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Lesson · Grade 7 · Mathematics

The Four Quadrants

  • Grade 7
  • Mathematics
  • 1 min 2 s
  • British Columbia
  • BC7-MA-55

The x-axis and y-axis cross at the origin and cut the grid into four quadrants, numbered I to IV counterclockwise from the top right, each with its own pair of signs: (+, +), (−, +), (−, −) and (+, −). The worked example plots (−3, 2) by going left 3 and up 2, lands it in the second quadrant, and checks that its signs (−, +) match, ending on the recap that the signs of x and y tell you the quadrant.

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In one sentence

The question this lesson answers

The x-axis and the y-axis cross at the origin, the point zero, zero.

The two axes cut the grid into four parts called quadrants.

Transcript

What the lesson says

The x-axis and the y-axis cross at the origin, the point zero, zero.

The two axes cut the grid into four parts called quadrants.

Which quadrant is the point negative 3, 2 in?

We number the quadrants counterclockwise, starting at the top right.

x is positive to the right of the y-axis and negative to the left.

y is positive above the x-axis and negative below it.

So each quadrant has its own pair of signs.

In our point, x is negative 3, so go 3 to the left.

y is 2, so go up 2.

The point lands in the second quadrant.

Its signs are negative then positive, just like the second quadrant.

The signs of x and y tell you which quadrant a point is in.

Curriculum

Where this fits

British Columbia, Grade 7

Mathematics, Geometry and measurement: Cartesian coordinates and graphingBC7-MA-55

Previous: Volume of a Cylinder: Base Area Times HeightNext: Plotting a Point with Integer Coordinates

The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.

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