Four-Quadrant Coordinate Plane Worksheets
Free printable four-quadrant coordinate plane worksheets: points with negative coordinates, quadrants and distances, two grids a sheet, with a key.
Each sheet draws two coordinate grids from -6 to 6 on both axes, with six lettered points spread across the quadrants. Four questions sit beside each grid, one of each kind: the coordinates of a point, which point is at a given pair, the distance between two points, and which quadrant a point is in.
The quadrant question is about signs. Quadrant I is where both coordinates are positive, and the numbering runs anticlockwise: II has a negative x, III has both negative, IV a negative y. No point sits on an axis or one line from it, so every point is clearly inside one quadrant and its letter never covers the axis numbers.
Distances are asked only between points that share a coordinate, and two such points can be on opposite sides of an axis. From (-3, 4) to (5, 4) is 8 units: 3 to the y-axis and 5 beyond it, which is adding absolute values. No question asks a student to plot a point.
What this worksheet covers
- Read and name points with negative coordinates
- Identify the quadrant of a point from the signs of its coordinates
- Find the distance between points that share a coordinate
Common Core standards
- 6.NS.C.6b Understand the signs of the numbers in an ordered pair as showing which quadrant a point is in.
- 6.NS.C.8 Solve problems on the coordinate plane, using coordinates and absolute value to find the distance between points that share a coordinate.
Frequently asked questions
How do you know which quadrant a point is in?
Look at the signs. Both positive is quadrant I; negative x and positive y is II; both negative is III; positive x and negative y is IV. The quadrants are numbered anticlockwise starting from the top right.
How do you find a distance that crosses an axis?
Add the two distances to the axis. From (-3, 4) to (5, 4), the first point is 3 from the y-axis and the second is 5, so they are 8 apart. That is the same as adding the absolute values of -3 and 5.
Why does the grid stop at 6?
So that every line can be labelled and still be read on a half page. A grid from -10 to 10 needs numbers on every other line, and a point on an unlabelled line has to be counted to rather than read.
What grade learns the four-quadrant coordinate plane?
Sixth grade: points with negative coordinates, what the signs say about the quadrant, and distances between points that share a coordinate. Fifth grade works in the first quadrant only, which Coordinate Plane Worksheets covers.