Today I was looking through some student work I still have from over 6 years ago on Cartesian Cartoons. If this is an activity you haven't done before with your students, you don't know what you're missing! To get just a taste, give this one a try:
Graph the following sets of points, connecting each new point to the previous one as you go. When starting a new set, it does not connect to the last point on the previous set. Set 1: (3,12), (4,13), (10,13), (11,12), (11,4), (10,3), (4,3), (3,4), (3,12). Set 2: (5,11), (6,11), (6,9), (5,9), (5,11). Set 3: (8,11), (9,11), (9,9), (8,9), (8,11). Set 4: (4,6), (5,5), (9,5), (10,6), (4,6). Just for fun, color your design!
Now that you know how to do a Cartesian Cartoon, the next step (obviously...) is to make your own set of points for someone else to graph. Draw out your design on grid paper, keeping track of the coordinates of each point and how your points connect, then give it to someone else and see what they come up with. Who knew coordinate graphing could be so much fun?! :)
For more fun with coordinate graphing, see http://www.worksheetworks.com/math/geometry/graphing.html.
