Beginning lesson on Coordinate Grids-First Quadrant

Students will investigate the first quadrant of the Cartesian coordinate system. They will use online activities developed by Shodor.org to identify the coordinates of points, or plot specific points. Then students will progress to an activity where they direct a robot through a mine field laid out on the coordinate plane. Permission has been granted for the use of the materials as part of the workshop - "Interactivate Your Bored Math Students" by Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.

A lesson plan for grade 3 Mathematics

By Bonnie Boaz

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• learn the x-axis and y-axis on the first quadrant of the Cartesian coordinate system.
• list the coordinates of a point on the coordinate plane using the form (X,Y).
• plot a point on the plane when given the coordinates.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2 days

Materials/resources

Pencil and graph paper

Technology resources

Color monitor with access to the Internet for each student

Either a computer lab with Internet access or a one computer classroom with an Internet connection.

Pre-activities

Students should be familiar with integer arithmetic.

Activities

These activities can be done individually or in teams of up to four students. Allow for 1-2 hours of class time for the entire lesson.

1. First, lead a discussion on the number line and the coordinate plane.
2. Practice the students’ point plotting skills by having them play the “Simple Coordinates Game”. Click on the Help tab for directions to play the game. The game allows users to figure out and to practice using the coordinate plane for giving the “address” or exact location of particular points. Shodor.org
3. Have the students practice their graphing skills on graph paper using values they generated or the teacher assigns. Activities such as those found in the book “Grid and Bear It!” are fun for students as the points given when connected form a picture.
4. Have the students test their skills by playing the “Simple Maze Game”. Click on the Help tab for directions. Shodor.org

Assessment

• Students will be able to write the coordinates for 10 points in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane using the form: (X,Y).
  Rubric for scoring:
  
  • 9-10 correct = 5pts
  • 7-8 correct = 3pts
  • 6 correct = 1pt
  • less than 6 correct = 0pts.
• Students will be able to plot 10 points on the first quadrant of the coordinate plane when given the coordinates in the form:(x,y).
  Rubric for scoring:
  
  • 9-10 correct = 5pts
  • 7-8 correct = 3pts
  • 6 correct = 1pt
  • less than 6 correct = 0pts

Supplemental information

none

Related websites

Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/SimpleCoordinates/

http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/SimpleMazeGame/

http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/GeneralCoordinates/

http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/MazeGame/

http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/lessons/GraphsAndFunctions/

Comments

This lesson plan was adapted from resources available on the Shodor.org website. Also included is the following alternative.

Alternate Outlines

This lesson can be rearranged in several ways.
Omit one or the other of the computer activities to reduce the amount of time spent. Add a discussion about fractional movement on the coordinate plane. For students who are ready to handle negative numbers, replace the Coordinates activities with the alternate versions:

General Coordinates Games
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/GeneralCoordinates/

Maze Game
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/MazeGame/

Motivate the next lesson by using Simpleplot to plot the tables of points that the students generated.

Suggested Follow-Up

After these discussions and activities, students will be have learned to plot points on the coordinate plane and to read the coordinates off of a graph. The next lesson Functions and Graphs will introduce students to the graphical representation of functions.
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/lessons/GraphsAndFunctions/