LEARN NC

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

Aluminum Cans

http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L208

A lesson plan for Grades 5–8 Mathematics

Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

About this resource

Appropriate grades
5–8
Provider
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Legal

Creative Commons License

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.

In this lesson, one of a five-part unit from Illuminations titled “Mathematics and Environmental Concerns,” students gather and graph information about their use of aluminum cans, and then interpret the data, including finding and displaying the mean. They then develop a plan for future actions.

This lesson could easily be extended to include median, range, mode, and other statistical concepts.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Mathematics (2004)

Grade 5

  • 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 stem-and-leaf plots) to solve problems.
  • Goal 5: Algebra - The learner will demonstrate an understanding of patterns, relationships, and elementary algebraic representation.
    • Objective 5.03: Identify, describe, and analyze situations with constant or varying rates of change.

Grade 6

  • Goal 5: Algebra - The learner will demonstrate an understanding of simple algebraic expressions.
    • Objective 5.04: Use graphs, tables, and symbols to model and solve problems involving rates of change and ratios.

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.
    • Objective 4.02: Calculate, use, and interpret the mean, median, mode, range, frequency distribution, and inter-quartile range for a set of data.

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.