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

History of populations

http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L199

A lesson plan for grades 6–8 Mathematics

Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics


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The activities at this level focus on studying a series of circle graphs that report the population of the United States and of selected states–Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania–in fifty-year intervals from 1800 to 1950. The students are asked to discuss and describe the information and to explain why the percent of the total population changed for the three states. They are asked to write a justification for their explanation. Illuminations provides helpful activity sheets and detailed instructions for completing the lesson.

Students will:

  • Describe and explain information displayed in a circle graph.
  • Make written predictions from the information.

NCTM Standards and Expectations:

  • Discuss and understand the correspondence between data sets and their graphical representations, especially histograms, stem-and-leaf plots, box plots, and scatterplots.
  • Use observations about differences between two or more samples to make conjectures about the populations from which the samples were taken.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Mathematics (2004)

Grade 6

  • Goal 4: Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and determine probabilities.
    • Objective 4.01: Develop fluency with counting strategies to determine the sample space for an event. Include lists, tree diagrams, frequency distribution tables, permutations, combinations, and the Fundamental Counting Principle.
    • Objective 4.02: Use a sample space to determine the probability of an event.
    • Objective 4.03: Conduct experiments involving simple and compound events.
    • Objective 4.04: Determine and compare experimental and theoretical probabilities for simple and compound events.
    • Objective 4.05: Determine and compare experimental and theoretical probabilities for independent and dependent events.

Grade 7

  • Goal 4: Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and use graphs and data analysis.
    • Objective 4.01: Collect, organize, analyze, and display data (including box plots and histograms) to solve problems.

Grade 8

  • Goal 4: Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and use graphs and data analysis.
    • Objective 4.01: Collect, organize, analyze, and display data (including scatterplots) to solve problems.
    • Objective 4.02: Approximate a line of best fit for a given scatterplot; explain the meaning of the line as it relates to the problem and make predictions.