Education Technology


Points in the Coordinate Plane

Activity Overview

In this activity, students will use the Cabri™ Jr. Application to explore the coordinate system.

Before the Activity

  • Install the Cabri Jr. App on the students' graphing calculators using TI Connect™, a TI Connectivity cable and the unit-to-unit link cables
  • See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
  • Print pages 55 - 62 from the attached PDF file for your class
  • During the Activity

    Distribute the pages to your class.

    Follow the Activity procedures:

  • Show the coordinate axes, and create a point in the first quadrant
  • Display the coordinates of the point
  • Drag the point to all four quadrants and observe changes in the coordinates
  • Construct lines through the point perpendicular to the axes
  • Hide the perpendiculars and measure the length of the point from the x-axis and the y-axis
  • Drag the point to all four quadrants and observe the changes in the measured distance
  • After the Activity

    Students will fill in the Data Collection and Analysis sheet.

    Review student results:

  • As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
  • Re-teach concepts as necessary