SEAMEO

Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization

Seameo Regional Centre for QITEP in Mathematics

Southeast Asian Minister of Education Organization

SEAMEO Regional Centre for QITEP in Mathematics

CHANCE AND DATA

By
PMRI Team
(Sitti Maesurri Patahuddin, S.Pd., M.Pd., Ph.D.)

Used for Course on Enhancing Mathematics Learning

In Primary School using Southeast Asia
Realistic Mathematics Education
28 February 27 March 2010

Chance and Data

FOREWORD
Praise to the Lord God Almighty for His Blessing and Mercies so that we can
accomplish the writing of this learning material for course on Enhanching Mathematics
Learning for Primary School Using Southeast Asia Realistic Mathematics Education (SEA
RME). Hopefully this book brings a lot of benefits to you and meets your need to enhance
the primary education quality especially in Mathematics.
SEAMEO Regional Centre for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education
Personnel (QITEP) in Mathematics is one of organizations under SEAMEO which has
commitment to improve the quality of Mathematics teachers and education personnel in
Southeast Asia. To actualize its goals, SEAMEO for QITEP in Mathematics conducts a
course by the title Enhancing Mathematics Learning in Primary School Using Southeast Asia
Realistic Mathematics Education (SEA RME). To prepare implementation of this course, the
Centre facilitates instructors or facilitators of the course to write the learning materials. The
Centre thanks to all authors and those who give contribution in writing learning materials for
the course.
This book consists of SEA RME learning materials which can be used to support the
course. We expect it can enhance the primary school matematics teachers competence in
developing, implementing, and participating in SEA RME.
We realize that this book has not perfect yet due to our shortcoming. Therefore, we
invite the reader to give some critics and suggestions for the improvement of the book. Please
send the comments to qitepinmath@yahoo.com. Finally, we would like to thanks all who
have helped us to accomplish this book.

Acting Director,

Herry Sukarman, MSc.Ed.

ii

Chance and Data

CONTENTS

Foreword ...........................................................................................................................ii
Contents............................................................................................................................ iii

DATA INVESTIGATION
I.

Introduction.................................................................................................................1

II. Objective.................................................................................................................... 2
III. Mathematics Highlight............................................................................................... 2
IV. Activity 1.................................................................................................................... 3
V. Discussion...................................................................................................................3
VI. References...................................................................................................................4
VII. Worksheed.................................................................................................................. 5

MEAN, MEDIAN, and MODE

I.

Introduction.................................................................................................................6

II. Objectives................................................................................................................... 6
III. Activitiy 2................................................................................................................... 6
IV. Activity 3.................................................................................................................... 7
V. References.................................................................................................................. 8
VI. Appendixes
Problem 1..................................................................................................................10
Problem 2................................................................................................................. 11
Problem 3..................................................................................................................12
Problem 4.................................................................................................................. 13
Problem 5..................................................................................................................14
Problem 6.................................................................................................................. 15
References.................................................................................................................16

iii

Chance and Data

iv

Chance and Data

DATA INVESTIGATION
I. INTRODUCTION
A basic knowledge of statistic and data analysis is a necessary life skill. Newspapers,
television, internet, books bombard us with statistical data. Students need experience in
both consuming and creating data that is represented in several different forms, including
tables, graphs, and statistics.
Exploring statistics as a process of data investigation involves a set of four interrelated
components:
-

Posing the question: formulating the key question(s) to explore and deciding what
data to collect to address the question(s).

Collecting the data: deciding how to collect the data as well as actually collecting it.

Analyzing the data: organizing, representing, summarizing, and describing the data
and looking for patterns in the data.

Interpreting the results: predicting, comparing, identifying relationships and using

the results from the analyses to make decisions about the original question(s).

What should teachers do to help students in learning statistics and data analysis?
-

Help them to engage in the process of data investigation

Help them to represent data

Help them to explore concepts, ways of describing data such as: the shape of
distribution, what is typical in the data, measures of centre, range; variability in the
data

Help them to develop a variety of strategies

Therefore, in this lesson, the participants should be encouraged to ask questions about
situations that involve data analysis:

What is the question being asked?

How do I want to organize the data set?

Which presentation is best to use to analyze the data?

Do I want to determine an average or the range of the data?

If so, which average do I want to use and what will it tell me about the data set?
1

Chance and Data

How can I use graphs and statistics to describe a data set or to compare two data sets
in order to answer my original questions?

