Water for Schools
Menu

Classroom activity Grade 5 Health & Consumer Science

Alder Grove PE Water Log: A Grade 5 Coordinate Graphing Activity

Groups plot a fictional class's bottle readings as coordinate pairs of minutes and ounces, then compare how fast two water bottles emptied during one PE period.

Objectives

  1. Students will plot ordered pairs of minutes and ounces in the first quadrant of a coordinate grid.
  2. Students will interpret a plotted point as a bottle reading at a given minute of class.
  3. Students will compare two bottles by finding the ounces used over the same time span.

Vocabulary

Key words: ordered pair, x-axis, y-axis, ounce

Teacher overview

This is a small-group graphing activity for groups of three or four, built around a fictional log from a PE class at Alder Grove Elementary in which students checked the level in their water bottles every ten minutes. Each group receives one bottle's readings as ordered pairs, plots them on a coordinate grid with minutes on the horizontal axis and ounces of water left on the vertical axis, and then reads its own graph to answer questions about how the bottle emptied. The plotted points carry the information the questions ask about, because their shape shows when a student was drinking and when the bottle sat untouched.

Activity Directions

Setup (before class): Print one bottle log card per group from the table at the end of these directions, giving neighboring groups different cards, and draw or project a first-quadrant grid with the horizontal axis labeled in minutes from 0 to 40 and the vertical axis labeled in ounces from 0 to 32, counting by 4. Arrange desks for groups of three or four.

  1. Launch (5 min): Tell the class that a PE teacher asked students to check their bottles every ten minutes and write down how many ounces were left. Ask how a graph of those readings could show who was drinking steadily and who was not. Take two or three responses without correcting them.
  2. Model one point (8 min): On the projected grid, plot the ordered pair (10, 20) and say aloud what it means: at minute 10, the bottle had 20 ounces left. Plot a second point, (20, 18), and ask the class how many ounces were used between the two readings. Establish the rule that the first number always names the minute and the second number always names the ounces.
  3. Group plotting (12 min): Give each group its log card, one sheet of graph paper, and a ruler. Groups label both axes, plot all the points on their card in one color, and connect them lightly in order. Each group writes one sentence under the graph naming the ten-minute stretch in which the bottle lost the most water.
  4. Gallery walk (5 min): Groups leave their graphs on their desks and rotate once to the right. Each group studies the neighboring graph for two minutes and writes one question about it on a sticky note.
  5. Handout questions (7 min): Students return to their seats and complete the nine questions on the student handout individually, using the plotted points.
  6. Debrief (3 min): Ask two groups to report the ten-minute stretch in which their bottle lost the most water, then ask the class what a flat stretch on a graph would mean about drinking during that part of class. The activity ends when both groups have reported and the graphs are collected.

Bottle log cards (fictional readings, as minutes and ounces left):

Card Readings Largest ten-minute drop (teacher only)
Bottle C (0, 28), (10, 26), (20, 18), (30, 15), (40, 12) Minute 10 to 20, 8 ounces
Bottle D (0, 32), (10, 24), (20, 21), (30, 19), (40, 16) Minute 0 to 10, 8 ounces
Bottle E (0, 20), (10, 18), (20, 18), (30, 11), (40, 8) Minute 20 to 30, 7 ounces
Bottle F (0, 24), (10, 22), (20, 20), (30, 19), (40, 10) Minute 30 to 40, 9 ounces
Bottle G (0, 26), (10, 21), (20, 19), (30, 17), (40, 14) Minute 0 to 10, 5 ounces
Bottle H (0, 16), (10, 14), (20, 8), (30, 8), (40, 6) Minute 10 to 20, 6 ounces
Alder Grove PE Water Log: A Grade 5 Coordinate Graphing Activity — Grade 5 Health & Consumer Science
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Handout

The Alder Grove PE class described here is fictional. On your grid, the first number in each pair is the minute and the second number is the ounces of water left in the bottle.

  1. Plot Bottle A's readings: (0, 24), (10, 20), (20, 15), (30, 9), and (40, 4). How many ounces were left at minute 20?
  2. Bottle A held 24 ounces at minute 0 and 20 ounces at minute 10. How many ounces were used during those 10 minutes?
  3. Bottle A held 15 ounces at minute 20 and 9 ounces at minute 30. How many ounces were used during those 10 minutes?
  4. One stretch took Bottle A from 24 ounces down to 20 ounces. Another took it from 15 ounces down to 9 ounces. Which stretch used more water?
  5. Bottle A started with 24 ounces and had 4 ounces left at minute 40. How many ounces were used in all?
  6. Now plot Bottle B's readings in a second color: (0, 32), (20, 24), and (40, 16). How many ounces were left at minute 40?
  7. Bottle B held 32 ounces at minute 0 and 16 ounces at minute 40. How many ounces were used in all?
  8. Bottle A used 20 ounces during the class and Bottle B used 16 ounces. How many more ounces did Bottle A use?
  9. Write one sentence explaining what the point (30, 9) tells you about Bottle A.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: 15 ounces. The point (20, 15) sits above minute 20 and across from 15 ounces.
  2. Answer: 4 ounces. Subtract the readings: 24 - 20 = 4.
  3. Answer: 6 ounces. Subtract the readings: 15 - 9 = 6.
  4. Answer: The stretch from 15 ounces to 9 ounces. That stretch used 6 ounces, while the other used 4 ounces.
  5. Answer: 20 ounces. Subtract the last reading from the first: 24 - 4 = 20.
  6. Answer: 16 ounces. The point (40, 16) sits above minute 40 and across from 16 ounces.
  7. Answer: 16 ounces. Subtract the last reading from the first: 32 - 16 = 16.
  8. Answer: 4 ounces. Subtract the two totals: 20 - 16 = 4.
  9. Answer: At minute 30 of class, Bottle A still had 9 ounces of water left in it. Accept any sentence that names both the minute and the ounces.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students graph paper with both axes already labeled and the first two points already plotted, so the work begins with reading rather than setting up. Pair them with a partner who states each ordered pair aloud while they place the point, and allow a highlighter to trace from the axis to the point.

Extension

Ask students to write a third bottle's readings for minutes 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 so that the bottle uses exactly 18 ounces during the class and empties fastest in the last ten minutes. Students should plot the points and explain how the shape of their graph shows the fast stretch.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "ordered pair," "x-axis," and "y-axis" by labeling a large grid with word cards, and demonstrate the phrase "over first, then up." Post the sentence frame "At minute ____, the bottle had ____ ounces left," and allow students to answer question 9 orally before writing it.

Extensions

Students can collect their own bottle readings during one PE period, plot them on the same style of grid, and compare their graph with Bottle A and Bottle B. A class chart of everyone's total ounces used gives a follow-up conversation about drinking steadily rather than all at once.