Activity 2.2:  Class Data Visualization

This activity introduces the concept of data visualization--i.e. how data can be graphed and represented to enable people to better extract or infer meaning from it.

Display the Brother and Sister poster in front of the classroom, either on the wall or projected on a white board. Each student should come up to the chart and place a dot in the box that represents their siblings. For example, if a boy has two sisters, he would place a dot in the block where brother is zero and sister is two. If you have some students with large families, the last number can be made to be 5+. 

Once all students have placed their mark on the chart, lead a discussion about data and what it means, starting with the following guiding questions:

• How many students are only children? (This would be a mark in the bottom, left corner.)

• How many students have only brothers or only sisters? These questions are answered by making inferences from the data in the chart.

If time permits you can ask similar questions about other data from the "Who are You?" survey, such as about favorite sports or pets. You might also introduce histograms and plot the data. Remember that data can be in either qualitative or quantitative form. It is just a more technical way of specifying information that can be used to make decisions.

Play the Mythbusters: Penny Drop video. During the video, students will hear about an experiment to prove or bust a myth, and see the importance of the experimental procedure and the data collection methods. Below are a few questions that you can ask to help the students connect the video to the importance of data.

• How do the Mythbusters test the terminal velocity of the penny?

• How do the Mythbusters use mathematics?

• How did they set up their experiment?

• How fast is 64 mph? (Note--you can compare to a car driving down the highway)

Begin a discussion with the students about which data from the "Who are You?" survey might be important as they make their concession stand decisions. Have the students share their responses for each of those survey questions with the class. This data collection can be done either as a carousel activity, or through a show of hands. If you have a digital classroom, students can share their survey data by submitting it electronically.  Students should use the class data to narrow their ideas for the concession stand challenge.