CeliaMacDougall

February16,2015
Chapter21:DevelopingConceptsofDataAnalysis

Statisticalliteracyiscriticaltounderstandingtheworldaroundus.Wearebombarded
withgraphsandstatisticsinpublicareassuchasadvertisements,newspapers,opinionpolls,
populationtrends,etc.Weoftenseestatementssuchas8.6percentofCanadianssufferfrom
asthmaandeachCanadianadultconsumesanaverageof190eggsperyear.Datacanoftenbe
presentedinawaythatexaggeratesthefindings,eveninreliablesourcesthusstudentsshouldbe
abletoanalyzeandinterpretthedatatheyarepresentedwithandunderstandtheactualfindings.
Oncestudentshaveanunderstandingofthedatatheycanaskquestionssuchas:Howwasthis
datacollected?Whatwasthepurpose?Isittrustworthy?Fromthesequestionsstudentscanmake
theirownmeaningoftheresults/data.

Attheprimarylevels,studentscanbeginthisunderstandingbylearninghowdatacanbe
categorizedanddisplayedinvariousgraphicalforms.Byupperelementary,studentsshouldbe
abletocollectandorganizesetsofdataaswellasrepresentthedatainavarietyofways.
Examplesinclude:frequencytables,bargraphs,lineplotsandpicturegraphs.Astheymaturein
theirthinking,otherareascanbeintroducedsuchas:dotplots,histograms,boxplots,scatter
plots,andstemandleafplots.Studentsshouldalsobeexposedtoandlearnaboutstatistical
measuresofcentre(mean,median,andmode)andmeasureofvariability.

ConnectionsBetweenStatisticsandOtherAreasofMath
NumberSense:Askquestionssuchas,whatpetsdoyouhaveathome?Createagraphtotalk
aboutquantity.
Algebra:Algebraisusedtoanalyzeanddescriberelationships.Whenusingtwovariables,
algebraallowsyoutomaketheconnectionbetweenthetwo.Theserelationshipscanbeusedto
makepredictionsaboutdatathathasyettobecollected.
ProportionalReasoning:Whenapopulationissampled(asubsetselected),thatsampleis
assumedtobeproportionaltothelargerpopulation.
Measurement:Studentsmakemeasurementstogatherdataandanswerrealworldquestions.

Forstudentstobeengagedmeaningfullyinlearninganddoingstatistics,theyshouldbe
involvedinthefullprocess,fromaskinganddefiningquestionstointerpretingresults.When
studentsformulatethequestionsforthemselves,thedatatheygatherbecomemoremeaningful.
Thedatacollectedcouldbeeithercategoricalornumerical.Categoricaldataisqualitativeand
canbenominalorordinal.Numericaldataisquantitativeandcanbeeithercontinuousor
discrete.Classificationinvolvesmakingdecisionsabouthowtocategorizethings.

TheProcessofDoingStatistics
1) FormulateQuestions
a) Clarifytheproblemathand
b) Formulateone(ormore)questionsthatcanbeansweredwithdata
2) CollectData
a) Designaplantocollectappropriatedata
b) Employtheplantocollectthedata
3) AnalyzetheData
a) Selectappropriategraphicalandnumericalmethods
b) Usethemethodstoanalyzethedata
4) InterpretResults
a) Interprettheanalysis
b) Relatetheinterpretationtotheoriginalquestion

Grade5Mathematics

NBCurriculumOutcomes

GCO:StatisticsandProbability:Collect,
displayandanalyzedatatosolveproblems.

SCO:SP2:Constructandinterpretdoublebar
graphstodrawconclusions[C,PS,R,T,V].

NCTMStandards

1)Designinvestigationstoaddressaquestion
andconsiderhowdatacollectionmethods
affectthenatureofthedataset.

2)Collectdatausingobservations,surveys,
andexperiments.
3)Representdatausingtablesandgraphs
suchaslineplots,bargraphs,andlinegraphs.

Materials
M&Ms(onepackageperstudent),M&Mworksheets,connectingcubes,graphpaper,learning
carpet,labelsforthecarpet(oneperstudent),sportlabels,andmathjournals

Purpose
Thepurposeofthislessonisforstudentstolearntoaskmeaningfulquestions,develop
methodstocollectdata,presentthedataintheformofabargraph,andfinallytocommunicate
theirresultsinanauthenticway.

Procedure:Activity1

WhattheTeacherDoes

1)Asksquestionstoactivateprior
knowledgesuchas:
Whatisabargraph?
Whenisanappropriatetimetousea
bargraph?(giveexample)
Whatkindofinformationcanwe
gatherfromusingabargraph?

Usetheinformationprovidedtoaddressgaps
inpriorknowledgethroughoutthelessonor
adjustasnecessary.

WhattheStudentsDo

1)Discussanswersattheirtablegroupsand
thenengageinaclassdiscussion.

2)Theclasswillnowcreateabargraph
togetherontheLearningCarpet.Askthe
questions:
Whatisyourfavoritesport?
Howwillwelabelourgraph?

Iftheyarestrugglingusepromptssuchas:

Encouragestudentstoonlychoose46ofthe
popularoptionsandthenincludeanother
category.Doweneedatitle?Whatabout
labellingtheaxes?

3)Askquestionssuchas:
Whatisthemostpopularsport?
Whatistheleastpopularsport?
Howmanypeopleliked_____and
_____?
Howmanymorepeopleliked____
than____?
Howmanylesspeopleliked____than
____?

