Topic Data

10

Handling

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Use vocabulary related to data handling correctly as required by the Year 5 and Year 6 KBSR Mathematics Syllabus; Apply the major mathematical skills and basic pedagogical content knowledge related to data handling; Use the vocabulary related to data organisation in graphs correctly; Apply the major mathematical skills and basic pedagogical content knowledge related to data organisation in graphs; and Plan basic teaching and learning activities for data handling and data organisation in graphs.

INTRODUCTION
Most of the important decision making of modern society is based on statistics, graphs and probability. In politics, advertising and economics, samples are organised, survey questions developed, answers sought, results tabulated and organised and predictions displayed with averages and graphs to show distributions, relationships and trends of the data collected before decisions are made. What will be the next flavour of cakes manufactured? Where will the land for the next supermarket be bought? Data handling has become an important aspect of life for many people today. Graphs and statistics are indispensable to comprehending the raw data on which decision making is based. A mass of data is incomprehensible. Averages supply a framework with which to describe what happens. Graphs supply a visual way of presenting the range of alternatives available and indicating where the density of

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interest lies. The forms of graph that are commonly used are bar graphs, histograms, picture graphs, line graphs and pie charts. Statistics within the primary school is predominantly the study of procedures for collecting, recording, organising and interpreting data. Data handling is introduced in primary schools in the belief that it is crucial for children to begin study of the concepts and processes in statistics, graphs and probability as early as possible. The difficulty lies in the lack of knowledge of what aspects of data handling are suitable for primary children. Many primary school teachers have little preparation for teaching data handling and little experience of it being taught to them. By reading and applying what is written in this topic, it is expected that teachers will be able to: (a) (b) (c) Show pupils that statistics and graphs are part of mathematical activities in their daily lives; Show pupils the connections between statistics and graphs to basic numbers and space concepts; and Allow pupils to conduct simple statistical investigations and graphical presentations. ACTIVITY 10.1 Can you think of reasons why data handling exists in our lives? List down the reasons before you could compare them with your partner.

10.1

PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

Important information regarding the content and pedagogical aspects for teaching data handling covers the following aspects: (a) (b) (c) (d) Statistical measures such as range, mode, median and mean; Collecting, recording, organising and interpreting data; Statistical procedures on organising data such as tables, charts and diagrams; and Types of graphs used to visualise data.

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Black Bears
Mean: 60.07 inches Median: 62.50 inches Range: 42 inches Variance: 117.681 Standard deviation: 10.85 inches Minimum: 36 inches Maximum: 78 inches First quartile: 51.63 inches Third quartile: 67.38 inches Count: 58 bears Sum: 3438.1 inches

Frequency
1

0 3 4 5 6 7 8

Length in Inches

Figure 10.1: Histogram showing the statistics of Black Bears

ACTIVITY 10.2 Figure 10.1 above shows an example of how a histogram can be used to visualize data on black bears. List down four other graphical representations and show how they differ from one another.

10.1.1

Statistical Measures

Computational statistics is a large and complex branch of mathematics with significance for the social as well as physical and biological sciences. However, in primary schools, pupils will be exposed only to the simplest of descriptive statistics. The statistical measures studied in Year 5 and Year 6 are range, mean, mode and median. (a) Range In a list of data, range is the difference between the greatest and the least value. Consider the following results (out of 20) in a mathematics test for two groups of students (the BLUE and the RED): 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 12, 14, 5, 7, 6, 9, 11, 9, 8, 5, 11, 16, 6, 9, 7 13

The BLUE scores: The RED scores:

