LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Exploring histograms

http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L449

A lesson plan for grades 6–7 Mathematics

Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics


Learn more

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

This catalog record is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. This license applies to the content of this page only and does not apply to the referenced website.

The interactive data analysis tool in this investigation allows students to create their own sets of data and examine how various statistical functions such as mean, median, and standard deviation depend on the choice of data. Students participate in several activities that challenge them to enter data and explain how a change in data alters the mean, median, and mode. Illuminations provides detailed instructions and a link to an online histogram tool.

NCTM Standards and Expectations:

  • Understand relationships among the angles, side lengths, perimeters, areas, and volumes of similar objects.
  • Use coordinate geometry to examine special geometric shapes, such as regular polygons or those with pairs of parallel or perpendicular sides.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Mathematics (2004)

Grade 6

  • Goal 3: Geometry -The learner will understand and use properties and relationships of geometric figures in the coordinate plane.
    • Objective 3.04: Solve problems involving geometric figures in the coordinate plane.
  • Goal 4: Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and determine probabilities.
    • Objective 4.06: Design and conduct experiments or surveys to solve problems; report and analyze results

Grade 7

  • Goal 3: Geometry - The learner will understand and use properties and relationships in geometry.
    • Objective 3.01: Using three-dimensional figures:
      • Identify, describe, and draw from various views (top, side, front, corner).
      • Build from various views.
      • Describe cross-sectional views.
    • Objective 3.02: Identify, define, and describe similar and congruent polygons with respect to angle measures, length of sides, and proportionality of sides.
    • Objective 3.03: Use scaling and proportional reasoning to solve problems related to similar and congruent polygons.
  • Goal 4: Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and use graphs and data analysis.
    • Objective 4.02: Calculate, use, and interpret the mean, median, mode, range, frequency distribution, and inter-quartile range for a set of data.
    • Objective 4.03: Describe how the mean, median, mode, range, frequency distribution, and inter-quartile range of a set of data affect its graph.