Coordinate Plane Graphing: Mystery Pictures (Gr. 3-5)

Description

In this lesson, students will work collaboratively to graph pictures on a coordinate plane. Each group will plot coordinates that will be used as a connect-the-dots activity and then swapped with another group. The second group must recreate the intended picture from the list of paired coordinates. As part of this project, students will create an attachment for Dash to hold a marker (or use the Sketch Kit, if available) and program Dash to connect each set of paired coordinates in the proper sequence.

Objectives

  • Use the Blockly app to program Dash to draw a line from one set of paired coordinates to another in order to create a picture
  • Use a pair of perpendicular number lines, or axes, to define a coordinate system
  • Use an ordered pair of numbers, or coordinates, to plot a picture
  • Understand that the first number in an ordered pair indicates how far to travel from the origin in the direction of the x-axis, and the second number indicates how far to travel in the direction of the y-axis

Lesson Procedure

  • Class 1: Planning the Coordinates (30 minutes)
  • Class 2: Programming Dash to Draw (30 minutes)


 

Robots and Accessories

Other Supplies

  • 8 1/2 x 11" sheets of graph paper (1 per group)
  • Pencil and pencil eraser (1 per student)
  • Ruler (1 per group)
  • Metric stick (1 per group)
  • Coordinate Swap worksheet
  • Recycled materials (e.g., cardboard sheets and rolls, pipe cleaners, foam packing, sandpaper, tape, rubber bands, paper clips, etc.)
  • Masking tape or washi tape (1 roll per group)
  • Bulletin board paper (1 large sheet per group)
  • Red, blue, and black markers (1 of each per group)
  • [Optional] Sketch Kit accessory (1 per group)
  • [Optional] access to Twitter and Instagram
  • Tablets - See Tablet Compatibility

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