Coordinate PLANES: Have your Algebra Class Make Paper Airplanes from Graphing Linear Equations!

​Graph it.... Fold it... FLY it!

Next time you have one of those bonus fun days (like the day before a long break, or the last day of class), enjoy this purposeful review of graphing lines instead of just wasting it as a "throwaway" class day.

Let your students make paper airPLANES out of coordinate PLANES!

If they graph all the lines correctly, their page will fold up into a paper airplane.

This idea has a lot of possibilities for adding variations.  The most basic way is to just have them graph the lines straight from slope-intercept form, but one of my variations has kids graph certain lines, then reflect them across an axis to get a little practice working with reflections too.  Another version to try is one where they have to manipulate the equation first to get it into slope intercept form, then graph it. There are a lot of ways you can switch this up. I also built one for younger students based on just plotting points, so they can try this even if they don't understand slope-intercept form yet.

​To extend the fun (and the math) a little further, you can even have a little paper airplane flying contest afterward. If you have time, this could be a great follow-up, and you can plot / track the distances as well, depending on your grade level.

This little video shows how it works:

This set is for working with linear equations for grades 7 and up, and this set is for working with plotting points on the coordinate plane for grades 5-7.

P.S. - Here are some other fun algebra ideas you might like: