Education Technology


What's The Point - Understanding Coordinate Plane

Activity Overview

Students will drag a point around the coordinate plane to gain a better understanding that the left coordinate is the x coordinate and it controls the horizontal placement of a point and that the right coordinate is the y coordinate and it controls the vertical placement of a point.

Students will learn to order a set of coordinates, view multiple points on the same coordinate plane and discuss scatter plots and their correlation.

Before the Activity

Teacher will need to download the file into each student TI-nspire handheld unit.

Print-out and make copies of the worksheet:

Before starting lesson, possibly the day before, the teacher should have a discussion about the coordinate plane, which includes labeling the horizontal & vertical axis and scale. The teacher should also review this lesson and be familiar with the student's objectives and responsibilities.

During the Activity

The lesson is interactive on the TI-nspire, requiring students to record information and make statements about their observations on the printed worksheet, as well as saving their document in the appropriate folder on the handheld unit. The teacher should act as a monitor, to keeps students focused and on task, providing prompts when students seem to get stuck. The teacher should use other students to assist in problem solving, rather than answer questions directly.

After the Activity

When students are finished with Problem 1 & 2 on their handheld, they are to save their work in their designated folder and write the file name on their worksheet.

Assessment:
Students are to complete Page 4 of their worksheet, independently, and then turn-in their worksheet before the end of the period.