Teachers have many favorite activities that they know children will enjoy and engage
with, for example:
We are going to go out to the school gate and tally the traffic that passes the school so
that we can make a graph
Children do seem to enjoy this type of activity but they never own it. Theyve been told
what to do and why and how to record their findings. Most of the purpose and need to
think mathematically has been taken away from them.
In this section, the trainees are expected to generate their own questions and make them
match their own interest or curiosity. They will also be involved in making the decisions
as to what and how to record as well as presenting data. If the similar activity is applied
to the children, we hope that students will become involved in the topic and therefore
motivated.
II. OBJECTIVE
The trainees will carry out statistical investigation to answer this question: What are some
of characteristics of a typical QITEP trainee?
III. MATHEMATICAL HIGHLIGHT
-

Understand and use the process of data investigation by posing questions, collecting
data, analyzing data, and making interpretations to answer the participants question.

Represent data (e.g. line plots, bar graphs, coordinate graphs).

Compute the mean, median, or mode and the range of a data set.

Understand the distinction between categorical data and numerical data and identify
which graphs and statistics may be used to represent each kind of data.

Make informed choices about which graph or graphs and which of the average
(mean, median, mode) and range may be used to describe a data set.

Chance and Data

IV. ACTIVITY 1
Experience of problem

The trainer would pose a problem e.g. We are going

Whole class (allow 20 minutes) to investigate the characteristics of these QITEP

trainees. What information should we collect and
Why?
Mathematical activity

Brainstorm and list trainees ideas in each group.

Groups (allow 20 minutes)

They decide what information to collect and how to

record their findings.
These characteristics may include:
Physical characteristics (For example, age,
height, or eye color)
- Family and home characteristics (For example,
number of brothers and sisters, or number of
television sets)
- Behaviors (For example, hobbies or number of
hours spent watching televisions)
Discuss and compare appropriateness and efficiency
-

Communicating results

Whole class (allow 10 minutes) of methods used.

Mathematical activity

Refine plans and methods. Carry out data collection

Groups (allow this to take up to Record and collect information. Encourage the
40 minutes)

trainees to devise and refine their own methods of

recording.
Have groups make posters of their data

Communicating Results

Reflect on what was found out, methods used for

Groups and whole class (allow

data collection and recording. Comment on how

40 minutes).

informative/persuasive the reports are.

Discuss what general principles of this investigation
can be gathered from this experience.

Chance and Data

V. DISCUSSION
Participants could discuss:

The types of teaching that they have encountered that would not facilitate students to
achieve the goal of teaching.

The possible answer:

-

Give the student data. Asking students to find the measure, such as, mean, median,
modes, without helping the students to make these concepts meaningful for them.

Ask student to present data using a particular graph as required by teachers. Teacher
sometime gives the interval of the data. It means that students do not have enough
space for them to think and to make decision about the best way to present data.

Discuss the type of teaching that could help students construct their own
understanding about statistic.

Discuss about the characteristics of realistic mathematics education involved in this

activity.

VI. REFERENCES
Lappan, G., Fey, J. T., Fitzgerald, W. M. , Friel, S. N., Phillips, E. D. Connected
Mathematics: Data About Us. Statistics. Teachers Guide. Prentice Hall:
Glenview.
Note: Most of the ideas/this writing in this handout was taken from the books of Lappan
et.al.

Chance and Data

Worksheet
Project

: Investigation about the characteristics of a typical QITEP trainee

Time

: 3 x 50

Materials needed :

Large chart paper (a few sheets per group of students)

Markers with various colors

Measurement tools (standards and non-standars)

Calculators as needed

Task

We are going to investigate the characteristics of these QITEP trainees. What information
should we collect and why?
1. In each group, brainstorm and list your ideas. Decide what information to collect and
how to record your findings. Prepare your presentation for a whole class discussion.
2. Discuss and compare appropriateness and efficiency of methods used.
3. Refine your plans and methods then carry out data collection. Record and collect
information. Refine your own methods of recording.
4. Each group must prepare a poster of their data and the conclusion of their
investigation.

Reflect on what was found out.

Reflect methods used for data collection and recording.

Comment on how informative/persuasive the reports in the posters are.