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The range for the BLUE group is 11 5 = 6, while the range for the RED group is 16 5 = 11. (b) Mean Mean is the average of the scores. To calculate it, the scores are added and the result is divided by the number of scores. In the example above, the mean for the BLUE group is 6 + 8 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 6 + 11+ 8 + 11 + 6 + 7 = 88, 88 divided by 11 is 8. While the mean for the RED group is 7 + 9 + 12 + 14 + 7 + 9 + 9 + 5 + 16 + 9 + 13 = 110, 110 divided by 11 is 10. (c) Mode Mode is the most commonly occurring score. In the example above, the mode for the BLUE group is 6, while the mode for the RED group is 9. Median Median is the middle score when the scores are arranged in ascending order. In the above example, there are 11 scores altogether, therefore the median is the sixth score when the scores are arranged in ascending order. BLUE: RED: 5, 5, 6, 7, 6, 7, 6, 9, 7, 9, 8, 9, 8, 9, 10, 12, 10, 13, 11, 14, 11 16

(d)

Hence, the median for the BLUE group is 8 and the median for the RED group is 9. Note: If there is an even number of scores (say 10), then the median is halfway between the half score and the next score (example: half way between the 5th and the 6th score in ascending order). For example, for scores 5, 9, 3, 8, 6, 4, 6, 3

The arrangement of the scores in ascending order is 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9

And the fourth score is 5 and the fifth score is 6. This means that the median is 5 + 6 = 11 divided by 2, and that will be 5.5.

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10.1.2

Collecting, Recording, Organising and Interpreting Data

Data handling can be a valuable aid in decision making. A commonly used format to investigate problems (Thompson et al; 1976) is stated in the following 5 steps: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Recognise and clearly formulate a problem; Collect relevant data; Organise the data appropriately; Analyse and interpret the data; and Relate the statistics obtained from the data to the original problem.

The five step format in using data to make decisions can be illustrated with the example adapted from Thompson et al (1976). (a) A group of children wished to send a representative to a softball throwing contest. Three children volunteered. Each volunteer was asked to make five throws which were measured with a trundle wheel to the nearest metre. The results were:
Table 10.1: Result of softball throwing contest Volunteers Shahar Bala Tony Their 5 throws ( to the nearest metre) 28, 23, 22, 24, 27 24, 23, 27, 24, 27 23, 27, 29, 18, 26

(b)

To help comprehend these results, the children tallied them into a frequency table and graphed them onto bar graphs. They then calculated the mean, median and range for each volunteer. The tables and the bar graphs are shown below:
Table 10.2: The frequency Distance of 18 throw (m) Shahar Bala Tony 1 19 20 21 22 1 23 1 1 1 24 1 2 1 25 26 27 1 2 1 1 28 1 29

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Bar Graph: Shahar

F r e q u e n c y

3 2 1 0

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

Length of throw (m) Bar Graphs: Bala

F r e q u e n c y

3 2 1 0

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

Length of throw (m) Bar Graphs: Tony

F r e q u e n c y

3 2 1 0

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

Length of throw (m)

Figure 10.2: Statistical measures

Next, the three statistical measures, mean, median an range are calculated and tabulated in the table below.

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Table 10.3: Three Statistical Measures Mean Shahar Bala Tony 24.8 25.0 24.6 Median 24 24 26 Range 6 4 11

Based on the frequency table, bar graphs and the statistical measures constructed, ask your students the following questions. (c) Who would be the best representative? Why? Who is the most consistent? Why? Who has the longest throw? What should be our criteria for selecting the best representative? Who has the best typical throw? How do we define typical? Is consistency important? Should we have measured more or less than five throws? Should bad throws be excluded? Is anything important lost in rounding to the nearest metre? Would it make it easier if we tallied the throws into sections, say 15-19, 2024, 25-29 etc.? ACTIVITY 10.3 Write your answers for these two questions and compare them with your partner next to you. 1. 2. What are statistical measures? Why is it necessary for children to know how to collect, record, organise and interpret data?

