Day 129: Study Guide for Central Tendency Quiz

6th Grade Math Standards: 6.SP.2 Understand that a set of data collected to answer a statistical question has a distribution which can be described by its center, spread, and overall shape.

6.SP.3 Recognize that a measure of center for a numerical data set summarizes all of its values with a single number, while a measure of variation describes how its values vary with a single number.

6.SP.5 Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context, such as by:
a. Reporting the number of observations.
b. Describing the nature of the attribute under investigation, including how it was measured and its units of measurement.
c. Giving quantitative measures of center (median and/or mean) and variability (interquartile range and/or mean absolute deviation), as well as describing any overall pattern and any striking deviations from the overall pattern with reference to the context in which the data were gathered.
d. Relating the choice of measures of center and variability to the shape of the data distribution and the context in which the data were gathered.

The Objective: Find a mean, median, and mode. Find a missing value in a data set given the mean. Manipulate the mean to get bigger or lower when a new data value comes into a data set.

Quote of the Day: “I don’t want a bunch of guys with their shoulders down and sighing when something goes wrong. I don’t ever let body language go. Ever.” - Bill Self

Agenda: 

1. MCAS Math March Madness. 
2. Review the homework
3. Study guide in partners
4. Stats 2 on 2 game. Using a deck of cards and taking out the face cards (less to explain to students), the students were given 7 cards each and then told to find the mean, median, and mode of their data sets. The partnership with the highest combined mean, median, and mode wins. 

The Assessment: Using the clickers, about 85% of students were able to answer the question finding the mean, 74% were able to correctly determine how many questions were on a test given the number correct and the percentage, 56% were able to determine what fraction is between 10/3 and 11/3, and 83% were able to find the volume of a cube given an edge length. 

I circumvented the room as students worked on the study guide. 

Glass Half-Full: As I went over the study guide, I made students that didn't do the homework take notes on what I was reviewing with the class. I warned them that if they did not do a good job I would have to have them come at lunch to do the work. This was a good enough incentive to help them pay attention. I still collected the homework sheets from these students to be sure that they were focused. 

One Regret: The study guide takes a long time to do, which left less time to play the game. As a result, I'm going to allow students to play tomorrow if they are finished with the quiz early.