Virginia Department of Education
Exploring Statistics
Collect and analyze data to find out something interesting about classmates. Groups devise a statistical question and collect data from their group members. Individuals then create a display of their data and calculate descriptive...
EngageNY
Creating a Dot Plot
Which dot am I? Pupils create dot plots to represent sample data through the use of frequency tables. The third segment in a series of 22 asks individuals to analyze the dot plots they created. The scholars translate back and forth...
Houston Area Calculus Teachers
Collecting Driving Data
Give AP Calculus classes the opportunity to check the accuracy of their calculations! A calculus activity involves the collection of data, the application of mathematics, and the analysis of the accuracy of results. Young mathematicians...
Statistics Education Web
Saga of Survival (Using Data about Donner Party to Illustrate Descriptive Statistics)
What did gender have to do with the survival rates of the Donner Party? Using comparative box plots, classes compare the ages of the survivors and nonsurvivors. Using the same method, individuals make conclusions about the gender and...
Radford University
Real World Data
Make math class feel more real by using real-world data. Scholars research or collect data on several different topics, such as nutrition, the motion of moving objects, cooling curves, and daylight hours. They create scatter plots using...
Radford University
Data Driven
Use the data for a good cause. Groups first analyze provided data and decide which function type would best model the situation. They then investigate a problem relevant to their lives by collecting data and analyzing the results using...
Curated OER
Graphs to Represent a Data Set
How many animals did Chaplin see at the zoo? Scholars examine three data sets and create a bar graph for each. Encourage them to label the different parts of their graphs, as this is not prompted on the worksheet. Once they finish their...
Curated OER
Graphs and Data
Pupils investigate poverty using graphs. In this algebra lesson, students collect data on the effects of poverty and use different rules to analyze the data. They graph and use the trapezoid rule to interpret the data.
Curated OER
Graphs to Represent a Data Set
As your scholars begin to learn how to read graphs, help them pay attention to detail with this matching activity. They read four short data descriptions and match them to one of the four bar graphs pictured. Each graph is labeled along...
American Statistical Association
An A-MAZE-ING Comparison
Teach your class how to use descriptive statistics through a hands-on data collection activity. Pupils collect their own data, calculate test statistics, and interpret the results in context. They compare male and female results, looking...
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Eruptions: Old Faithful Geyser
How long do we have to wait? Given several days of times between eruptions of Old Faithful, learners create a graphical representation for two days. Groups combine their data to determine an appropriate wait time between eruptions.
American Institutes for Research
Data and Probability: Marshmallow Madness
Upper grade and middle schoolers make predictions, collect data, and interpret the data as it relates to the concept of probability. They work with a partner tossing marshmallows and recording if they land on their side or on their...
National Wildlife Federation
Get Your Techno On
Desert regions are hotter for multiple reasons; the lack of vegetation causes the sun's heat to go straight into the surface and the lack of moisture means none of the heat is being transferred into evaporation. This concept, and other...
American Statistical Association
Don't Spill the Beans!
Become a bean counter. Pupils use a fun activity to design and execute an experiment to determine whether they can grab more beans with their dominant hand or non-dominant hand. They use the class data to create scatter plots and then...
American Statistical Association
Colors Challenge!
Does writing the name of a color in a different colored ink affect one's ability to read it? Scholars design an experiment to answer this question. They collect the data, analyze the statistics, and draw a conclusion based on what they...
US Department of Commerce
How Does Our Class Compare?
Compare the class to the country. As a group, pupils collect data on the types of activities boys and girls do after school. Learners compare the number of girls to the number of boys for each activity. Using census data, individuals...
Statistics Education Web
Did I Trap the Median?
One of the key questions in statistics is whether the results are good enough. Use an activity to help pupils understand the importance of sample size and the effect it has on variability. Groups collect their own sample data and compare...
Willow Tree
Line Plots
You can't see patterns in a jumble of numbers ... so organize them! Learners take a set of data and use a line plot to organize the numbers. From the line plot, they find minimum, maximum, mean, and make other conclusions about the data.
Willow Tree
Scatterplots and Stem-and-Leaf Plots
Is there a correlation between the number of cats you own and your age? Use a scatter plot to analyze these correlation questions. Learners plot data and look for positive, negative, or no correlation, then create stem-and-leaf plots to...
Curated OER
Representing Data
Second and third graders answer questions based on data presented to them in graphs. They see how to interpret data from a bar graph, line graph, and a chart.
US Department of Commerce
Census in Counties - Describing and Comparing Histograms to Understand American Life
Use graphs to interpret life in 136 counties. Pupils analyze histograms and describe the shapes of the distributions of data collected from several counties on different aspects of life. Scholars make predictions on the difference in...
Georgetown University
Cup-Activity: Writing Equations From Data
Determine how cup stacking relates to linear equations. Pupils stack cups and record the heights. Using the data collected, learners develop a linear equation that models the height. The scholars then interpret the slope and the...
Radford University
Analyzing Data from Peer Survey
We all want to know what we're thinking. Scholars analyze and report data collected in a previous survey on peer attitudes toward current events. They calculate the mean, median, range, and standard deviation before creating histograms...
EngageNY
Sampling Variability in the Sample Mean (part 1)
How accurate is data collected from a sample? Learners answer this question using a simulation to model data collected from a sample population. They analyze the data to understand the variability in the results.