The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit the idea that two-way tables can be used to think about relative frequency, which will be useful when students create relative frequency tables in a later activity. While students may notice and wonder many things about these images, the ways in which the values in the two-way tables relate to the totals are the important discussion points.
Arrange students in groups of 2. Display the two-way table for all to see. Ask students to think of at least one thing they notice and at least one thing they wonder. Give students 1 minute of quiet think time and then 1 minute to discuss with their partner the things they notice and wonder.
Several adults in a school building were asked about their highest degree completed and whether they were a teacher.
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
| teacher | not a teacher | |
|---|---|---|
| associate degree | 4% | 16% |
| bachelor’s degree | 52% | 64% |
| master’s degree or higher | 44% | 20% |
Things students may notice:
Things students may wonder:
Ask students to share the things they noticed and wondered. Record and display their responses without editing or commentary for all to see. If possible, record the relevant reasoning on or near the table. Next, ask students, “Is there anything on this list that you are wondering about now?” Encourage students to observe what is on display and respectfully ask for clarification, point out contradicting information, or voice any disagreement.
It is not important to answer the questions that students are wondering about at this time. Many of their questions will be addressed later in the lesson. If the concept of relative frequency does not come up during the conversation, ask students, “What does the 44% represent?” (44% of the teachers interviewed have a master’s degree or higher.)
Display the actual values used in the relative frequency table in the task for all to see.
| teacher | not a teacher | |
|---|---|---|
| associate degree | 2 | 4 |
| bachelor’s degree | 26 | 16 |
| master’s degree or higher | 22 | 5 |
Point out that, although there are more teachers with bachelor’s degrees than nonteachers with bachelor’s degrees, the percentage is lower. This is because there are more teachers who responded to this survey overall, and the table shows the relative percentage of adults for each group. That is, the 26 teachers with bachelor’s degrees are considered among the 50 teachers, while the 16 nonteachers with bachelor’s degrees are only considered among the 25 nonteachers.
Ask students:
All skills for this lesson
No KCs tagged for this lesson
The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit the idea that two-way tables can be used to think about relative frequency, which will be useful when students create relative frequency tables in a later activity. While students may notice and wonder many things about these images, the ways in which the values in the two-way tables relate to the totals are the important discussion points.
Arrange students in groups of 2. Display the two-way table for all to see. Ask students to think of at least one thing they notice and at least one thing they wonder. Give students 1 minute of quiet think time and then 1 minute to discuss with their partner the things they notice and wonder.
Several adults in a school building were asked about their highest degree completed and whether they were a teacher.
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
| teacher | not a teacher | |
|---|---|---|
| associate degree | 4% | 16% |
| bachelor’s degree | 52% | 64% |
| master’s degree or higher | 44% | 20% |
Things students may notice:
Things students may wonder:
Ask students to share the things they noticed and wondered. Record and display their responses without editing or commentary for all to see. If possible, record the relevant reasoning on or near the table. Next, ask students, “Is there anything on this list that you are wondering about now?” Encourage students to observe what is on display and respectfully ask for clarification, point out contradicting information, or voice any disagreement.
It is not important to answer the questions that students are wondering about at this time. Many of their questions will be addressed later in the lesson. If the concept of relative frequency does not come up during the conversation, ask students, “What does the 44% represent?” (44% of the teachers interviewed have a master’s degree or higher.)
Display the actual values used in the relative frequency table in the task for all to see.
| teacher | not a teacher | |
|---|---|---|
| associate degree | 2 | 4 |
| bachelor’s degree | 26 | 16 |
| master’s degree or higher | 22 | 5 |
Point out that, although there are more teachers with bachelor’s degrees than nonteachers with bachelor’s degrees, the percentage is lower. This is because there are more teachers who responded to this survey overall, and the table shows the relative percentage of adults for each group. That is, the 26 teachers with bachelor’s degrees are considered among the 50 teachers, while the 16 nonteachers with bachelor’s degrees are only considered among the 25 nonteachers.
Ask students: