Algebra I Recipe: Graphing Linear Equations with One Variable

1. x-axis – the horizontal axis
2. y-axis – the vertical axis
3. origin – the point where the x and y axis intersect……(0, 0)
4. quadrants – the four “corners” of the coordinate plane.
• Quadrant I – top right
• Quadrant II – top left
• Quadrant III – bottom left
• Quadrant IV – bottom right
5. positive numbers – numbers to the right of the origin on the x-axis and numbers above the origin on the y-axis.
6. negative numbers – numbers to the left of the origin on the x-axis and numbers below the origin on the y-axis.

1. Move right or left from the origin.
• Right – if the x-value is positive.
• Left – if the x-value is negative.
2. Move up or down from the x-value.
• Up – if the y-value is positive.
• Down – if the y-value is negative.
3. Mark your point after making the two moves.

1. y = c (c being any #) is a horizontal line through the ordered pair (0, c).
• For example, y = -2 is a horizontal line through the ordered pair (0, -2).
2. x = c (c being any #) is a vertical line through the ordered pair (c, 0).
• For example, x = 5 is a vertical line through the ordered pair (5, 0).

Practice Problems