Lesson Guide
Explanation
A floor plan is what a bird sees looking STRAIGHT down: walls become lines, rooms become enclosed spaces, doorways become gaps in the lines — and height vanishes completely, leaving only the footprint. A typical question shows a 3-D view of a building level and four candidate floor plans. Everything you can answer lives in three matchable features: the OUTLINE shape, the number and position of ROOMS, and where the DOORWAY GAPS sit. Learn to read all three off the 3-D picture and the plans become checklists.
Your Turn
In a 3-D view you see two rooms connected by one doorway. On the correct plan, how does that doorway appear? Check: as a gap in the wall line between the two room spaces.
Watch Out
Tall and short walls flatten to identical lines on a plan — height differences are NOT plan differences.
Explanation
The building question yields to three checks IN ORDER. (1) OUTLINE: trace the outer silhouette of the 3-D level; plans with a different outline die instantly. (2) ROOMS: count the enclosed rooms and note the layout — where the big room sits, which corner holds the small one; wrong count or misplaced big room eliminates more options. (3) DOORWAYS: for the finalists, match each gap — a doorway between two particular rooms in 3-D must sit between the same two rooms on the plan. The order matters: outline and room-count kill most options cheaply, leaving doorway-checking for one or two candidates.
Your Turn
A 3-D view shows an L-shaped level with 3 rooms. Option A is rectangular with 3 rooms. Verdict at check 1? Check: eliminated — outline mismatch, rooms never checked.
Watch Out
Plans may be drawn ROTATED relative to the 3-D view. Rotate before eliminating on outline — an L can hide as a rotated L.
Explanation
Block-model questions ask for the front, side or top view. Each view FLATTENS one direction: the top view loses height, the front loses depth, the side loses width. Consequences worth memorising: a block hidden directly behind another disappears from the front view but still shows from the top; a two-tall tower shows its height in front and side views but is just one square from the top. For each candidate view, ask 'which direction does this flatten?' — then walk the model column by column, recording only what survives the flattening.
Your Turn
A model is 3 blocks wide, all one tall, with a second storey on the middle block. Describe the front view. Check: three squares in a row with one square sitting on the middle.
Watch Out
Count column HEIGHTS for front views: each column shows as tall as its TALLEST block, whatever hides behind.
Explanation
Map questions add furniture: a KEY translating symbols, a north arrow orienting compass directions, and GRID REFERENCES naming squares — column letter first, row number second, so B2 means column B, row 2. The routine: read the key before the map, find north before answering any direction question, and trace column-then-row with your finger for grid references. Combined questions ('what is north-east of the school?') stack the skills: locate the school by reference, orient by the arrow, step diagonally. Each step is easy; the stack is where care pays.
Your Turn
On the pictured map, what sits at C1? Check: the fountain — column C, row 1.
Watch Out
Grid reference order is column-then-row. C1 and 1C point at the same square, but reading B2 as row-B column-2 lands you in the wrong cell.
Explanation
The plans toolkit: eliminate plan options in the order outline → rooms → doorways; know which direction each view flattens (top loses height, front loses depth, side loses width); read front views as column-heights, where the tallest block wins; and on maps, key first, north arrow second, grid references column-then-row. That closes the spatial chapter — nets, jigsaws, grid rules and plans are the four costumes every OC spatial question wears. Quiz and exercises!
Your Turn
Capstone: a plan option has the right outline but 4 rooms where the 3-D view shows 3. Verdict? Check: eliminated at check 2 — room count.
Watch Out
When two plan options survive all your checks, one doorway gap WILL differ — the examiners always leave exactly one separating detail.
📌 Key Points — this lesson in a nutshell
- A floor plan is the straight-down view: walls are lines, doorways are gaps, height vanishes.
- Plan-matching order: outline silhouette → room count and layout → doorway gaps. Most options die early.
- Plans may be rotated relative to the 3-D view — rotate before eliminating.
- Views flatten one direction each: top loses height, front loses depth, side loses width.
- Front views are column-heights: each column shows as tall as its tallest block.
- Maps: read the key first, orient by the north arrow, grid references are column-letter THEN row-number.
Step 1: Introduction
Step 1 of 5
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