Integers and Plotting to Make Pictures on 4 Quadrant Cartesian Planes

Need to help your students in grades 5-8 learn how to plot ordered-pairs including negative numbers? Want to make sure they are engaged and focused while doing it? This activity will get them involved and allow them to take ownership over their learning as they create cute images on a four-quadrant Cartesian grid! At the same time, students will practice their math skills with integers and start to notice symmetry in ordered pairs. What happens when an ordered pair is symmetrical with another over the y axis? What about over the x axis? What do they noticed about the two digits in the ordered pair? Lots of great math talks can stem from this activity!

Check out the three sections of this lesson:

• students graph a list of ordered pairs which will create an image of a cat: They need to be precise and careful during this process if they want to get the final product!

• students use a blank 4-quadrant grid to create their own design and record their ordered pairs in a list: They can be as creative as they like during this part of the lesson: creating an image from their favourite TV show or book!

• students use a friend's list of ordered pairs to re-create their design on a third 4-quadrant grid: They will be excited to see if they can accurately graph their friend's design!

Grades to Use With:

This project is perfect for students in grades 5-8 who are learning about graphing, plotting, and integers. It could also be used in high school special education classrooms.

What's Included:

4 Page PDF: Title Page, Student Plotting Task, Student Design Task, Blank Grid to Plot Friend's Design

If you enjoy this hands-on math activity, check out others in my store: Grace Under Pressure

I love to show students how the math skills they learn in class can be used in real-life in fun and engaging ways!