(d)

(e)

10.1.3

Methods of Organising Data

The appropriate methods of organising data that seem suitable for the primary years are interpreting and constructing simple tables, charts and diagrams that are commonly used in everyday life to display information. The basis of this component is the organisation of raw data into collections. This means determining the extent of the possible outcomes, forming these into categories and

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organising the data under these categories. The techniques that may have to be used in this process are combinatorial counting (to determine all the possible outcomes) and tallying (to organise the data under the categories). Let us begin this section by introducing to you the tables. (a) Tables (i) The simple table An example of this simple table is the table of contents on a cereal packet. It consists of words and figures in two columns (refer to Figure 10.3). Oats Meal Cereal: Average contents per serving: Vitamin C Iron Niacin Riboflavin 25 mg 27 mg 11 mg 38 mg

Figure 10.3: Table of contents on a cereal packet

(ii)

The regular table The regular table is the matrix style table where there are more than two columns (more than column of data). The everyday example is the bus timetable. It is useful when comparing, for example, results from one year to another or between different people. Another common example of this table is in advertisements where prices at different shops are compared (refer to Table 10.4).
Table 10.4: Materials Collected by the Children in 6 Orkid Bakar Muthu 8 3 7 5 7 5 2 8 Chong 6 2 9 3 Mary Rokiah 2 8 3 7

Bottle tops Cotton reels Egg Cartons Plastic spoons

5 9 5 3

(b)

Charts Charts are less regular in terms of rows and columns. They attempt to display information more visually, to relate the display to what actually occurs. As such, we have the road maps and bus routes of transport and the time lines of history.

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(i)

The strip map This may be the bus route of an area or the time line of a history topic. A line is drawn and on this line are marked references to major features (refer to Figure 10.4).

Bus Route: Ipoh Tapah Bidor Sungkai

The Rule of King Willhem:

Coronation

The Great War

Birth of Prince Henry

Birth of Prince Derek

Death of the Duke

Figure 10.4: Bus route of an area or time line of a history topic

(ii)

The branch map This is a combination of strip maps, involving branching as in a tree. The most straight forward examples are the road maps or genealogy diagrams (family tree of parents, grandparents etc.). The skill of following directions from a map is an important life skill that our children must master. An example of a family tree is shown below.

Kamal Baharuddin and Fauziah Hamid

Kassim

Fauziah m Ahmad

Karim m Rokiah

Kamsiah

Siti

Yusuf

Kamarul

Figure 10.5: Kamal Baharuddins family tree

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(a)

Diagrams These are visual ways to represent membership in different sets and subsets. A Venn diagram and a Carroll diagram could be considered the most favourable diagrams used to show the relationship between the members of a given group of objects. (i) Venn Diagram: An example of a Venn diagram for flowers in terms of red and scented.
Neither red nor scented

Red Flowers

Scented flowers

Red and scented

Figure 10.6: Venn Diagram

(ii) Carroll Diagram: An example of a Carroll diagram for flowers in terms of red and scented.
Red Scented Not Scented Red and scented flowers Red and not scented flowers Not Red Not red and scented flowers Not red and not scented flowers

Figure 10.7: Carroll diagram

10.1.4
(a) (b)

Types of Graphs

The importance of graphs in primary schools arises from two simple ideas A picture is worth a thousand words; and Mathematics is a study of relationships.

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Graphs are not in the syllabus to give light relief to the numerical activities. Their purpose is to improve communication and understanding, especially for children of lower ability. However, we can all gain insight to complicated statistical information if it is displayed in a graphical manner. Obviously, knowing how to draw graphs and to draw inferences from them are valuable skills to acquire. Bar graphs, picture graphs, line graphs, circle graphs and scatter graphs, can all be used to visualise data. These various forms of graphs are commonly seen in real life in magazines, newspapers, textbooks and advertisements. The objective in using a graph is to visually present information in a form which enables it to be assimilated at a glance as compared to a list of numbers. Graphs are yet further examples of representing information in such a way that patterns are evident or worthwhile seeking. If particular patterns emerge, time and time again we can conclude that, indeed, some generalisation can be made about the circumstances we are representing. Hypothesis can be formulated and tested and a visual display made of the results. Concepts are more clearly understood as a consequence and fundamental principals are consolidated. (i) Bar graphs Bar graphs facilitate comparisons of quantities. Bar graphs can be vertical as well as horizontal (columns as well as rows). They can also be in the form of blocks, or bar lines. The following are examples of bar graphs (Figure 10.8):

Cats Dogs Fish Birds

10

15

20

25

(a)

Horizontal Bar Graph: Types of pets children have

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25 20 15 10 5

Bus

Car Bicycle Motorcycle

(b)

Vertical Bar Graph: Types of vehicles children use to go to school Figure 10.8 (a) & (b): Bar graphs

(ii)

Picture Graphs Picture graphs can also facilitate comparisons of quantities just like bar graphs. They can easily be updated. Picture graphs are also called pictographs and isotypes. An example of a picture graph is shown below.

Class A Class B Class C Class D

KEY:

represents RM 100

Figure 10.9: Picture Graph Money accumulated for classroom projects

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(iii) Line Graphs Line graphs can be used for comparisons and for expressing allocations of resources, but they seem particularly useful for communicating trends. Here is an example of a line graph.
40oC 30oC 20oC 10oC Mon Tue Wed Thurs Fri

Figure 10.10: Line graph maximum temperatures during the week

(iv) Circle Graphs Circle graphs (also known as pie charts) are used to picture the totality of a quantity and to indicate how portions of the totality are allocated. Here is a circle graph indicating how one college student spent his budget.
College Costs Entertainment

Clothing Room and Board

Miscellaneous

Figure 10.11: Circle graph: Kamaruddins budget

(v)

Scatter graphs Scatter graphs are similar to line graphs which show the relationship between two different sets of data. The scatter graph is made for data which is not in sequence (in terms of the horizontal axis) and is unsuitable for a line graph. Here is a scatter graph which shows that mass is related to height.

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200 cm 150 cm 100 cm 50 cm

50 kg

100 kg

150 kg

200 kg

Figure 10.12: Scatter graph weight and height of students

SELF-CHECK 10.1 1. 2. Describe briefly the three methods of organising data. Explain the five types of graphs with the help of visual representations.

10.2

MAJOR MATHEMATICAL SKILLS FOR DATA HANDLING IN YEAR 5 AND YEAR 6

Our students will learn the topic of data handling effectively if we plan the lessons systematically. A well organised conceptual development of statistical measures, collecting, recording, organising and interpreting of data will be very helpful for our students to understand these concepts better. It is recommended to instruct this topic within a problem solving environment and in a less stressful manner. Remember to provide opportunities for our students to differentiate the different types of graphs and when they are best used.

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The major mathematical skills to be mastered by pupils studying the topic of data handling in Year 5 and Year 6 are as follows: (a) Average (i) (ii) Describe the meaning of average; State the average of two, three, four or five quantities;

(iii) Calculate the average using a formula; and (iv) Solve problems in real life situations. (b) Data Collection (i) (ii) Collect data; Process data; and

(iii) Analyse data. (c) Pictograph (i) (ii) Identify pictograph which represents one or more than one unit; Extract information from a pictograph; and

(iii) Construct a pictograph. (d) Bar Charts (i) (ii) (ii) Identify characteristics of a bar chart; Extract information from a bar chart; and Construct a bar chart.

10.3

TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

This section begins by describing the teaching and learning activities for you to conduct a lesson on data handling. Let us do Activity 10.4 first. Enjoy!

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10.3.1

Average

ACTIVITY 10.4 Learning Outcomes: To state the average of two, three, four or five quantities To calculate the average using a formula

Materials: Task Cards Answer Sheets

Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Divide the class into groups of five students and give each student an Answer Sheet. Ask the students to write their name on the Answer Sheet. Shuffle the Five Task Cards and place them face down in a stack at the centre. Instruct each player to begin by drawing a card from the stack. Instruct the player to write all the answers to the questions in the card drawn on the Answer Sheet. After a period of time (to be determined by the teacher), the pupils in the group exchange cards with the pupil on their left in a clockwise direction. Pupils repeat steps (5 and 6) until everyone has answered the questions in all the cards. The pupil with the most number of correct answers, wins. Teacher summarises the lesson on the meaning of average.

