Statistics

Lesson 2

Math

Unit 8

6th Grade

Lesson 2 of 14

Objective


Describe data that is represented in a dot plot. Represent data using dot plots and frequency tables.

Common Core Standards


Core Standards

  • 6.SP.B.4 — Display numerical data in plots on a number line, including dot plots, histograms, and box plots.
  • 6.SP.B.5.A — Reporting the number of observations.

Foundational Standards

  • 4.MD.B.4
  • 5.MD.B.2

Criteria for Success


  1. Understand that a dot plot or other graphical representation of data helps to organize information in a way that it can be analyzed and inferences can be made (MP.4).
  2. Describe how data is represented in a dot plot, including informal observations of center and spread.
  3. Create a dot plot to represent a data set. 
  4. Create a frequency table to summarize a data set.

Tips for Teachers


  • In this lesson, students are asked to describe what they see in their dot plots. Vocabulary to describe center, spread, and shape will be more defined in upcoming lessons. Encourage students to use their own informal vocabulary and to explain the rationale behind their choices or descriptions. 
  • This Dot Plot Tool in GeoGebra creates a dot plot for you for up to 20 values only.
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Anchor Problems

25-30 minutes


Problem 1

Two classrooms at the Roosevelt Middle School collected data on student height—one sixth-grade classroom and one seventh-grade classroom. A dot plot represents each data set, shown below. 

a.   Describe the 6th Grade dot plot of height data.

b.   Describe the 7th Grade dot plot of height data.

c.   How would you describe the spread or span of data of each dot plot?

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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References

EngageNY Mathematics Grade 6 Mathematics > Module 6 > Topic A > Lesson 2Example 2

Grade 6 Mathematics > Module 6 > Topic A > Lesson 2 of the New York State Common Core Mathematics Curriculum from EngageNY and Great Minds. © 2015 Great Minds. Licensed by EngageNY of the New York State Education Department under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US license. Accessed Dec. 2, 2016, 5:15 p.m..

Modified by Fishtank Learning, Inc.

Problem 2

Mia is a sixth grader at Roosevelt Middle School and is thinking of joining the middle school track team. She read that Olympic athletes have lower resting heart rates than most people. She wondered about her own heart rate and how it would compare to other students’. Mia was interested in investigating the statistical question: What are the resting heart rates of students in my sixth-grade class?

Heart rates are expressed as beats per minute (or bpm). Mia knew her resting heart rate was 80 bpm. With the teacher’s help, the other sixth graders in her class found their heart rates and reported them to Mia. The following numbers are the resting heart rates (in beats per minute) for Mia and the other 22 students in Mia’s class.

80   89   87   85   84   90   79   83   85   86   88   84   81   88   85   83   83   86   82   83   86   82   84

a.   Skim the questions in part C. Why would a graphical representation of the data help you answer the questions more easily?

b.   Construct a dot plot of the data and then use it to answer the questions below.

c.   Answer the questions about the heart rate data:

  1. What was the heart rate for the student with the lowest heart rate? The highest heart rate?
  2. How many students had a heart rate greater than 86 bpm?
  3. What fraction of students had a heart rate less than 82 bpm?
  4. What heart rate represents the center of the data? Why did you choose this?
  5. What would you say is the typical heart rate of a sixth grader in Mia’s class? Why did you choose this?
  6. How does Mia’s heart rate compare to the rates of other students in her class?

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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References

EngageNY Mathematics Grade 6 Mathematics > Module 6 > Topic A > Lesson 2Example 1 and Exercises 1-10

Grade 6 Mathematics > Module 6 > Topic A > Lesson 2 of the New York State Common Core Mathematics Curriculum from EngageNY and Great Minds. © 2015 Great Minds. Licensed by EngageNY of the New York State Education Department under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US license. Accessed Dec. 2, 2016, 5:15 p.m..

Modified by Fishtank Learning, Inc.

Problem 3

A survey of a sixth-grade classroom asked students how many movies they have seen in the last month and the genre of each movie. The data is shown below.

Student # of movies Genre(s)
A 1 Comedy
B 2 Comedy, Action
C 2 Action, Horror
D 2 Comedy, Comedy
E 3 Drama, Comedy, Horror
F 0  
G 0  
H 1 Action
I 1 Animation
J 2 Comedy, Action
K 5 Comedy, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Animation
L 2 Comedy, Action

a.   Create two frequency tables: one for the number of movies watched and one for the genre of movies watched. 

b.   Make a dot plot of the data set that represents numerical data.

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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Problem Set

15-20 minutes


Give your students more opportunities to practice the skills in this lesson with a downloadable problem set aligned to the daily objective.

Target Task

5-10 minutes


A city planner for a neighborhood of Boston is trying to determine if a new park should be built in the neighborhood. She goes around the neighborhood, knocking on doors, asking, “How many children under the age of 7 live in this household?” The data she collected from 28 households is shown in the frequency table below.

# of children under 7 years old in the household Frequency
0 9
1 6
2 8
3 4
4 0
5 1

a.   Create a dot plot to represent the data. Describe your dot plot in words.

b.   What number would you use to represent the center of the data? Explain why you chose that number.

c.   Based on the data, what would you recommend to the city planner about the new park? Does this neighborhood seem like a good place to put the new park? Explain why or why not using the data.

Student Response

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Additional Practice


The following resources include problems and activities aligned to the objective of the lesson that can be used for additional practice or to create your own problem set.

  • Include problems where students create their own data sets to their own statistical questions (if time allows, have students collect real data from their peers); then have students create frequency tables and dot plots for the data and describe the data in the dot plot.

Next

Represent data using histograms.

Lesson 3
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Lesson Map

A7CB09C2-D12F-4F55-80DB-37298FF0A765

Topic A: Understanding Statistics & Distributions

Topic B: Measurements of Center & Variability

Topic C: Box Plots & Circle Graphs

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