Lesson Overview
Stacking Statistics
GRADES 5-8 MATH AND DANCE
This lesson will be a review of the concepts of mean, median, mode, and range, so no pre-assessment will be given today
Teachers will demonstrate several cup-stacking strategies and levels – (3-cup stack, 6-cup stack, 10-cup stack.)
Lesson Process:
Step 1: Students will work in pairs and will do a 6-cup stack 3 times. Partners will record times using a stopwatch. All data will be added to two classroom charts. One chart will be classroom-wide, with all data put on one chart. A second chart will have each student’s name and will have a space for all 3 times.
Step 2: Discussion will then take place about how to organize the classroom data. At first, we will look at the chart with each child’s name and see if a pattern of improvement is seen with each successive practice.
Step 3: Discussion will then be guided by teachers to a stem and leaf plot using the classroom-wide data, which will be modeled for students. Students will then create a stem and leaf plot using the same data, and teachers will demonstrate how to find the mode, median, outlier, mean, and range of the data.
Step 4: The end of the lesson discussion will review double bar graphs and stem and leaf plots and will then move on to the next lesson’s data organization which will be line plots. The same data may be used for that lesson.
Time Required:
30-45 minutes
Materials List:
- Stacking cups
- Stopwatches
- Timing mat
- Chart paper or blackboard or overhead
- Calculators
Assessment:
Stem and Leaf Plots will be evaluated for accuracy
