Make Sense of Data
15 min
Narrative
The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit students’ prior understandings about categorical data representations, which will be useful when students engage with single-unit scale picture and bar graphs in later activities. While students may notice and wonder many things about this graph, it is important to pay attention to the ways in which students make sense of a picture graph, the questions they have about the categorical data, and the contexts that make sense for the categorical data shown. This is the first time students experience the Notice and Wonder routine in IM Grade 3. Students should be familiar with this routine from a previous grade. However, they may benefit from a brief review of the steps involved.
For all Warm-up routines, consider establishing a small, discreet hand signal that students can display to indicate they have an answer they can support with reasoning. Signals might include a thumbs-up or a certain number of fingers that tells the number of responses they have. Using signals is a quick way to see if students have had enough time to think about the problem. It also keeps students from being distracted or rushed by hands being raised around the class. Since this is the first Warm-up of the year, 5 additional minutes have been allocated to help establish the structure of a routine.
Launch
- Groups of 2
- Display the graph.
- “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”
- 1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
- “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
- 1 minute: partner discussion
- Share and record responses.
Student Task
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Solution Steps (4)
- 1Identify the graph type→Picture graph - uses stick figures arranged in columns, each figure represents 1 student
- 2Count figures in each column→Column 1: 4, Column 2: 3, Column 3: 1, Column 4: 2, Column 5: 7, Column 6: 6
- 3Notice what information is missing→No title (topic unknown), no category labels (what each column represents is hidden)
- 4Generate possible contexts based on 6 categories→Could be: how students get home (walk, bike, bus, car, etc.), favorite subjects, days of the week, etc.
Sample Response
Students may notice:
- It looks like a picture graph.
- There is no title.
- The categories are hidden.
- There are stick people in each column.
Students may wonder:
- What is this graph about?
- What do the stick people represent?
- Why are there so many stick people in the last two columns?
- Where is the title?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “What situations could the graph represent?” (favorite day of the week, favorite type of food, types of animals that people saw in the park)
Standards
- 2.MD.10·Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (with single-unit scale) to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put-together, take-apart, and compare problems using information presented in a bar graph.
- 2.MD.D.10·Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (with single-unit scale) to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put-together, take-apart, and compare problems<span>See Glossary, Table 1.</span> using information presented in a bar graph.
10 min
20 min
Knowledge Components
All skills for this lesson
Make Sense of Data
15 min
Narrative
The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit students’ prior understandings about categorical data representations, which will be useful when students engage with single-unit scale picture and bar graphs in later activities. While students may notice and wonder many things about this graph, it is important to pay attention to the ways in which students make sense of a picture graph, the questions they have about the categorical data, and the contexts that make sense for the categorical data shown. This is the first time students experience the Notice and Wonder routine in IM Grade 3. Students should be familiar with this routine from a previous grade. However, they may benefit from a brief review of the steps involved.
For all Warm-up routines, consider establishing a small, discreet hand signal that students can display to indicate they have an answer they can support with reasoning. Signals might include a thumbs-up or a certain number of fingers that tells the number of responses they have. Using signals is a quick way to see if students have had enough time to think about the problem. It also keeps students from being distracted or rushed by hands being raised around the class. Since this is the first Warm-up of the year, 5 additional minutes have been allocated to help establish the structure of a routine.
Launch
- Groups of 2
- Display the graph.
- “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”
- 1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
- “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
- 1 minute: partner discussion
- Share and record responses.
Student Task
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Solution Steps (4)
- 1Identify the graph type→Picture graph - uses stick figures arranged in columns, each figure represents 1 student
- 2Count figures in each column→Column 1: 4, Column 2: 3, Column 3: 1, Column 4: 2, Column 5: 7, Column 6: 6
- 3Notice what information is missing→No title (topic unknown), no category labels (what each column represents is hidden)
- 4Generate possible contexts based on 6 categories→Could be: how students get home (walk, bike, bus, car, etc.), favorite subjects, days of the week, etc.
Sample Response
Students may notice:
- It looks like a picture graph.
- There is no title.
- The categories are hidden.
- There are stick people in each column.
Students may wonder:
- What is this graph about?
- What do the stick people represent?
- Why are there so many stick people in the last two columns?
- Where is the title?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “What situations could the graph represent?” (favorite day of the week, favorite type of food, types of animals that people saw in the park)
Standards
- 2.MD.10·Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (with single-unit scale) to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put-together, take-apart, and compare problems using information presented in a bar graph.
- 2.MD.D.10·Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (with single-unit scale) to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put-together, take-apart, and compare problems<span>See Glossary, Table 1.</span> using information presented in a bar graph.