Unit 1: Coordinates
Planning guidance
Unit objectives
Within this unit, students will learn to:





Plot coordinates in all four quadrants
Apply their knowledge of 2D shapes to coordinate problems
Find the midpoint of a line joining two point
Find an endpoint of a line, given the midpoint and one endpoint
Solve problems using coordinate grids
Students will have worked with coordinates in Key Stage 2 and within the geometry units in Years
7 and 8. The starting point of this unit will vary from class to class and it is left to the teacher to
determine the most suitable entry point for their class. In some cases, a brief recap will suffice;
other classes may need a refresher lesson on the basics of plotting/naming points.
Students are encouraged to develop their problem solving skills and spatial reasoning through
solving a variety of problems involving coordinates. Opportunity is provided to consolidate
knowledge from earlier modules, such as properties of shapes and calculating area and perimeter.
To extend and challenge students further, there are a number of 3D coordinate tasks that could
be used at the end of the topic, but please note that these are entirely optional activities to
support depth and 3D coordinate not part of the KS3 curriculum.
Suggested Structure
The actual number of lessons spent on each section will depend on the individual class and the
number of lessons available to teachers. We suggest a week for this unit, but for schools with 5
lessons a week, this may be too much; schools with fewer lessons may wish to incorporate some
of the activities into the next unit on Linear Graphs.
Section
3 lessons
4 lessons
6 lessons
Coordinates
3
3-4
3-5
During this unit students develop their understanding of the coordinate system by exploring
different problems which offer the chance to consolidate earlier work, such as properties of
shapes.
As well as plotting and describing coordinates, students will look at finding the midpoint of a line
segment. It is important that they explore and investigate their ideas and hypothesise before
deriving a rule or using a formal procedural method. We would suggest starting by looking at
horizontal or vertical lines, so that either the 𝑥 or 𝑦 value remains fixed, before looking at
coordinates in the positive quadrant and extending from there. This also provides an opportunity
to remind students of the mean, since we are finding the mean of two numbers.
The next unit follows directly from this by exploring linear graphs so there will be plenty of
opportunity to practise plotting coordinates and working with coordinate grids.
Copyright © Mathematics Mastery 2015