Virginia SOL 6.MG.3.b
The Standard
Identify and describe the location (quadrant or the axis) of a point given as an ordered pair. Ordered pairs will be limited to coordinates expressed as integers.
Virginia Standards of Learning for Mathematics · The student will describe the characteristics of the coordinate plane and graph ordered pairs.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students examine the x- and y-values in an ordered pair and use their signs to locate the point. They distinguish among the four quadrants, both axes, and the origin.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students use the signs of x and y to name the correct quadrant without drawing a full graph. They recognize that a zero coordinate places a point on an axis, not in a quadrant.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often reverse the x- and y-values or move vertically before moving horizontally. They may also assign an axis point to a quadrant or confuse the quadrant numbering order.
How to Assess It
- Give the points (4, -2), (-3, 5), (0, -6), and (-7, 0). Ask students to name each location and explain one answer using signs.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Tape a coordinate plane on the floor, then have students stand at integer points and name their quadrant or axis.
Ask students to explain how the signs in (-4, 6) reveal its location without graphing the point.
Play quadrant sort with ordered-pair cards, requiring teams to place each card under a quadrant, axis, or origin label.
Use a city map grid and label landmarks with integer coordinates, then describe each landmark’s quadrant or axis location.
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Related Standards
- 6.MG.3.e
Relate the coordinates of a point to the distance from each axis and relate the coordinates of a single point to another point on the same horizontal or vertica...
- 6.MG.3.c
Graph ordered pairs in the four quadrants and on the axes of a coordinate plane. Ordered pairs will be limited to coordinates expressed as integers.
- 6.MG.3.d
Identify ordered pairs represented by points in the four quadrants and on the axes of the coordinate plane. Ordered pairs will be limited to coordinates express...
- 6.MG.3.a
Identify and label the axes, origin, and quadrants of a coordinate plane.
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