Math Dictionary Sections: (10) Coordinate Plane
Upcoming Assessments: WWU Quiz 3 (Fri. 11/19/10); Coordinate Geometry & Circles Quiz (TBA)
The week was spent working on the Coordinate Plane. As with most units, we started by looking at the vocabulary that was added to the Math Dictionary. This section included the making of a foldable to illustrate the relationship between the axes, origin, and quadrants. Since many students have difficulty remembering which axis is which, I made the comparison to Wolverine from the DC Comic X-Men: Wolverine's claws come out of his left and right hands, not his head and feet; the x-axis goes left to right. After completing the Math Dictionary section, we worked on actually identifying ordered pairs then graphing them. To help students remember the order for "ordered pairs" they were told to think about the alphabet: (x, y) z.
Once students could graph individual points, they made a Cartesian cartoon, which is a "grown up" connect-the-dots where you must make the dots before you can connect them. Most students really enjoy making these, so I encourage them to ask if they would like to do more on their own, which several have already done. It is wonderful practice for graphing, something they will be doing often when they get into Algebra in 8th grade, and I would love to decorate the classroom with their Cartesian artwork. To wrap up the unit prior to the quiz on Friday, the class was split into teams to compete in Hoop Shoot (CRCTLessons.com) and Jeopardy (Math-Play.com) by Doina Popovici as part of their review. Students will see parts of this unit connecting with next week's work on perimeter and area.
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