Coordinate geometry

The programme starts with the situation where a visitor checks the location of a place on a map by referring to the index references to reveal the use of an ordered pair to describe the position of a point on a plane. It also uses a seating plan of a classroom as a daily life example to illustrate that an ordered pair, (x,y), can be used to denote the position of a student. It is highlighted that (x,y) and (y,x) are referring to different positions. The rectangular coordinate system is introduced. Some geometrical properties on a rectangular coordinate plane are explored: a point is located with its coordinates, relation between the coordinates of two points on a straight line, distance between two points, perimeters and areas of simple 2-D rectilinear figures. Through the illustration of the location of a position of an object by a radar system in navigation and the weather forecast of a typhoon, the idea of the polar coordinate system and its representations is introduced. The last part of the programme leads the exploration on the effects on the coordinates of a point under various forms of transformation.