Statistics: Loopy aeroplanes
View Sequence overviewData provides evidence to inform our answers to questions.
Whole class
Loopy aeroplanes PowerPoint
Each student
Two sticky notes
Lesson
Discuss with the students some of their noticings flying the new planes. Some questions to help prompt the discussion include:
- How did the size of the loops affect the flight?
- How did the width of the loops affect the flight?
Provide each student with two sticky notes to record the distance of their two throws (one throw recorded on each note).
Create a new dot plot on the board (as shown below). We used the x-axis to indicate distance in metres and the y-axis to indicate the type of loops on the planes. Ask students to stick their sticky notes in the correct place.
Show students Loopy aeroplanes PowerPoint slide 20, which poses the following questions to guide students’ analysis of their data:
- If we went outside again now and flew our planes again, which one do you predict will fly the furthest? Why?
- Which plane is the most unpredictable? What makes you say that?
- How does the size of the loops impact the flight of a plane?
- How does the width of the loops impact the flight of a plane?
- Based on this data, what is the best design for a loopy aeroplane? Can you say this for certain?
Discuss with the students the answers to these questions.
- Are students using evidence from the data to support their inferences and conclusions?
- Make sure the students provide evidence from the data as they answer each question. Ask questions like: What evidence from the data makes you say that?
- Are students using probabilistic language as they answer questions?
- Ensure that students are using conditional and likelihood language where needed. For example, if you hear a comment like “Planes with a small loop at the front go further”, you might ask the question “Will they always go further? How can you be certain?”.
Making predictions
Prediction is a natural part of life. Statistics provides a set of highly effective concepts, tools, practices and dispositions to strengthen our capacity to make predictions.
Students’ predictions on how far their plane might fly are much more than just a wild guess. Their predictions are based on evidence from the data that they have collected.
When making their predictions, students are making a claim beyond what is currently known. This means that our predictions should be expressed with uncertainty and provide supporting evidence for the claim. For example, “I think that the plane with the small loop at the front will probably go about 5m because most planes of this design went close to this distance.” In this statement, uncertainty is expressed through the use of the words “probably” and “about”. The evidence used to support this claim is that “most planes of this design went close to this distance”.
Prediction is a natural part of life. Statistics provides a set of highly effective concepts, tools, practices and dispositions to strengthen our capacity to make predictions.
Students’ predictions on how far their plane might fly are much more than just a wild guess. Their predictions are based on evidence from the data that they have collected.
When making their predictions, students are making a claim beyond what is currently known. This means that our predictions should be expressed with uncertainty and provide supporting evidence for the claim. For example, “I think that the plane with the small loop at the front will probably go about 5m because most planes of this design went close to this distance.” In this statement, uncertainty is expressed through the use of the words “probably” and “about”. The evidence used to support this claim is that “most planes of this design went close to this distance”.
Conduct a class discussion.
Discuss:
- What did your group decide?
- It is likely that groups will have slightly different answers to the questions.
- Why is there difference in our answers?
- Each group's answers will be unique to the planes that they tested and the data that they collected.
- What evidence helped us decide?
- What are some general features of a “good” loopy aeroplane?
- Look across the analyses shared by each group and see if there are common features.