Lesson 1

Using Coordinates

Est. Class Sessions: 1–2

Before the Lesson

X

Copy the Treasure Hunt Note and Pirate Jack's Message on brown or yellow paper to make it look old.

After students have been introduced to the use of coordinates and an origin to locate objects, the class will take part in a short treasure hunt. You will need the following:

X

You can have one student play Mr. or Ms. Origin. Place a glove over his or her right hand. The “glove” can be an old sock or two paper plates stapled together.

  • Determine a location in the room where the students will begin their treasure hunt. This is where you will put Mr. Origin. Since students will be working with positive coordinates in this unit find a location where most of the room will be to the right and in front of Mr. Origin.
  • Choose a location to “hide” Pirate Jack's Message and another location to bury the treasure. Pick locations where no desks or other objects will get in the way of measuring. Think about the unit of measure your students will use to find the treasure, such as steps (e.g., 15 steps right, 3 steps front) or standard units such as feet, yards, or meters (e.g., 5 meters rights, 1 meter front). Figure 1 shows a sample classroom layout with a “buried treasure” and a hidden copy of Pirate Jack's Message. Mr. Origin serves as the (0,0) point. In this sample the unit of measure will be feet. You will not hide the Treasure Hunt Note.
  • Find the coordinates of both locations by measuring the distance to the right and to the front of Mr. Origin. On the Treasure Hunt Note, write just the numbers for the coordinates for the location of Pirate Jack's Message. On Pirate Jack's Message, write just the numbers for the coordinates for the hidden treasure. See Figure 2.
  • Remove Mr. Origin from his appointed location. As part of the treasure hunt, it will be the students' task to decide what information is missing and what questions they need to ask to get the clues Pirate Jack refers to in the Treasure Hunt Note (the location of Mr. Origin and the direction he is facing and the unit of measure). See the description of the activity and the discussion prompts in the lesson guide.
X

If the classroom is too small or crowded, the treasure hunt activity can be set up in a large open space such as the gym or playground. If a larger space is used you can set up two or more treasure hunts and divide the class into teams. Each team would use their Treasure Hunt Note and the clues to locate their treasure.

Student Guide:
Student Activity Book:
Master:
Sample classroom layout: Mr. Origin is facing the front of the classroom
X
+
Sample Treasure Hunt Note and Pirate Jack's Message for treasure hunt
X
+