Just a Minute

Introduction

How accurately do you think you can estimate a minute?  

• Put your head down on the table with your eyes shut.

• Sit up and look at this online stopwatch when you think a minute is up.

• Check what time the timer shows (make sure you keep very quiet and do not disturb others).

• Record times on a class Google Sheet (here is an example of one done in a previous Year 8 class).

• Do a second (and maybe a third) time in pairs, with one person running the timer and the other trying to estimate a minute.

Do boys or girls react faster?  Either investigate this yourself or look at the following prompts for support:

Support

• Make a copy of this template (the same one you used in Year 7!) and follow the steps.

• What are you investigating?

• What data do you need to collect?

• What do you think will happen?

• How do you sort the data meaningfully do allow you to investigate further? Hint: gender.

• What are some useful calculations to do?  What may not be so useful to calculate?

• What do the calculations show you?  Make comparisons.

• How may you group data?

  • Top tip: on a mac - “optn” + “<” gives "≤" on Google Sheet/Google Doc

  • How may you use the frequency table to estimate the mean?

  • Is this better than the mean you calculate?  Why/ why not?

  • What is the modal group?

  • Which group is the median in?

• How may you present data? (Click on the hyperlinks below to learn what these are)

  • Histograms - watch this video on how to create a histogram on Google Sheet.

  • Frequency Polygons - watch this video on how to create a frequency polygon on Google Sheet.

  • Cumulative Frequency Graphs- watch this video on how to create a cumulative frequency graph (a.k.a. ogive) on Google Sheet. 

• What are the pros and cons/ use for each type of the graphs above?

• What do the graphs show you?  Make comparisons.

• Summarise your findings in a conclusion.

Further investigations

• Practise the process by doing similar investigations.  

  • For example: Which house is best at balancing (on one foot, holding the other and with eyes shut)?

• Do other investigations on bivariate data.

  • For example: Do gamers have faster reaction time?  

    • Use this to test your reaction time.

• What other things can you compare?

Further Practice

Some of the essential skills introduced in this lesson are "grouped data", "histogram", "frequency polygon" and "cumulative frequency graph".  The relevant skills can be found on DrFrostMaths, CorbettMaths, MyiMaths and Eedi.  Watch any video and/or go through any online lesson as you see fit.  

Transum

• Averages - test your understanding of averages with this self marking quiz about mean, median and range.  You may wish to start with level 5 for averages from a frequency table.

• Histograms - practise drawing and reading information from histograms displaying grouped data

• Cumulative Frequency: Online exercises on cumulative frequency for discrete and grouped data with exam-style questions.

Desmos

• Creating Histograms - learn how to build histograms from scratch through analysing movie data.