Locating IIT Using Ordered Pairs
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Diane Yvette Branch Harold Washington Elementary School
9130 So. University
Chicago IL 60619
* To plot and locate ordered pairs in a coordinate plane.
* To understand how to read and create a map.
Illinois State Map
Transparencies of a grid
Plane paper grids
Map of IIT campus
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
Let them discover that they will need at least two numbers to describe their
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.
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.
Students will create a map of their neighborhood on a grid. The map should list
all main locations with their ordered pairs.
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.
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.