Lesson 12

Interpreting Points on a Coordinate Plane

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Lesson Narrative

This lesson pays particular attention to choices about what axes represent and the scale used on each axis. Graphs need to present information clearly and legibly to be useful for visualizing relationships between quantities. Students learn to make these choices purposefully when plotting points and to consider the decisions that have been made when reading and interpreting the coordinates of points from a graph. They interpret and label axes appropriately to clearly communicate their correspondence with the quantities in a problem. They reason abstractly and quantitatively as they interpret vertical distance in a coordinate plane in context (MP2).


Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

  • Compare points on a graph, including statements about relative position and the vertical distance between points.
  • Describe (using words and inequality symbols) and interpret the range of coordinates on a graph, including the meaning of $y$-values that are negative.
  • Identify and interpret points on a graph to answer questions about situations involving temperature or money.

Student Facing

Let’s examine what points on the coordinate plane can tell us.

Learning Targets

Student Facing

  • I can explain how rational numbers represent balances in a money context.
  • I can explain what points in a four-quadrant coordinate plane represent in a situation.
  • I can plot points in a four-quadrant coordinate plane to represent situations and solve problems.

CCSS Standards

Building On

Addressing

Building Towards

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