Teaching the Basics

These materials support the teaching of core statistical concepts at the middle school level. Some are strictly paper-and-pencil activities, while others depend on computer applets. But, even the applets offer ideas that you could adapt to classrooms without computers.

Statistics and probability. Grades 6-8 http://www2.edc.org/mathpartners/pdfs/6-8%20Statistics%20and%20Probability.pdf

This MathPARTNERS unit contains seven lessons with hands-on learning activities for exploring statistics and probability with students in grades 6-8. Each lesson, with reproducible student materials, features an overview of the mathematics, preparation guidelines, teaching tips, and suggestions for how to use each activity to develop specific mathematics concepts. Statistics activities focus on posing questions, gathering data, identifying bias, understanding measures of central tendency, representing data with graphs, and interpreting data. MSP full record

Statistics and probability. Grades 6-8 assessment http://www2.edc.org/mathpartners/pdfs/6-8%20StatProb%20Assess.pdf

This assessment material, meant to be used along with the above instructional unit, is designed to determine what a student understands about statistics and probability. The material contains a set of seven short assessment activities with answers that are correlated to specific activities available in the instructional unit. MSP full record

Numbers : Handling data http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/handlingdata/

These tutorials for elementary and middle school students provide the basic facts in three areas: graphs and charts, understanding averages, and probability. Each area includes fact sheets that explain key concepts in simple terms, plus practice sheets and quizzes. MSP full record

RobertNiles.com: Statistics Every Writer Should Know http://nilesonline.com/stats/

Robert Niles, a journalist and producer for the LA Times, created this site to help other writers learn the basics of statistics. He explains many key concepts that are essential to report accurate, meaningful numbers and facts. After starting with the fundamentals of mean, median, and percent, Niles goes on to describe more advanced topics like normal distribution, margin of error, and data analysis. For each section, examples demonstrate proper usage of the techniques. A discussion of some frequently asked questions is also given, such as sample sizes and choosing the right statistical test for different kinds of data. MSP full record

Comparing Properties of the Mean and the Median Through the Use of Technology http://standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples/chap6/6.6/index.htm

This interactive tool allows students to compare measures of central tendency. As students change one or more of the seven data points, the effects on the mean and median are immediately displayed. Questions challenge students to explore further the use of these measures of center; for example, What happens if you pull some of the data values way off to one extreme or the other extreme? MSP full record

Plop It! http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/plop/index.html

Users click to build dot plots of data and view how the mean, median, and mode change as numbers are added to the plot. MSP full record

Mean and Median http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=160

This applet allows students to input up to 15 data values and investigate the mean, median, and box-and-whisker plot for the set of data they create. Questions are suggested in the Exploration section.

Exploring Data Using Histograms http://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=cResource.dspDetail&ResourceID=288

Build a data set and compare its histogram to its line plot. Vary the size of the intervals and explore how the histogram changes in response. MSP full record

Box and Whisker Plots http://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=cResource.dspDetail&ResourceID=169

Given a line plot and its corresponding box plot, students can add points to the line plot and note how the box plot changes. An effective aid to understanding box-and-whisker plots! MSP full record

Line of Best Fit http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=146

This activity allows the user to enter a set of data, plot the data on a coordinate grid, and see the equation for a line of best fit as determined by the computer. Students can remove selected data points and immediately see the effect on the line of best fit and its equation.

Exploring linear data http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?id=L298

In a more complex lesson connecting statistics and linear functions, students construct scatter plots, examine trends, and consider a line of best fit as they graph real-world data. They also investigate the concept of slope as they model linear data in a variety of settings that range from car repair costs to sports to medicine. Handouts for four activities, spread out over three class periods, are provided. MSP full record

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Copyright June 2008 — The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0424671. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.