Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo
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Instead of using directions like left and right, mathematicians and scientists use positive and negative numbers. When Shannon translated her work into scientific language, she said that the x-coordinate of the teacher's desk was −200 centimeters and the y-coordinate was −150 centimeters. This is because mathematicians and scientists have agreed that on the x-axis, right is positive and left is negative. On the y-axis front (or forward) is positive and back is negative. By using positive and negative numbers we know the distance and the direction.
Use Coordinates to Make a Map
- You and your classmates will use Mr. Origin to help make a map of your classroom or your playground. First, place Mr. Origin somewhere in the area to be mapped. Your teacher may have placed Mr. Origin for you.
- The class or your teacher will choose some objects in the classroom to be mapped. Each object should be labeled with a letter of the alphabet.
- Work with your class to find the coordinates of the objects. Measure to the center of each object you are assigned. Record the distances on the Objects in Room _____ page from the Student Activity Book. Measure to the nearest centimeter.
- Make a coordinate grid to map the location of each object. Use Centimeter Grid Paper.
- Look at your data points. Decide where you need to draw and how to scale the coordinate axes so that all the points will fit.
- Label the x-axis and y-axis.
- Plot and label a point on the map for each object.