Statistics: Origami frogs
View Sequence overviewThere are sources of variability which we can and should control or reduce to ensure our data is reliable.
Whole class
Origami frogs PowerPoint
Each group
Metre rulers and measuring tapes
Each student
Jumping frogs Student sheet
Students’ origami frogs made in the previous lesson
Task
Show students slide 8 of the Origami frogs PowerPoint which presents the PPDAC statistical investigation process.
Revise: We have our problem to investigate: How far can an origami frog jump?. Now we need to make a plan for our data collection.
Divide students into their small groups again. Explain that each student needs data on four jumps from their origami frog. They will need to work together to collect this data. Provide each student with a copy of Jumping frogs Student sheet, which provides the following prompts:
- What data do we need to collect?
- How will we collect our data?
- What equipment do we need to collect our data?
- How will we record our data?
Have students work in their group to make their data collection plan.
Explain to the students that they will pilot their data collection plan—this means doing a small test run to see if the plan works, and noticing problems and opportunities. Provide students with access to a selection of measuring tools. Allow students to select the tool/s that they plan to use.
Ask students find a space to jump their frogs and allow time to start to collect their data. Observe how students are working and take note of any inconsistencies and issues that you observe, such as the way that students are measuring or the differences in the surfaces that students are jumping their frogs on.
Checkpoint—Fair test
Ask students to share any issues, challenges, or inconsistencies that they noticed, and how they managed issues or challenges, such as a frog that won’t jump or a frog that didn’t jump the same each time (e.g., straight, high, sideways, backwards, or doing somersaults).
Add any of your own noticings that are not raised by students. Two possible sources of variability that should be discussed include inconsistencies in measuring or the surface that students were using to jump their frogs. Explain that these factors, or variables, impact the data. The variable that we are interested in is the length of jumps. To ensure we have reliable data, we need to control or reduce other variables if possible.
Ask: How can we be consistent in the way that we jump our frogs and measure the length of these jumps?
Allow students to share their suggestions, for example:
- consistent methods for jumping frogs, such as jumping frogs with 2 fingers, jumping on a firm surface like tabletops.
- measure carefully to the nearest centimeter and collect data in the same way each time e.g. measure to where same part of the frog landed.
Establish fair test protocols and record these protocols on slide 9 of Origami frogs PowerPoint for later reference. These fair test protocols can be revisited and refined throughout the sequence as needed.
Piloting data collection
The purpose of the data collection pilot is to provide students with the opportunity to decide what data they need to collect and how they will go about doing this. The role of the teacher is to notice what students are doing and to encourage them to be consistent so that they can trust their data. It is not to tell students what to do.
Through this activity, challenges to collecting and recording reliable and consistent data become apparent to students. As they set out to measure their origami frog jumps, students become aware of some sources of variability which arise regarding how they measure jump distance, where they measure from and where they measure to. They may notice that they need to jump the frogs in a consistent way, using the same conditions for each frog jump.
The idea of variation emerges as students consider how to reduce the sources of variability which contribute to inconsistency and errors in their data collection and recording. In developing a class approach to data collection, measurement protocols emerge from what students notice through their activity and are grounded in their suggestions for reducing these sources of variability. Student should develop an understanding of the importance of collecting data in a consistent and reliable manner from this piloting experience.
The purpose of the data collection pilot is to provide students with the opportunity to decide what data they need to collect and how they will go about doing this. The role of the teacher is to notice what students are doing and to encourage them to be consistent so that they can trust their data. It is not to tell students what to do.
Through this activity, challenges to collecting and recording reliable and consistent data become apparent to students. As they set out to measure their origami frog jumps, students become aware of some sources of variability which arise regarding how they measure jump distance, where they measure from and where they measure to. They may notice that they need to jump the frogs in a consistent way, using the same conditions for each frog jump.
The idea of variation emerges as students consider how to reduce the sources of variability which contribute to inconsistency and errors in their data collection and recording. In developing a class approach to data collection, measurement protocols emerge from what students notice through their activity and are grounded in their suggestions for reducing these sources of variability. Student should develop an understanding of the importance of collecting data in a consistent and reliable manner from this piloting experience.