5. Discuss what general principles of this investigation can be gathered from this
experience.

Chance and Data

MEAN, MEDIAN and MODE

I. INTRODUCTION
In this section, we are going to explore concepts that relate to average or the measures of
center: mode, median, mean. Remember that an average is a value used to describe what
is typical about a set of data. An average can be thought of as a measure of center. The
mode and the median are two types of averages you have used quite a bit. The mode is the
value that occurs most frequently in a set of data. The median is the value that divides a
set of ordered data in half. Activity 2 and 3 is to explore the concept of median, mode, and
mean.
II. OBJECTIVES:
-

To understand the mean as a number that evens out or balances a distribution.

To find the mean of a set of data

To reason with a model that clarifies the development of the algorithm for finding
the mean.

Mathematical concept: median, mode, and mean

Material:

Manipulative: corn, unit cubes, or any manipulates that can be counted and shared
among the participants, a flag (to write a number on it)

III. ACTIVITY 2
1. The class is divided into two groups.
2. In each group: the participants conduct the activities below.

Each person takes a handful of corns and counts their amount. Write down the
number of corn in your own flag.

Stand up in a row from person who has the most corn to the less.

The person(s) who are standing in the middle of the row highlight his/her flag.
This number is the median of the data as it gives the middle value of the data set.

Find the number that occurs most frequently. We call the value that occurs most
frequently the mode of the data set.

Chance and Data

For everybody in the group, find another people in your group and share your corn
to make the same amount of corn or the difference is only one.

Make sure that any pair in each group has the same number of corn or their
difference is one.

What is the mean of the number of corn in a group of QITEP trainees?

IV. ACTIVITY 3: WHAT DO WE MEAN BY MEAN?

Materials: cubes (10 each of 6 different colors per group)

Chance and Data

1. Divide the class into groups of 6 people.

2. Make a set of cube towers to show the size of each household. Each tower should be a
single color and different from the colors of the other towers.
3. Arrange the towers in order from smallest to largest. What is the mode and the median
of the data set (number of people in households of your group)
4. Find the average by evening-out the number of cubes in each tower. This means that
you need to move cubes from one tower to another.
5. Since each tower was originally a single color, now, look at the tower from which
towers the moved data came.
6. Each household has an average of . people. This number is called mean.
Whole class discussion:

What is the median of a data set?

What is the mode of a data set?

What is the mean of a data set?

Give examples, the uses of mode, median, and mean in a daily context.

V. REFERENCES:
Lappan, G., Fey, J. T., Fitzgerald, W. M. , Friel, S. N., Phillips, E. D. Connected
Mathematics: Data About Us. Statistics. Teachers Guide. Prentice Hall:
Glenview.
Note: Most of the ideas/this writing in this handout was taken from the books of Lappan
et.al.

Chance and Data

Several additional notes in designing instruction about statistics, referring to Bakker

(2004) are given below.
1. Estimation of large numbers could challenge students to use intuitive notions of
average. Therefore, teachers need to find or develop problem situations that could lead
students to use their informal notions.
2. As a starting point of instruction, students could be facilitated to invent a method of
estimating the number of elephants, the number of leaves, the number of fruits.
Several samples of problems are presented below.
In this activity, teachers need to emphasize to the students that we valued their
reasoning more then their answers or procedures
3. Estimation of a number from a total

After solving Problem 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, the

students could be facilitated to estimate a number with an average value using

Problem 6.

Chance and Data

PROBLEM 1: Estimate the total number of wildebeest in the picture below.

..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................

10

Chance and Data

PROBLEM 2: Estimate the number of stars in the picture below. This picture was
downloaded from www.nasa.gov.

..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................

11

Chance and Data

PROBLEM 3: Estimate the number of apples in the picture below.

..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................

12

Chance and Data

PROBLEM 4: Estimate the numbers of apples are in the bags below. (You can estimate
how many kilograms apples in a bag and how many apples in one kilo).

....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................

13

Chance and Data

PROBLEM 5: Assume we had not estimated elephants but something else, what would
have been an average box in Table below.
25

19

16

20

41

34

30

46

29

37

26

12

....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................

14

Chance and Data

PROBLEM 6:
If normally eight adults are allowed in a certain balloon, how many sixth graders would
you allow, if you only consider weight?
Or for QITEP trainees, this problem could be modified as follow:
If normally twelve sixth graders are allowed in a certain balloon, how many QITEP
trainees would you allow, if you only consider weight?

....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................

15

Chance and Data

REFERENCES:
Bakker, Arthur. 2004. Design research in statistics education on symbolizing and
computer tools. Freudenthal Institute, Utrecht.

16