What is coordinate graphing?

 

Students in Mr. Leve’s fifth grade math class were working on coordinate graphing this past week.  What is coordinate graphing?  Coordinate graphing is a visual method for showing relationships between numbers on a coordinate grid.  The coordinate grid consists of two perpendicular lines (or axes) that are labeled like number lines, on which points are plotted.  The horizontal axis is the X-axis, and the vertical axis is the Y-axis.  The point where the two axes intersect is called the origin.  The numbers on the coordinate grid are used to locate points that are identified by an ordered pair of numbers; a number on the x-axis called the x-coordinate, and a number on the y-axis called the y-coordinate.  Ordered pairs are written in parentheses and separated by a comma; (x-coordinate, y-coordinate).  The concept of coordinate graphing is similar to the popular Milton Bradley board game Battleship.  Mr. Leve’s students used coordinate graphing to plot and connect points that made a back-to-school picture of Snoopy.