Graph and Answer
10 min
Narrative
The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit the idea that bar graphs need a title and a scale in order to communicate information clearly (MP6), which will be useful when students draw a scaled bar graph in a later activity. During the Activity Synthesis, focus the discussion on the unknown scale.
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?
Sample Response
Students may notice:
- The bottom of the graph is labeled with colors.
- Blue has the tallest bar in the graph.
- Red, orange, and blue have bars that end between the lines.
- The graph is titled “Favorite Colors.”
Students may wonder:
- Does each line represent 1, or a number other than 1?
- Why is the number of students greater for blue than for all the other colors?
- Does the graph show the number of people who like each color?
- If each unit (the space between two lines) on the graph represents 1 student, would the bars that stop between the lines mean half of a student? Or does it mean the student has two favorite colors and their response is split half and half?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “Could each unit or each space between two lines on the graph represent 1 student? Why or why not?” (No, because that would mean half of a student likes red, blue, and orange.)
- “If each unit on the graph represents 2 students, how many students have red as their favorite color?” (13) “What if it represents 4 students?” (26)
- “How should you decide on a scale for your graph?” (Think about how many people you surveyed, and use a scale that will fit them on your graph. Use a scale that will make the bar graph easy to read.)
Standards
Building Toward
- 3.MD.3·Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. <em>For example, draw a bar graph in which each square in the bar graph might represent 5 pets.</em>
- 3.MD.B.3·Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step “how many more” and “how many less” problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. <span>For example, draw a bar graph in which each square in the bar graph might represent 5 pets.</span>
20 min
20 min
Knowledge Components
All skills for this lesson
No KCs tagged for this lesson
Graph and Answer
10 min
Narrative
The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit the idea that bar graphs need a title and a scale in order to communicate information clearly (MP6), which will be useful when students draw a scaled bar graph in a later activity. During the Activity Synthesis, focus the discussion on the unknown scale.
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?
Sample Response
Students may notice:
- The bottom of the graph is labeled with colors.
- Blue has the tallest bar in the graph.
- Red, orange, and blue have bars that end between the lines.
- The graph is titled “Favorite Colors.”
Students may wonder:
- Does each line represent 1, or a number other than 1?
- Why is the number of students greater for blue than for all the other colors?
- Does the graph show the number of people who like each color?
- If each unit (the space between two lines) on the graph represents 1 student, would the bars that stop between the lines mean half of a student? Or does it mean the student has two favorite colors and their response is split half and half?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “Could each unit or each space between two lines on the graph represent 1 student? Why or why not?” (No, because that would mean half of a student likes red, blue, and orange.)
- “If each unit on the graph represents 2 students, how many students have red as their favorite color?” (13) “What if it represents 4 students?” (26)
- “How should you decide on a scale for your graph?” (Think about how many people you surveyed, and use a scale that will fit them on your graph. Use a scale that will make the bar graph easy to read.)
Standards
Building Toward
- 3.MD.3·Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. <em>For example, draw a bar graph in which each square in the bar graph might represent 5 pets.</em>
- 3.MD.B.3·Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step “how many more” and “how many less” problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. <span>For example, draw a bar graph in which each square in the bar graph might represent 5 pets.</span>