Locating IIT Using Ordered Pairs

Diane Yvette Branch            Harold Washington Elementary School
                               9130 So. University
                               Chicago IL  60619
                               (312) 535-6225

Objectives:

(Grade 6)

* To plot and locate ordered pairs in a coordinate plane.

* To understand how to read and create a map.

Materials Needed:

Illinois State Map
Transparencies of a grid
Plane paper grids
Ruler
Unlined paper
Pencils
Map of IIT campus
Overhead projector

Strategy:

Activity I

This activity is best performed if students are seated in rows and seats. 

Given a starting point, have each student tell where they are seated.  They 
are to describe their location from a given starting point without using 
numbers.

Let them discover that they will need at least two numbers to describe their 
location.

The teacher will plot each child's location on the blackboard.  While 
introducing what a grid is, the teacher will describe the horizontal and 
vertical axes.  The teacher will substitute these names with rows and seats.

Teacher will display a map of a town or city.  Discuss how to find locations.  
Point out that the map is on a grid.  Ask students: "What are the four main 
directions?  How is the map divided? Why?" and "How can you find a location?"

Students will be given a map of Illinois and asked to identify locations, given 
only the ordered pairs. 

Students will be given street locations of the map of Chicago and asked to plot 
the ordered pairs on a coordinate grid.


Activity II

Students will create a map of IIT campus, listing the buildings and their 
corresponding coordinate pairs.  They will create this map using a ruler, plain 
paper, and a transparency grid. 

Performance Assessment:

Students will create a map of their neighborhood on a grid.  The map should list 
all main locations with their ordered pairs. 

Conclusions:

Students will understand that the order in an ordered pair refers to directions 
from the starting point.  Students will know that a map is on a grid and grids 
make it easier to give and follow directions. 
    
Reference: 

Burton, Grace M., Hopkins, Martha H., Johnson, Howard C., Kaplan, Jerome D., 
Kennedy, Leonard M., and Schultz, Karen A.: Mathematics Plus HBJ Teacher's 
Edition Grade 6: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. 1992.