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Abstraction > Grade 6
Abstraction > Grade 6
Grade 6 Math: Mean and Median
Grade 6 Math: Mean and Median
Using small characters called “bots” and a simple, symbolic written language, students will hand-simulate a counting procedure that calculates the mean of a data set and also illuminates how the mean represents the center of a set. The two bots, “Min Bot” and “Max Bot,” systematically push data points, which are arranged like a histogram using cubes on a number line, toward each other until all the cubes are clustered on a single point (or two adjacent points).
- As students develop their algorithms, they rely on short-cuts to represent repeated operations. Their methods for indicating these repeats amount to an abstraction: a single symbol can represent a number of commands.