Please note: This site contains links to websites not controlled by the Australian Government or ESA. Read more in the Terms of Use.

reSolve: Location – my place in space

This series of two lessons explores locating points and calculating distances using the Cartesian plane. In the first lesson, students locate and describe points on the Cartesian plane using ordered pairs of coordinates. They then search for squares on a given plane and find the side lengths of the squares. In the second lesson, students find the vertical and horizontal distances between points on a Cartesian plane and use this to solve a problem of finding the best location for a depot for an ice-cream delivery business. The sequence is outlined in detail including curriculum links, vocabulary, materials needed, presentation slides, discussion points and student resources. This sequence is part of the reSolve: Mathematics by Inquiry program.

Additional details
Year level(s)	Year 6
Audience	Teacher
Purpose	Teaching resource
Format	Downloadable resources
Teaching strategies and pedagogical approaches	Mathematics investigation
Keywords	Cartesian coordinates, Cartesian plane
Curriculum alignment
Curriculum connections	Numeracy
Strand and focus	Build understanding, Apply understanding, Measurement
Topics	Position and location
AC: Mathematics (V9.0) content descriptions	AC9M6SP02 Locate points in the 4 quadrants of a Cartesian plane; describe changes to the coordinates when a point is moved to a different position in the plane
Numeracy progression	Positioning and locating (P5) Number and place value (P9)
Copyright details
Organisation	reSolve Maths by Inquiry
Copyright	© Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment 2021. Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.