ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Mathematics: 3. Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability.

Needs Assessment/Rational

I am a junior high math teacher on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The students that I work with need hands on visual math lessons that are vital to their interests and basic math needs. The classroom that I have chosen to work with struggles with basic math, but enjoys the subject when presented in a manner that is relevant to them. The Data, Statistic, and Problem Solving testing results from the CTBS shows a mean score of 54% for these students reinforcing the evidence of a need in this area for my students.
My students will work to reinforce math computation by calculating and comparing information by the measures of central tendencies. (Benchmark 7.3.5) This concept is very important to my students because they need to understand the importance of doing well in math and achieving scores within the range that is expected of them under the “No Child Left Behind” Act. Understanding those concepts will help motivate achievement.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: Students will understand how to collect, organize, and display data using a graph. In our society data is often presented through the use of a graph. The colors and symbols, that are used make it eye appealing to the audience it is trying to persuade. My Native American students learn very easily from this kind of presentation, but they must be able to understand the information that is presented by the graph.
Goal(s): 1. Students will choose the appropriate graph that represents the information they are presenting on the graph. 2. Using this information, students will calculate mean, median, mode, and range.
3. Students will determine which of the central tendencies represent their given data.

Questions Answered

Essential question:  1.Why is a graph important in presenting information?  2. What are the measures of central tendencies, and why are they important?  3. How could the graph be used to show that the information is misleading?
Objectives: 1. Students will use the internet to research information on the topic they chose by finding at least two sets of numerical data.  2. Using Microsoft Excel students will graph information with an accurate scale, title, and key, with 90% accuracy . 3. Students will use a calculator to find central tendencies, with 100% accuracy. 4. Students will present the graph and other information to their peers, scoring at least a “B” on the presentation rubric.

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer)will provide evidence of understanding? 
1. Quiz students on the kinds of graphs that should be used for various kinds of information. 2. Quiz on calculating central tendencies. 3. Hands on constructions of the graph.
What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance) will provide evidence of understanding?   
1.“What is being presented by the information on the graph?”  2.“Is the information on the graph misleading?”  3.“What can we predict or conclude from the information?” 4.“Does the information answer our question?”
What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding?
1. Students will use the internet to find data.  2. Students will use the computer to make their graph.  3. Students will use calculators to find mean, median, mode, and range.
What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect?
Work samples such as graphs, tables, and teacher observation.

Instructional Strategies

Students will use a combination of inquiry based and problem based learning to investigate what they need to know about presenting information on a graph. Students will gather, record, and graph information from a question of their choosing and interest. Students will then use the graph and tables to compute the measures of central tendencies.