1. USING THE GRAPHING TOOLS
QUICK GUIDE
USING THE GRAPHING TOOLS

2. CHECK OUT THIS DEMO
Go to:
Note: yourEconPortal.com will be retiring in Fall We’ll make sure a graphing demo is on the LaunchPad Works site.
YourEconPortal.com

3. REVIEWING THE BASICS
Toolbar
Legend
Graphing Plane

4. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
These elements are present each time a graphing question loads:
Question text
Toolbar
Snapping checkbox
Erase All button
Graphing plane
Legend
Coordinate reporter
Point reporter
Slope reporter

5. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Question text: All of the information you are given to answer the graphing question appears above the graph. This content may include tables and images.

6. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Toolbar: The set of tools made available for each question are shown in the toolbar.

7. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Toolbar: In most cases, only a some of the tools will be presented. However, the copy tool and the erase tool are always available.

8. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Toolbar: You can roll over each element to reveal the name of that tool.

9. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Snapping checkbox:
If allowed for each question, you can turn snapping on and off. When on, snapping will make plotting points easier. It will force plotted points to be placed at the intersection of gray grid lines.

10. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Erase All button:
This will remove all items you have added to the graph. If elements were on the graph when the question was loaded, the Erase All button usually will not remove these given elements.

11. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Graphing plane: Students will plot elements on the graph to answer the question. Some questions may have elements already on the graph. The graphing plane may include grid lines when the student needs to plot specific values. In some cases, the graphing plane will be blank.

12. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Legend: In order to correctly answer EACH question, items (curves, drop lines, etc.) MUST be labeled by selecting the appropriate element from the legend.

13. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Legend: The legend will appear to the right of the graph.

14. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Legend: When an unlabeled item is selected, a radio button will appear next to each item in the legend that hasn't already been used to label something on the graph.
Note: A yellow halo around an element indicates that it's selected

15. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Legend: Clicking on a radio button changes the color of the selected element in the graph to that color.
Note: Only one element on the graph can be assigned to an item in the legend with the exception of “Unselected”.

16. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Legend: The question may include distractors in the legend. These will include labels for extra items that the student will not need to draw or plot in order to answer the question.
For example: if the question asks the student to identify either a shift in supply or demand. In this case, both labels will be available.

17. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Legend: To help identify which elements in the graph are assigned to an item in the legend, rolling the cursor over an element in the graph will display a yellow box around the corresponding label in the legend.

18. ANSWERING THE QUESTION
Coordinate reporter:
The position of the cursor on the graph is reported above the graph on the left.
Point reporter:
When rolling over a point, the location of that point is displayed above the graph on the right.
Slope reporter:
When rolling over a 2-point line or infinite line, the slope is reported above the graph to the right, just above the point reporter.

19. USING THE GRAPHING TOOLS
General Instructions:
Select the appropriate graphing tool on the tool palette.
Use your mouse to position the point where you want to begin drawing the element.
Click within the graphing plane to start drawing.

20. USING THE GRAPHING TOOLS
General Instructions:
Move your mouse to the location of the next point on the element and click to plot that point.
Repeat as needed for each element.

21. USING THE GRAPHING TOOLS
General Instructions:
After you have drawn the element, you can move it, resize or reshape it, copy it, or delete it.
Click Erase All on the tool palette to delete everything and start again.
Note: Be sure to label all elements.

22. USING THE GRAPHING TOOLS
The graphing tools available include the following:
Select
Line
Multi-point Line
3-pt Curve
Point
Drop Lines: Including Double Drop Line, Vertical Drop Line and Horizontal Drop Line
Infinite Line
Area tools: including Quadrilateral and Triangle
Copy
Erase

23. USING THE GRAPHING TOOLS
Select:
When active, this tool allows you to select any element on the graph.

24. THE GRAPHING TOOLS Line:
This deploys a straight line that terminates at the endpoints that you plot.
Draw the straight line by plotting one point and then plotting the next endpoint.
Remember: You can move any element after you have drawn it.

25. THE GRAPHING TOOLS Multi-point Line:
This tool allows the plotting of multiple points that are connected by straight lines.
Plot each required point to create this multi-point line.

26. THE GRAPHING TOOLS 3-pt Curve:
This tool can be used to plot curves with three points. This tool may be used in only selected chapters.

27. THE GRAPHING TOOLS Point:
A single point can be plotted using this tool.

28. THE GRAPHING TOOLS Double Drop Line:
This tool can be used to create dashed lines that extend to both the x- and y-axis.
Note: Optional x- and y-axis labels may appear after you have drawn these drop lines.

29. THE GRAPHING TOOLS Vertical Drop Line:
This tool can be used to create dashed lines that extend to the x-axis.
Note: Optional x- and y-axis labels may appear after you have drawn these drop lines.

30. THE GRAPHING TOOLS Horizontal Drop Line:
This tool can be used to create dashed lines that extend to the y-axis.
Note: Optional x- and y-axis labels may appear after you have drawn these drop lines.

31. THE GRAPHING TOOLS Infinite Line:
This tool is similar to the 2-pt line tool, but the line extends beyond the two points that define it.
Use this tool when directed within the question text.
Note: In questions where specific coordinates are not required, the infinite line tool is evaluated by its slope and position (not based on the location of the two points that define it).

32. THE GRAPHING TOOLS Quadrilateral:
This tool allows the plotting of 4 points to define a quadrilateral. You can use this tool to plot areas.
Triangle:
This tool allows the plotting of 3 points to define a triangle. You can use this tool to plot areas.

33. THE GRAPHING TOOLS Copy:
When this tool is selected, clicking on an element in the graph creates a duplicate, unlabeled element directly on top of the one that was clicked. You can then move the copied element to the correct position.
Note: This tool can be used to shift curves. The copied curve will have the same slope as the original curve.

34. THE GRAPHING TOOLS Erase:
When this tool is selected, clicking on an element removes it from the graph.
Note: Some given elements on the graph cannot be removed.

35. AFTER SUBMITTING
After submitting an answer, the following elements may be available to students in the form of feedback:
Graphical feedback
Answer graph
Text feedback

36. AFTER SUBMITTING
Graphical feedback: Green checkmarks and red Xs indicate which elements are correct and incorrect on the graph you drew.

37. AFTER SUBMITTING
Graphical feedback: If you have labeled an element on the graph with a distractor in the legend, a gray question mark will appear next to that element.

38. AFTER SUBMITTING
Answer graph: A graph displaying a correct answer will appear to the right of the graph you drew or modified. You will not be able to alter the elements shown in this answer graph.

39. AFTER SUBMITTING
Text feedback: Below the graph you drew or modified, detailed text feedback is provided. You may be directed to a section of the textbook to go to for further review of the concepts covered in that graphing question.