Coordinate Grid Task: Battleship

18 teachers like this lesson

Print Lesson

Objective

The students will be to demonstrate and apply their knowledge of the coordinate grid system in a game of Battleship.

Big Idea

You sunk my battleship!

Lesson Author

Erin Doughty

Grand Rapids, MI

Grade Level

Fifth grade

Subjects

Math

Geometry

Standards

5.G.A.1

Use a pair of perpendicular number lines, called axes, to define a coordinate system, with the intersection of the lines (the origin) arranged to coincide with the 0 on each line and a given point in the plane located by using an ordered pair of numbers, called its coordinates. Understand that the first number indicates how far to travel from the origin in the direction of one axis, and the second number indicates how far to travel in the direction of the second axis, with the convention that the names of the two axes and the coordinates correspond (e.g., x-axis and x-coordinate, y-axis and y-coordinate).

5.G.A.2

Represent real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane, and interpret coordinate values of points in the context of the situation.

MP1

Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

MP4

Model with mathematics.

MP5

Use appropriate tools strategically.

Opener

15 minutes

I've Seen That

In this lesson students will be demonstrating their knowledge of the coordinate grid system by playing Coordinate Grid Battleship with a partner. In this activity students will be able to practice identifying and plotting points in the first quadrant of the coordinate grid system.

To begin I show the students a video of a Hasbro commercial from the 1960’s. I then tell the students of my experience as a kid playing this game and ask them if they have ever played it. I open up the class for a quick group discussion about their experiences with Battleship.

Practice

30 minutes

The Battleship game is an activity that I found on the Illuminations website. I have included a copy of the directions. Basically students will be creating their own battleship board and playing with a partner. Each student needs a piece of graph paper and colored pencils.

I read the directions to the students while displaying them on the document camera. As the students begin setting up their battleship boards I circulate the room and check to make sure they set up the axes correctly on their graph paper.

Closer

15 minutes

To wrap up this activity I have students think about strategies they used while playing this game. I ask them to have a quick conversation with their neighbor about their strategies then I have them write their responses in their math journal. I ask them to write a letter to someone who has not played the game before and offer them strategies for the activity. I have a few students share their written responses.

Previous Lesson

Next Lesson