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6th grade · Math · Unit 15 of 17

Four Quadrants

Points with negative coordinates

What your child practices

Plotting and naming points in all four quadrants, reflecting points across an axis, and finding distances and areas on the coordinate plane.

Alaska content standards learning standard: 6.NS.8; 6.G.3; 6.NS.6 · graphing points in all four quadrants and finding the length of a side with a shared coordinate

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Left of 0 is negative x. Below 0 is negative y.
  2. Quadrant I is (+, +), II is (−, +), III is (−, −), IV is (+, −).
  3. Across an axis, one coordinate changes sign.

Example: How far apart are (−3, 2) and (5, 2)? Same y, so count across. 3 to get to 0, then 5 more: 3 + 5. Answer: 8 units

Four Quadrants in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 15 of 17 in 6th grade Math, after Center & Spread and before Unit Rates.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which quadrant is the point (−8, −9) in?

    • Quadrant II
    • Quadrant III
    • Quadrant IV
    • Quadrant I

  2. Question 2

    How far apart are (−5, −1) and (4, −1)?

    • 9
    • 11
    • 1
    • 7

  3. Question 3

    A rectangle has corners (−2, −6), (3, −6), (3, 5) and (−2, 5). What is its area?

    • 58 square units
    • 55 square units
    • 60 square units
    • 53 square units
    • 32 square units

  4. Question 4

    The point (6, 8) is reflected across the y-axis. Where does it land?

    • (6, −8)
    • (−6, 8)
    • (8, 6)
    • (−6, −8)

  5. Question 5

    What are the coordinates of point P?

    -6-6-5-5-4-4-3-3-2-2-1-100112233445566P
    • (3, −2)
    • (−2, −3)
    • (−3, −2)
    • (−3, 2)

  6. Question 6

    How far apart are (3, −2) and (3, 9)?

    • 7
    • 14
    • 11
    • 8

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