Coordinate Plane Lesson Plan: Geometry

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Coordinate Plane Lesson Plan. 

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Coordinate Plane, and supports the standard of graphing points to solve real-world and mathematical problems. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Display an image of a coordinate plane, like this one:

Ask students:

• How does the coordinate plane compare to a number line?
• What do you notice about the numbers in each quadrant?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

• Read the description on the Coordinate Plane topic page.
• Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
• Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the articles. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
  

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign the Coordinate Plane Challenge and Quiz,  prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about the coordinate plane while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

• Make-a-Movie: Produce a tutorial that explains how to determine which quadrant an ordered pair falls in on a coordinate plane.
• Make-a-Map: Identify the steps to plotting the ordered pair (-5, 3).
• Creative Coding: Code a math problem that uses the coordinate plane.
• Primary Source Activity: Analyze the map, then use your understanding of the coordinate plane to answer the accompanying questions.

More to Explore 

Graphing Lines: ​​Investigate the relationships between linear equations, slope, and graphs in this interactive game.

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of coordinate planes with these topics: Graphing Linear Equations, Slope and Intercept, Graphs.

Teacher Support Resources:

• Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas. 
• Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
• Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.