Day 144 Box Plots

6th Grade Math Standards: 6.SP.4 Display numerical data in plots on a number line, including dot plots, histograms, and box plots. MA.4.a. Read and interpret circle graphs.

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 Learning Objective: Analyze a box plot

Agenda:

1. Jumpstart that asks students to find a missing data value when the median, mode, and mean have been given. The second question asks students to find potential errors in a large data set (a data set that consists of 24 values). 
2. Review line plots/dot plots
3. Box plot of Samantha's family
4. Box plot notes
5. Box plot ticket to leave
6. Box plot homework

The Assessment: The ticket to leave, which was actually the same thing as the notes. If students got one box plot correct, we let them skip the second box plot and start the homework.

Glass Half-Full Take: Today we did Samantha's family for a second time. Here is a look back at the first time it was done:

This time I made a couple of small adjustments. First, I assigned the girls girl names and the boys boy names. This avoided silly distractions. Second, I enlisted cooperation before starting from the class. Again to avoid distractions and to ensure that while the activity was fun we were still working toward the objective. Third, I warned the students not to slice the paper towel when it was rolled out to represent the "box" portion of the box plot. That's all we needed. It was much smoother today.

 

One Regret: Finding the range is a tricky concept for students. The initial instinct most students have is to subtract the lowest number on the number line from the highest number on the number line. That is wrong because the number line does not necessarily reflect the data set. In all of my classes, I had students try and fail in finding the quartiles and the median. This does not add much value in my opinion because where they guess and fail or I "spoon feed them" what to do, eventually it sticks in either case. What does not stick is finding the mean. That's where trying and failing will add more value. Otherwise I'm having them try everything and fail, so no initial struggle really sticks out. Where they struggle most, is with finding the range and determining which part of the data is more spread out. The ladder struggle we deal with in greater detail tomorrow when they create box plots.

Link of the Day: This comparison of DreamWorks and Pixar comes from Yummy Math. One of the components to it is a box plot.