Maryland Math 6.NOS.C.9.b
The Standard
- 6.NOS.C.9
- Solve problems in context by graphing points (with the same first coordinate or the same second coordinate) in all four quadrants of the Coordinate Plane.
Use absolute value to calculate length of vertical and horizontal lines on Coordinate Plane.
Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for Mathematics (2025) · APPLY AND EXTEND PREVIOUS UNDERSTANDING OF NUMBERS TO THE SYSTEM OF RATIONAL NUMBERS.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students find the length of a horizontal or vertical segment on a coordinate plane. They subtract the coordinates that change and take the absolute value of the difference.
What Mastery Looks Like
- For endpoints (-4, 2) and (3, 2), a student calculates |3 - (-4)| = 7 units. For a vertical segment, they use the y-coordinates instead.
Common Misconceptions
- Students sometimes subtract the coordinates that stay the same and get zero. Others subtract the absolute values of the coordinates, making a segment from -4 to 3 look like 1 unit instead of 7.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Find the lengths from (-3, 2) to (4, 2) and from (1, -5) to (1, 2). Show an absolute value expression for each.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Tape a coordinate grid on the floor, mark (-3, 2) and (4, 2), and count the units between the points.
Ask students to explain why the length from (2, -4) to (2, 3) is 7 units, not 1.
Deal cards showing horizontal and vertical segments; partners match each card to its length using an absolute value expression.
Draw a city map on a coordinate grid with a library at (-3, 2) and a park at (4, 2); find the blocks between them.
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Related Standards
- 6.NOS.C.7
Intersect perpendicular number lines at the point (0,0) as the x-axis and y-axis to introduce the four quadrants of the Coordinate Plane. Represent points on th...
- 1.NOS.B.4
Represent whole numbers as lengths from 0 on a number line (horizontal and vertical) with equally spaced points corresponding to whole numbers.
- 6.NOS.C.9.a
Explain that points with the same x-coordinate or y-coordinate are located on same vertical or horizontal line respectively.
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