7. 8. 9.

Example of an Answer Sheet:

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Name :___________________ Card A 1._____ 2._____ 3._____ Card D 1._____ 2._____ 3._____ Card B 1._____ 2._____ 3._____ Card E 1._____ 2._____ 3._____

Class :__________ Card C 1._____ 2._____ 3._____

Example of a Task Card: Task Card A 1. Calculate the average of 264 and 246. Average = _______________ 2. Calculate the average of RM273, RM264 and RM 252. Average = RM ___________ 3. Find the average of 4.2 km, 5.1 km, 4900 m and 5 km. Average = ___________ km

ACTIVITY 10.5 Work with your friend in class to prepare four other Task Cards. There should be three questions in each card. Make sure your cards are based on the learning outcomes of Activity 10.4.

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10.3.2

Organising and Interpreting Data

ACTIVITY 10.6 Learning Outcomes: To recognise frequency, mode, range, average, minimum and maximum value from a bar graph; and To find the frequency, mode, range, average, minimum and maximum value from a given bar graph.

Materials: 30 different Flash Cards; and Clean writing papers.

Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Divide the class into groups of three students and give each group a clean writing paper. Ask the students to write their names on the clean paper given. Shuffle the Flash Cards and place them face down in a stack at the centre. Instruct Player A to begin by drawing a card from the stack. He shows the card to Player B. Instruct Player B to read the answers within the stipulated time (decided by the teacher). Instruct Player C to write the points below Player Bs name. Each correct answer is awarded one point (a maximum of 6 points for each Flash Card). Players repeat steps (4 and 5) until all 10 cards have been drawn by Player A. Repeat steps (3 through 6) until all the players have the opportunity to read all 10 Flash Cards shown to them. The winner is the group of students that has the most number of points. Teacher summarises the lesson on how to find the frequency, mode, range, average, minimum and maximum value from a given bar graph.

7. 8. 9. 10.

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Example of a Flash Card:

Flash Card 1
Mass of fish caught in kg 150 100 50

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thurs

Days

1.

What is the most common amount of fish caught? Answer: __________ kg What is the mass of fish caught on Monday? Answer: __________ kg Find the average mass of fish caught in the four days. Answer: __________ kg What is the minimum mass of fish caught? Answer: __________ kg What is the maximum mass of fish caught? Answer: __________ kg Find the range between the maximum and the minimum mass of fish caught. Answer: __________ kg ACTIVITY 10.7

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Work with three friends of yours in class to prepare twenty-nine other Flash Cards. There should be six questions in each Flash Card. Make sure your cards are based on the learning outcomes of Activity 10.6.

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10.3.3

Pie Chart

ACTIVITY 10.8 Learning Outcomes: To recognise frequency, mode, range, average, minimum and maximum value from a pie chart; and To find the frequency, mode, range, average, minimum and maximum value from a given pie chart.

Materials: Task Sheets; Clean writing papers; and Colour pencils.

Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Divide the class into groups of four to six students. Give each group a different colour pencil and a clean writing paper. The teacher sets up five stations in the classroom and places a Task Sheet at each station. The teacher instructs students to solve the questions in the Task Sheet at each station. Each group will spend 10 minutes at each station. At the end of 10 minutes, the groups will have to move on to the next station in the clockwise direction. At the end of 50 minutes, the teacher collects the answer papers. The group with the highest score (highest number of correct answers) is the winner. Teacher summarises the lesson on how to find the frequency, mode, range, average, minimum and maximum value from a given pie chart.

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Example of a Task Sheet: STATION 1 The pie chart below shows the colours of 1,000 marbles owned by Gopal.

Black 5% White 19% Red 25% Green 19%

Blue

1.

