Horizontal and vertical lines

In a nutshell

You have different names for different types of straight lines. Horizontal and vertical lines are opposites. Horizontal lines go left to right. Vertical lines go up and down.

Maths; Geometry - properties of shapes; KS2 Year 3; Horizontal and vertical lines

Horizontal lines

A line is horizontal when it goes left to right. It comes from the word 'horizon' which is the line in the distance where you see the earth and the sky meet. You can tell that a line is horizontal if it is laying down or 'sleeping'.

Example 1

How many pencils are horizontal?

Maths; Geometry - properties of shapes; KS2 Year 3; Horizontal and vertical lines

The pencils are horizontal if they go left to right. See how many are 'sleeping'.

There are two in the picture, so the answer is:

There are $\underline{2}$ horizontal pencils.

Vertical lines

A line is vertical when it goes up and down. You can imagine that the line is 'standing'.

Example 2

How many pencils are vertical?

Maths; Geometry - properties of shapes; KS2 Year 3; Horizontal and vertical lines

The pencils are vertical if they are going up and down or 'standing'.

There are three in the picture, so the answer is:

There are $\underline{3}$ vertical pencils.