In this fun interactive, students use the slingshot to pop as many balloons as they can as the balloons pass by. There is a set of ten balloons for each round and when all ten balloons have passed or been popped, students receive a score. Students drag the 'x' to the column which matches their score. As students complete each round, he/she creates a line plot using their scores as data.

Students interpret line plots with scales to the nearest quarter of a unit. An assessment activity is included along with students' examples for comparison.

Scenario
You and a friend enter a fishing contest. You have been asked to collect worms before you can move to the next round in the fishing contest. You have heard that the longest worms are good to use for bait. According to the contest rules for the first stage, the person with the longest worm, in each pairing, will get to start fishing an hour earlier in the next round of the contest. You and your friend go home and think about the best place to find your worms. You found the best spot. After collecting your worms, you meet up with your friend to determine the length of each worm to the nearest 1/4 inch. Which one of you has the longest worm? Use a line plot to record your data. Remember: The person with the longest worm will get to continue to the next round.

Distributions and Variability

Type of Unit: Project

Prior Knowledge

Students should be able to:

Represent and interpret data using a line plot.
Understand other visual representations of data.

Lesson Flow

Students begin the unit by discussing what constitutes a statistical question. In order to answer statistical questions, data must be gathered in a consistent and accurate manner and then analyzed using appropriate tools.

Students learn different tools for analyzing data, including:

Measures of center: mean (average), median, mode
Measures of spread: mean absolute deviation, lower and upper extremes, lower and upper quartile, interquartile range
Visual representations: line plot, box plot, histogram

These tools are compared and contrasted to better understand the benefits and limitations of each. Analyzing different data sets using these tools will develop an understanding for which ones are the most appropriate to interpret the given data.

To demonstrate their understanding of the concepts, students will work on a project for the duration of the unit. The project will involve identifying an appropriate statistical question, collecting data, analyzing data, and presenting the results. It will serve as the final assessment.

Lesson OverviewStudents complete a card sort that requires them to match sets of statistics with the corresponding line plots.Students match cards with simple line plots to the corresponding card with measures of center. Some cards include mode, mean, median, and range, and some have one or two measures missing.  Students discuss how they determined which cards would match.Key ConceptsTo complete the card sort in this lesson efficiently, students must be able to relate statistical measures with line plots. If they start with the measures that are easy to see, they can narrow down the possible matches.The mode is the easiest measure to see immediately. It is simply the number with the tallest column of dots.The range can be found easily by subtracting the least value in the plot from the greatest.The median can be found fairly quickly by counting to the middle dot or by pairing dots on the ends until reaching the middle.The mean must be calculated by adding data values and dividing.Goals and Learning ObjectivesApply knowledge of measures of center and range to solve problems.Discuss and review strategy choices when problem solving.

This lesson helps students develop an understanding of the markings on a ruler using whole, halves, and fourths of an inch. Students will use a line plot to generate data by locating and identifying the correct whole, half, or fourth marking. For a culminating activity, students create a project that uses a line plot to identify Who Lives Next Door?