The coordinate plane resembles the following picture.

This grid can be recreated on a sheet of graph paper. Draw the two lines shown above along the blue lines in the center of the graph paper. These lines are called the AXES, and are required to locate all coordinates on the plane. The X-AXIS runs horizontally (across) and the Y-AXIS runs vertically (up & down). They meet at a center point called the ORIGIN.

Each point on the plane consists of two numbers. This set of numbers is called an ORDERED PAIR. An ordered pair is written in the form (x, y). The first number is the X-COORDINATE, which determines how many units you move to the right or left. The second number is the Y-COORDINATE, and it says how far you move up or down the plane. The origin itself has coordinates of (0, 0), as it is the center of the entire plane.

Here are some examples of how to plot points.

EXAMPLE 1: (3, 5)

The x-coordinate is 3. Start at the origin and count 3 UNITS (blue lines) TO THE RIGHT.
The y-coordinate is 5. From where you left off, count 5 UNITS (blue lines) UPWARD.

If you have moved correctly, your point should be located here:

You will see that each axis is a number line. On the x-axis, positive numbers run to the RIGHT and negative numbers run to the LEFT. On the y-axis, positive numbers run UPWARD, and negative numbers run DOWNWARD.

EXAMPLE 2: (-2, 4)

The x-coordinate is -2. Start at the origin and count 2 UNITS TO THE LEFT.
The y-coordinate is 4. From where you left off, count 4 UNITS UPWARD.

Your point should be located here:

EXAMPLE 3: (0, -1)

The x-coordinate is 0. Because of this, you STAY AT THE ORIGIN.
The y-coordinate is -1. From the origin, count 1 UNIT DOWNWARD.

Your point should be located here:

EXAMPLE 4: (6, 0)

The x-coordinate is 6. Start at the origin and count 6 UNITS TO THE RIGHT.
The y-coordinate is 0. Because of this, you STAY WHERE YOU ARE.

Your point should be located here:

A lot of people get the last two examples confused. Note that when only the x-coordinate is 0, you only move vertically, and if only the y-coordinate is 0, you on move horizontally.

For example, one of Sally's shapes consists of the following three points: (-4, 6), (-4, 5), (-3, 5)

When you plot each of these three points in order, and connect them as you go, the finished shape will look like this:

Notice that the shape stays open. You DO NOT connect the last point to the first. The only exception to that rule is if the first point on the list is repeated at the end of the list. Otherwise, leave it as it is.

Also, once you finish a shape, you DO NOT connect the first point on a new shape to the last point of a previous shape. Occasionally, some shapes will connect to each other by themselves because they share common points, but this is the ONLY time a connection will take place.

As a final note, you will also notice that there is a "Level" listed at the top of each page. This is a system designed by Colli to denote the difficulty of the drawing. The higher the number, the more complex the picture. The most difficult picture created to date is a picture of Bambi and friends in the forest. It is a LEVEL 8 drawing, and it requires 4 separate sheets of graph paper cut and taped together with a separate set of coordinates for each page! But the finished picture is phenomenal. I will recreate the picture for any who are interested.