CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.6c
The Standard
Find and position integers and other rational numbers on a horizontal or vertical number line diagram; find and position pairs of integers and other rational numbers on a coordinate plane.
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students locate integers, fractions, and decimals on horizontal and vertical number lines. They also plot and identify ordered pairs on a coordinate plane.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students accurately plot and identify integers, fractions, decimals, and ordered pairs. They use the scale correctly and explain that x gives horizontal position while y gives vertical position.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may move left or down for every negative value without checking the axis labels. They may reverse x and y, ignore fractional intervals, or space values unevenly.
How to Assess It
- Give students a labeled number line and coordinate grid. Ask them to plot -2.5, 3/4, and the point (-3, 2.5), then label each location.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Make a floor number line with tape, then have students stand at assigned integers, fractions, and decimals.
Ask students to explain how they would plot (-2, 3.5) and why reversing the coordinates changes the point.
Play coordinate bingo using cards with ordered pairs, fractions, and decimals that students locate on individual grids.
Use temperatures, building floors, and elevations to place positive and negative values on vertical number lines.
Free download
Printable 6.NS.C.6c Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.6c, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetLearning progression
Where This Standard Sits
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.6a
Positioning negative numbers and coordinate pairs requires knowing signs show opposite directions from zero on number lines and axes.
- CCSS.Math.Content.5.G.A.1
Students use axes, origin, and ordered-pair conventions from grade 5 before extending coordinates to negative and rational values.
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.6b
Knowing how coordinate signs match quadrants helps students choose the correct region when plotting rational ordered pairs.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
- CCSS.Math.Content.8.F.A.1
Plotting ordered pairs on the coordinate plane supports seeing a function graph as input-output pairs.
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.7a
Interpreting inequalities requires knowing where rational numbers lie on a number line and comparing their left-right positions.
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.8
Students must locate rational coordinate pairs in all quadrants before using graphed points to solve problems and measure horizontal or vertical distances.
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.7c
Locating positive and negative rationals on the number line supports seeing absolute value as distance from zero.
- CCSS.Math.Content.7.NS.A.1
Locating rational numbers on horizontal or vertical number lines supports representing rational addition and subtraction as movements from those positions.
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.7d
Placing rational numbers on number lines supports seeing order by position and absolute value as distance from zero.
Keep exploring
Related Standards
- CCSS.Math.Content.2.MD.B.6
Represent whole numbers as lengths from 0 on a number line diagram with equally spaced points corresponding to the numbers 0, 1, 2, …, and represent whole-numbe...
- CCSS.Math.Content.6.NS.C.6
Understand a rational number as a point on the number line. Extend number line diagrams and coordinate axes familiar from previous grades to represent points on...
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