The document describes the four quadrants of the Cartesian coordinate plane formed by the intersection of the x-axis and y-axis at right angles. It explains that the center is called the origin (0,0) and the quadrants are labeled counterclockwise as I, II, III, and IV. It provides an example of plotting the ordered pair (3,4) by starting at the origin, moving 3 units right along the x-axis, and then 4 units up along the y-axis.