To begin drawing a coordinate plane, you should draw a vertical line and a horizontal line crossing each other. These lines are each called an axis, and the two of them together are called axes. The horizontal line going from side to side is called the "x" axis, while the vertical line going up and down is called the "y" axis. The point at which the x and y axes cross each other is called the "origin." These axes will be the guides to locating specific points in the plane.
Each axis in the coordinate plane is actually a number line. The origin is considered zero for each line. On the x axis, the positive numbers begin from the origin and go up toward the right of the line, with +1 being closest to zero, and +2 to the right of +1. The negative numbers go from the origin to the left of the line, with -1 being closest to zero, and -2 to the left of -1. On the y axis, the positive numbers begin from the origin and move upward, while the negative numbers move down from the origin.
The x and y axes create four separate sections on the plane. Each of these sections is referred to as a quadrant. The quadrants are numbered, and are typically labeled with Roman numerals representing numbers 1 to 4 (I, II, III, IV). Quadrant I is the upper right corner of the graph. Quadrant II is the upper left corner. The lower left corner is quadrant III, and the lower right section is quadrant IV.
Once you have your axes in place, you can find specific points in the plane using a system called ordered pairs. An ordered pair consists of two numbers, the first representing a value on the x axis and the second representing a value on the y axis. For example (4, -6) means that the x value is 4 and the y value is -6. To plot this point, begin at the origin and move across the x axis until you hit 4. Then, move 6 points down to get to -6 on the y axis, making sure to stay lined up with the 4.
When looking at an ordered pair, the signs of the numbers can tell you which quadrant they will be in when plotted. If the values of both x and y are positive, that point is in quadrant I. Points in quadrant II have a negative x but a positive y. Quadrant III consists of points in which both values are negative, while quadrant IV contains points with a positive x but a negative y.