Graphing Linear Inequalities Graphic Organizer

I created this graphing linear inequalities graphic organizer for my Algebra 1 students to glue in their interactive notebooks.

I’ve basically thrown the textbook the rest of the way out the window.  Last semester, I tried to present Algebra 1 concepts in the same order as the textbook even though my students were not using the textbook. 

I didn’t do such a good job of that.  The textbook order just didn’t make sense when I looked at what my students needed.  After finishing our unit on linear equations, I chose to temporarily skip over linear inequalities and systems of linear equations. 

When we returned from Christmas Break, we dove head first into exponents.  That unit was followed by polynomials.  We graphed absolute value equations.  And, my students loved them.  Absolute value was followed by linear inequalities. 

I taught my Algebra 2 students to shade inequalities by testing points.  It was a natural way for me to teach it because that is how I remember learning.  But, it failed for my students. 

I modified my instruction away from testing points, and I like the end result a lot better. 

For inequalities that can be solved for y, I taught students to shade their graphs according to the inequality symbol.  If the inequality says “y is less than,” that means we want to shade the y-axis where it is “less than” our graph. 

This translates to shading the part of the graph that includes the y-axis below the graph. 

If the inequality says “y is greater than,” that means we want to shade the y-axis where it is “greater than” our graph. 

This translates to shading the part of the graph that includes the y-axis above the graph. 

A similar explanation can be used for vertical lines, but I neglected to include it on the graphic organizer that we glued in our interactive notebooks. 

I surveyed my students about postponing this unit until several months after finishing our unit on linear equations.  I asked them if they whether they liked the placement of this unit or if they would have preferred to have covered this when initially learning to graph linear equations. 

I believe the consensus of the class was that they thought it was beneficial that we waited.  And, I agree.  Postponing this unit allowed me time to spend an entire week on solving literal equations. 

This helped beef up our skills to allow us to quickly and accurately convert an equation into slope-intercept form. 

Alternate Version with Test Points

I created this graphing inequalities graphic organizer for my Algebra 1 students to glue in their interactive notebooks. I had my students test a point on one side of the line in order to determine which way the inequality is shaded.

Graphing Inequalities Graphic Organizer by Testing Points – 2013 Edition (PDF) (1053 downloads )

Graphing Inequalities Graphic Organizer by Testing Points – 2013 Edition (Editable Publisher File ZIP) (945 downloads )

Updated Version of Graphic Organizer with Test Points

Graphing Linear Inequalities Graphic Organizer with Test Points 1718 (PDF) (1218 downloads )

Graphing Linear Inequalities Graphic Organizer with Test Points 1718 (Editable Publisher File ZIP) (870 downloads )

Updated Version with Shade Above/Shade Below Instructions

Step 1: Rearrange the equation into slope-intercept form.

Step 2: Use the slope and y-intercept to create a graph.

Step 3: Determine whether you should use a solid line or broken line.

Step 4: Determine which way the graph should be shaded.

Graphing Linear Inequalities Graphic Organizer 1617 (PDF) (999 downloads )

Graphing Linear Inequalities Graphic Organizer 1617 (Editable Publisher File ZIP) (825 downloads )