Content Area: Math

 

Index: 4.4A Grade 6 CPI 2

 

Standard: 4.4 - Data Analysis, Probability, and Discrete Mathematics

 

Strand: A - Data Analysis

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 2 -  The student will read, interpret, select, construct, analyze, generate questions about, and draw inferences from displays of data

·        Bar graph, line graph, circle graph, table, histogram

·        Range, median, and mean

·        Calculators and computers used to record and process information

 

Grade: 6

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        Students demonstrate understanding of measures of central tendency by writing a letter to a fictional classmate explaining how the mean, the median, and the mode each help to describe data. They then extend their discussion by presenting a picture of an "average student" in their grade. The picture discusses height, color of hair, preference in movies, etc. In creating the picture, the students must choose the appropriate measures of central tendency based upon the type of data and justify their choice. (For example, the mean is not appropriate in discussing hair color.) They will likely want to present pictures of both an "average boy" and an "average girl" in the class.

 

·        During a social studies unit, students determine a method to ascertain the value of the homes in their community. They determine the mean, the median, and the mode for the data and decide which provides the most accurate picture of the community. They include in their study homes from different sections of the town.

 

·        Students perform an experiment where one group is given 10 words in a jumbled order while another group is given them in a sequence which facilitates remembering them. After giving each group one minute to study the words, the students are asked to turn their papers over and write as many of the words as they remember. The papers are graded by fellow students and the scores reported. After considering various graphing methods, the students determine that a box-and-whiskers plot would be the best way to illustrate the results and compare the two groups.