spade.

Is it the first picture? Well, the two objects are very close to each other, but they are not side by side. We could say the spade is in the bucket. What about the second picture? How could we describe the objects now? Well, again, they’re very close to each other, but they’re not side by side. The spade is on the bucket. We could also use the word ”under”. The bucket is under the spade.

So, we’re only left with this picture. Is the bucket next to the spade? Yes, the correct answer is the one that shows the bucket and the spade side by side. The bucket is next to the spade.

Which animal is between the dog and the sheep?

In the picture, we can see four animals in a line. From left to right, they are a sheep, a cow, a dog, and a chicken. “left” and “right” are words that we can use to describe the position of objects. And in our question, there’s another word. Which animal is between the dog and the sheep? Another way of describing the word “between” is “in the middle of”. So, we could ask, which animal is in the middle of the dog and the sheep?

To begin with, we need to find the two animals that we’re talking about. Here’s the dog, and here’s the sheep. Which animal is in between them? Which animal is in the middle of them? It’s the cow. The cow is between the dog and the sheep. The dog and the sheep are either side of the cow. And so, we can say the animal that’s in between the dog and the sheep is the cow.

Now, what have we learned in this video? We’ve learned how to describe the position of objects using the words “left”, “right”, “next to”, and “between”.

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