Activity Description Plot ordered pairs of numbers, either as a scatter plot or with the dots connected. Points are connected from right to left, rather than being connected in the order they are entered.

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Simple Plot

Place in mathematics curriculum:

This activity can be used to:

• illustrate the Cartesian coordinate system
• practice students' pattern recognition skills
• practice students' graph reading skills
• illustrate the relationship between graphical and algebraic representations of functions

This applet allows the user to input a series of (x,y) ordered pairs and plot them either as a connected function or unconnected data points. Parameters such as minimum and maximum x value, minimum and maximum y value, and x- and y-scale can be set by the user or determined by the applet. This activity would work well in groups of two to four for about forty-five minutes if you use the exploration questions and twenty minutes otherwise.

Preparations for this activity:

• answer the question "How can I tell if the data has a relationship?"
• discuss the concepts of positive relationships, negative relationships, data collection, etc.