STANDARD 4.4     (DATA ANALYSIS, PROBABILITY, AND DISCRETE MATHEMATICS)     ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES OF DATA ANALYSIS, PROBABILITY, AND DISCRETE MATHEMATICS, AND WILL USE THEM TO MODEL SITUATIONS, SOLVE PROBLEMS, AND ANALYZE AND DRAW APPROPRIATE INFERENCES FROM DATA.

 

Descriptive Statement:  Data analysis, probability, and discrete mathematics are important interrelated areas of applied mathematics.  Each provides students with powerful mathematical perspectives on everyday phenomena and with important examples of how mathematics is used in the modern world.  Two important areas of discrete mathematics are addressed in this standard; a third area, iteration and recursion, is addressed in Standard 4.3 (Patterns and Algebra).

 

Data Analysis (or Statistics).  In today’s information-based world, students need to be able to read, understand, and interpret data in order to make informed decisions.  In the early grades, students should be involved in collecting and organizing data, and in presenting it using tables, charts, and graphs.  As they progress, they should gather data using sampling, and should increasingly be expected to analyze and make inferences from data, as well as to analyze data and inferences made by others.

 

Probability.  Students need to understand the fundamental concepts of probability so that they can interpret weather forecasts, avoid unfair games of chance, and make informed decisions about medical treatments whose success rate is provided in terms of percentages.  They should regularly be engaged in predicting and determining probabilities, often based on experiments (like flipping a coin 100 times), but eventually based on theoretical discussions of probability that make use of systematic counting strategies.  High school students should use probability models and solve problems involving compound events and sampling.

 

Discrete Mathematics—Systematic Listing and Counting.  Development of strategies for listing and counting can progress through all grade levels, with middle and high school students using the strategies to solve problems in probability.   Primary students, for example, might find all outfits that can be worn using two coats and three hats; middle school students might systematically list and count the number of routes from one site on a map to another; and high school students might determine the number of three-person delegations that can be selected from their class to visit the mayor.

 

Discrete Mathematics—Vertex-Edge Graphs and Algorithms.  Vertex-edge graphs, consisting of dots (vertices) and lines joining them (edges), can be used to represent and solve problems based on real-world situations.  Students should learn to follow and devise lists of instructions, called “algorithms,” and use algorithmic thinking to find the best solution to problems like those involving vertex-edge graphs, but also to solve other problems.

 

These topics provide students with insight into how mathematics is used by decision-makers in our society, and with important tools for modeling a variety of real-world situations.  Students will better understand and interpret the vast amounts of quantitative data that they are exposed to daily, and they will be able to judge the validity of data-supported arguments.

 

Cumulative Progress Indicators

 

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 7, students will:

 

A.     Data Analysis

 1.         Select and use appropriate representations for sets of data, and measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode).

·        Type of display most appropriate for given data

·        Box-and-whisker plot, upper quartile, lower quartile

·        Scatter plot

·        Calculators and computer used to record and process information

 2.         Make inferences and formulate and evaluate arguments based on displays and analysis of data.

 

B.     Probability

 1.       Interpret probabilities as ratios, percents, and decimals.

 2.         Model situations involving probability with simulations (using spinners, dice, calculators and computers) and theoretical models.

·        Frequency, relative frequency

 3.         Estimate probabilities and make predictions based on experimental and theoretical probabilities.

 4.         Play and analyze probability-based games, and discuss the concepts of fairness and expected value.

 

C.     Discrete Mathematics—Systematic Listing and Counting

 1.         Apply the multiplication principle of counting.

·        Permutations:  ordered situations with replacement (e.g., number of possible license plates) vs. ordered situations without replacement (e.g., number of possible slates of 3 class officers from a 23 student class)

 2.         Explore counting problems involving Venn diagrams with three attributes (e.g., there are 15, 20, and 25 students respectively in the chess club, the debating team, and the engineering society; how many different students belong to the three clubs if there are 6 students in chess and debating, 7 students in chess and engineering, 8 students in debating and engineering, and 2 students in all three?).

 3.         Apply techniques of systematic listing, counting, and reasoning in a variety of different contexts.

 

D.    Discrete Mathematics—Vertex-Edge Graphs and Algorithms

 1.         Use vertex-edge graphs to represent and find solutions to practical problems.

·        Finding the shortest network connecting specified sites

·        Finding the shortest route on a map from one site to another

·        Finding the shortest circuit on a map that makes a tour of specified sites

 

 

Link to Standard 4.4 Grade 6

 

Link to Standard 4.4 Grade 8

 

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