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Summary:
Students will be involved in collecting and describing data. They will learn to predict information, find the actual amount, and compare their findings with their predictions.
Main Curriculum Tie:
Mathematics Grade 2
Represent and interpret data. 10.
Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (with single-unit scale) to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put-together, take-apart, and compare problems1 using information presented in a bar graph. Materials:
Additional Resources
Books
- Lemonade for Sale, by Stuart J. Murphy; ISBN 0-06-446715-5
- Graph It! by Lisa Trumbauer; ISBN 0736812822
- Graphs, by Sara Pistoia; ISBN 1567661203
- Graphing Activities, by Joy Evans; ISBN 1557991243
- Graphs, by Bonnie Bader; ISBN 0448432374
- Learning to Graph from a Baby Tiger by Ann Whitehead Nagda and Cindy Bickel. ISBN:978-0805071610
Attachments
Web Sites
Background For Teachers:
Students should be involved in collecting and describing data.
Students will learn to predict information and then find the actual
amount. They will compare their findings with their predictions.
Students should be taught and very familiar with the following graphs:
Bar graphs, line graphs, and pictographs. Students will choose and
construct their own graphs. The Tiger Math activity is a great review
and assessment of how well they have learned each of the graphs.
Intended Learning Outcomes:
2. Become effective problem solvers by selecting appropriate methods,
employing a variety of strategies, and exploring alternative approaches to
solve problems.
4. Communicate mathematical ideas and arguments coherently to peers,
teachers, and others using the precise language and notation of mathematics.
5. Connect mathematical ideas within mathematics, to other disciplines, and to everyday experiences.
Instructional Procedures:
Invitation to Learn
This activity is called Drops on Pennies. Ask students how many
drops of water they can fit on a penny. They make a prediction. On
their chart they will then predict how many drops of water they can fit
on a penny. Then have them put their penny on top of a paper towel
and fill their water dropper with water. Tell them to begin dropping
water on their penny. Have them count how many drops of water
they were able to hold on one penny and write it down on their chart.
They do this three times and then figure out the medium of the three
pennies. To figure out the median cross off the highest and lowest
number. The middle number is the median. Have them compare their
prediction with the actual number and see if they were close. They
share their results with their table. Next, they'll try it with a quarter.
They make a prediction. Have them use what you know about how
many drops of water the penny held. They keep adding drops to see
how their prediction turns out. They do this three times and then
figure out the medium of the three quarters. They compare the
number of drops the penny held to the quarter. Have them share
their results with their table. They can then try this with a dime and
a nickel. Compare the number of drops with the other coins. Then
have students come up with their own questions. For example,
do all pennies hold the same amount of water? What other things
besides size affect the number of drops each coin can hold? Will salt
water make a difference? Have them write down their predictions
first then what really happened. Share your results with their table.
Instructional Procedures
Tiger Math
In this activity you will give students the opportunity to read a
graph and then transfer their knowledge to make a different kind of graph. This can be done in their journals and it is a great way to
assess their knowledge of graphing different types of graphs.
- Read the book Tiger Math Learning to Graph From A Baby Tiger.
- Explain to students that they are going to make different graphs
from this book. Hand out the Rubric for Graphs to put in their
journals and go over each of the requirements for each graph.
- Make an overhead of page 8 in the Tiger Math book. It shows a
pictograph of tigers in the wild. Go over this graph with your
students. Explain the categories and how they would read this
graph.
- Have students make a bar graph from the information given to
them in the pictograph. This should be done in their journals.
- Have them share their bar graphs with their tables.
- Make an overhead of page 14 in the Tiger Math book. It shows
a bar graph of T.J.’s weight. Go over this graph with your
students. Explain the categories and how they would read this
graph.
- Have students make a pictograph from the information given to
them in the bar graph.
- Have them share their pictograph with their tables.
- Make an overhead of page 16 in the Tiger Math book. It shows
a bar graph and compares Matthew and T.J.’s weight in time.
Go over this graph with your students. Explain the categories
and how they would read this graph.
- Have students make a line graph from the information given to
them in the bar graph. Explain that lines graphs can only be
used to graph if you are graphing something over time.
- Have them share their line graphs with their tables.
- Make an overhead of page 26 in the Tiger Math book. It shows
a line graph and compares Matthew and T.J.’s weight in time.
Go over this graph with your students. Explain the categories
and how they would read this graph.
- Have students make a bar graph from the information given to
them in the line graph.
- Have them share their bar graphs with their tables.
Extensions:
- For advanced learners, have students come up with more than
one different type of graph for each overhead presented.
- For learners with special needs, have them work with a partner
at their table.
- An extension to this lesson is to have students do a pictograph
of the tigers in the wild by using small plastic tigers. Get a
plastic clear tarp and draw and label the axis and place the
tigers on the plastic to form a pictograph.
- An extension you could use with the graph on page 22 would
be to show the different weight and sizes of T.J. To do this you
would need four different-sized stuffed tigers that represent
each of the different weights T.J is throughout the 14 weeks.
You could use the same plastic tarp used above, but change the
graph to represent T.J.’s weight.
- Another way to use line graphs would be to grow a plant in
your class and graph the size of the plant over time.
Family Connections
- Students should take home their journals and share with their
family the different graphs they used
- Students could construct a graph of their own that shows their
growth over time. They could do a line graph of their weight
throughout the first few weeks of their life.
- Students could be assigned a graph that they would make at
home that would have to do with something about their family.
They could then bring this to school to share with everyone.
Assessment Plan:
- When students are sharing their different graphs with their
tables the teacher should walk around and make a quick assessment to see if each student understands the graphing
assignment.
- Students should hand in their journals and the teacher
will assess their graphs to see if they have included all the
information needed to complete each of their graphs. This
assessment should be done by using the rubric given to the
students at the beginning of the lesson.
Bibliography:
Baxter, J.A., Woodward, J., & Olson, D. (2001). Writing in mathematics: An alternative form
of communication for academically low-achieving students.
In this study, they analyze how one teacher used writing to support
communication in a seventh-grade, low-track mathematics class. For
one school year, they studied four low-achieving students in the
class. Students wrote in journals on a weekly basis. Using classroom
observations and interviews with the teacher, they developed profiles
of the four students, capturing their participation in class discussions.
The profiles highlighted an important similarity among the four
students: marginal participation in both small-group and whole class
discussions. However, their analysis of the students’ journals identified
multiple instances where the students were able to explain their
mathematical reasoning, revealing their conceptual understanding,
ability to explain, and skill at representing a problem.
Stepanek, J., Jarrett, D. (1997). Assessment strategies to inform science and mathematics
instruction; it’s just good teaching. (ERIC Identifier: ED415114) Retrieved November 24, 2006.
Using assessment to inform instruction is one of the most powerful
tools a teacher has to improve her teaching. It is also one of the
most overlooked. Teachers routinely use assessments for a variety of
reasons, most often to assign grades and to report students’ progress to
their parents. However, assessment’s real power is its ability to shape
and direct classroom instruction.
Author:
Utah LessonPlans
Created Date :
Jul 09 2007 13:07 PM
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