4)Askstudentshowwecouldgetmore
specificdata?
Howwouldwegraphthisifwe
wantedtocomparetheboysfavorite
sportstothegirlsfavoritesports?

Introducethedoublebargraphtocomparethe
boystothegirlssportpreferences.
Constructthedoublebargraphonthe
learningcarpet.

2)Discussasagrouphowmanyoptionsto
includeandwhatoptionstouse,example:
soccer,hockey,basketball,football,other

Theywillthenputtheirpersonaltaginthe
respectivecategory.

Theyshouldthenlabeltheirgraph(title,
xaxis,yaxis,categories,scale).

Ingroupsof2,constructabargraphofthe
informationoutofconnectingcubes.

3)Discussquestionswithpartnerandthen
writetheirconclusionsintheirjournals.Can
refertotheirconnectingcubesbargraphonce
returnedtotheirplace.

4)Discussinsmallgroupsandpropose
answerstobeginadiscussion.

Helpconstructthedoublebargraphonthe
learningcarpet.
Reconstructthegraphusingconnecting
cubes.

Procedure:Activity2

WhattheTeacherDoes
1)Explainactivity,andpassoutnecessary
materials.

Circulateandmonitorprogress.

WhattheStudentsDo
1)OpenM&Msandsortthembycolouron
theirhandout(pagewithcircles).

Oncetheyhavesortedandrecordedthe
numberofM&Mstheywilltransferthis

Promptwhenneededandcheckfor
understanding.

2)Directstudentsintopairsoncestep1is
completed.Theywillcomparegraphsthen
createadoublebargraphtogether.
Encouragethemtodrawtheirown
conclusionsbetweenthetwoversions.
Ifnecessary,promptthemwithquestions
suchas:
Areyourbargraphsthesame?Whyor
whynot?
WhohadmoreredM&Ms?How
manymore?
HowmanytotalblueM&Msdidyou
havebetweenyouandyourpartner?
HowmanyM&Mswerethereintotal?
Howdoyouknow?

informationontoabargraph(handout2)and
colorintheirgraphbasedontheM&M
colours.

Studentsmustfillinthemissinginformation
title
xaxis,yaxis
categories(colors)

2)Findapartner,compareanddiscuss
graphs.Lookforsimilaritiesanddifferences
andrecordtheirfindingsintheirmath
journals.

Thencreateonebargraphthatcontainsboth
setsofdata(doublebargraph).

Differentiation

Enrichment
Toenrichthislessonstudentscouldcreate
theirown(higherorderthinking)questions
abouttheirM&Ms.
Studentscouldlookupavarietyofbargraphs
fromsourcessuchasnewspapers,theinternet,
magazinesetcandcritiquethebargraphsand
drawconclusions.
Studentscouldcreatetheirownbargraph,
theywouldhavetoformulatetheirown
question,collectdata,graphthedata,analyze,
anddrawconclusions.

Intervention/Remediation
Forstudentswhostrugglewiththelesson
theycouldgoovertheinitialbargraphthat
wascreatedasaclasstoreviewthenecessary
steps.Theycouldthenexplainbacktothe
teacheroranotherstudentwhatneedstobe
includedandhowtoincludethenecessary
parts.Thenexplaintheuseofadoublebar
graph.
TheycouldusefewerM&MsinActivity2so
thattheresultsareclearer.
Theycouldbegivenquestionsratherthan
comingupwiththeirownforActivity2.

FormativeAssessment

TeacherAssessment
Observestudentsduringthegroupdiscussion
(Activity1)andtheanswerstheyprovided
andthegraphtheyrecreatedfromconnecting
cubes.Aswellastheanswerstheyprovided
whileintheirpartnerworkofactivity2.

Takenoteoftheirmathjournalsandhowthey
respondedtoquestions.(Makenoteofany
commonmistakestoberetaught).
TeacherEvaluationFormbelow

StudentSelfAssessment

Havestudentscompleteaselfassessment.
Theywillrankthemselvesona14scale
basedontheirunderstandingofthelesson.

Seeattachedstudentselfevaluationform
belowtheteacherform.

TeacherRubric
Date

Name

Comments

Theyvegotit!
Studentdemonstratesaclear
understandingofmaterial

Theyreontarget!
Studentdemonstratesan
understandingwithafew
prompts.

Theyrenotthereyet!

Studentdoesnotdemonstrate
aclearunderstanding.Needs
additionalsupports.

StudentRubric

1Imanexpert.Iunderstanditwell,andIcouldthoroughlyteachitsomeoneelse.

2Imapractitioner.Icanmostlydoitbymyself,butsometimesIgetstuck.

3Imanapprentice.ImjuststartingtogetitbutIstillneedsomeonetocoachme
throughit.

4Imanovice.ImjuststartingtolearnthisandIdontreallyunderstandityet.

References
DepartmentofEducation.(2010).NewBrunswickMathematicsGrade3CurriculumGuide.Re
trievedfrom:http://www.gnb.ca/0000/publications/curric/Mathematics_NB_Curricu
lum_Grade_3.pdf
Tice,Jennifer.(2015).RowdyintheFirstGrade.Retrievedfrom:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/MMGraphingActivities190624
VandeWalle,J.,Folk,S.,Karp,K.,BayWilliams,J.,McGarvey,L.M.,&Folk,S.(2015).(4th
Canadianed.).Elementaryandmiddleschoolmathematics:TeachingDevelopmentally.
Toronto,ON:Pearson.

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