What is the percentage of blue marbles? Answer:___________ What is the most common colour of the marbles? Answer:___________ Calculate the range. Answer:___________ Find the average percentage of the different colours of marbles owned by Gopal. Answer:___________

2.

3.

4.

ACTIVITY 10.9 Work with two of your friends to prepare four other Task Sheets for the other stations. There should be four questions in each sheet. Make sure your sheets are based on the learning outcomes of Activity 10.8.

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10.3.4

Problem Solving

ACTIVITY 10.10 Learning Outcomes: To solve problems involving average; and To solve problems involving graphs.

Materials: Activity Cards; Clean writing papers; and Colour pencils.

Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Divide the class into groups of four pupils and give each group a different colour pencil and a clean writing paper. Shuffle a set of 12 Activity Cards and place them face down in a stack at the centre. Teacher signals to the students to begin solving the questions in the first Activity Card drawn. Once they have completed the first Card, they may continue with the next Activity Card. At the end of 10 minutes, the groups will stop and hand their answer papers to the teacher. The group with the highest score is the winner. Teacher summarises the lesson on how to solve problems in real contexts involving averages and graphs.

ACTIVITY 10.10 ACTIVITY 1

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Example of an Activity Card: Activity Card 1 1. 2. The total score of Ali, Babu and Chin in a mathematics test is 260. The average score of Ali and Chin is 85. Find Babus score. The average mass of four pupils is 22.9kg. Ali joins the group and the average mass of the pupils is now 23.6 kg. What is Alis mass in kg? Questions 3 and 4 are based on the bar graph below. Amount of money saved by four students

Money (RM) 150 100 50

Suzy Samy Sarah Samsul

3. 4. What is the percentage of money saved by Sarah?

Girl

What is the difference between the amount of money saved by Samy and Samsul? ACTIVITY 10.11 Prepare 11 other Activity Cards for the group. There should be four questions in each card. Make sure your cards are based on the learning outcomes of Activity 10.10.

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Most of the important decision-making carried out in modern society is based on statistics, graphs and probabilities. Graphs and statistics are indispensable to comprehending the raw data on which decision-making is based. Statistics within the primary school is predominantly the study of procedures for the collection, recording, organisation and interpretation of data. Many primary school teachers have little preparation for teaching data handling and little experience of it being taught to them. In a list of data, range is the difference between the greatest and the least value. Mean is the average of the scores. Mode is the most commonly occurring score. Median is the middle score when the scores have been arranged in an ascending order. A commonly used format to investigate problems in data handling are the following 5 steps: Recognise and clearly formulate a problem; Organise the data appropriately; Analyse and interpret the data; and Relate the statistics obtained from the data to the original problem. Collect relevant data;

The appropriate methods of organising data that seem suitable for the primary years are interpreting and constructing simple tables, charts and diagrams that are commonly used in everyday life to display information. Bar graphs, picture graphs, line graphs, circle graphs and scatter graphs, can all be used to picture data. These various forms of graphs are commonly seen in the real world in magazines, newspapers, textbooks and advertisements.

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Chart Diagram Graph Mean Median Mode

Probability Range Raw data Statistics Table

Anne Toh. (2007). Resos pembelajaran masteri: Mathematics year 5. Petaling Jaya: Pearson Malaysia. Bahagian Pendidikan Guru. (1998). Konsep dan aktiviti pengajaran dan pembelajaran matematik: Ukuran. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Burrows, D., & Cooper, T. (1987). Statistics, graphs and probability in the primary school (trial materials). Queensland, Australia: Carseldine Campus. Nur Alia Abd. Rahman & Nandhini. (2008). Siri intensif: Mathematics KBSR year 5. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbitan Fargoes. Nur Alia Abd Rahman & Nandhini. (2008). Siri intensif : Mathematics KBSR year 6. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbitan Fargoes. Ng, S.F. (2002). Mathematics in action workbook 2B (Part 1). Singapore: Pearson Education Asia. Clarke, P. et al. (2002). Maths spotlight activity sheets 1. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers.