Coordinates Picture

Menu Coordinates Picture 1 Picture 2 Picture 3 Picture 4 Picture 5 Help More
The finished picture

Reveal the hidden picture by plotting the coordinates.

Begin by clicking:

(2, 13)

These coordinates are for the first point. There are 30 points altogether in the picture.

5

10

15

20

5

10

15

Coordinates Picture

Use your mouse to carefully click on the coordinates you can see in the yellow panel.

As you plot more points you will see lines joining the points. The lines will create a picture. Try to guess what the picture is before you complete it.

[Note for teachers: The projectable version of this activity for pupils drawing the pictures on paper is called Graph Picture]

Why am I learning this?

Mathematicians are not the people who find Maths easy; they are the people who enjoy how mystifying, puzzling and hard it is. Are you a mathematician?

Comment recorded on the 24 May 'Starter of the Day' page by Ruth Seward, Hagley Park Sports College:

"Find the starters wonderful; students enjoy them and often want to use the idea generated by the starter in other parts of the lesson. Keep up the good work"

Comment recorded on the 7 April 'Starter of the Day' page by Marta, Rosea:

"Hello! I wanted to comment that these starters always brighten my day. My students and I are very grateful to have access to these resources. Thank you!"

Whose Idea Was This?

Did you enjoy doing this 'Coordinates Picture' activity? Are you curious about who originally came up with this idea in Maths? Discover more about one of the mathematicians who is associated with this concept.

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If you found this activity useful don't forget to record it in your scheme of work or learning management system. The short URL, ready to be copied and pasted, is as follows:

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Tuesday, June 21, 2022

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https://www.Transum.org/go/?Num=887

Description of Levels

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Coordinates - Learn to read coordinates.

Coordinate Plotter - Learn to plot coordinates.

Level 1 - Nice with chips (30 points)

Level 2 - Strong and heavy (57 points)

Level 3 - Coordinates training (67 points)

Level 4 - Elvish elder (70 points)

Level 5 - Happy hopper (101 points)

Level 6 - Easter Bunny (40 points)

Christmas Picture - A bonus picture just for Christmas.

More on Coordinates including lesson Starters, visual aids, investigations and self-marking exercises.

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

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Curriculum Reference

See the National Curriculum page for links to related online activities and resources.

Example

Some people have trouble remembering what the two numbers in a set of coordinates represent. The first number is the x-coordinate and tells you how many units you go across to the right (negative numbers move you to the left). The second number tells you how many to move up (negative numbers move you down).

The following saying helps you remember the order of the coordinates:

Along the corridor then up the stairs.

Along the corridor then up the stairs

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

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