“Everything is so linear, but this makes me think diagonally!” ~ a student describing Byrdseed.TV
Students discover that an average can be unfair.
Students check Mr. Boid’s fairness by totaling the juice and dividing by six.
Students calculate how to distribute banana juice so that the average remains two and a half cups despite unequal amounts.
Students pour six cups unevenly among their peers, ensuring the average remains two and a half cups for each child.
Students will investigate why Mr. Boid’s line plot makes a tie look like a blowout.
Students add the total yards thrown by each competitor to determine the actual winner of the boulder throwing competition.
Students analyze the misleading graph and work on creating a more accurate line plot to represent their results.
Students create a misleading line plot using different sizes for their marks and explain why their graph is misleading.
Students will investigate why these bar graphs are so misleading.
Students note the number of votes each teacher received and calculate the difference to understand the misleading graph.
Students draw bar graphs starting at zero to represent votes honestly and avoid being misled by misleading scales.
Students choose a comparison, like a basketball game score, to create a misleading bar graph using a carefully selected scale.
Students will create purposefully misleading graphs to better learn how proper graphs should be created.
Technique 1: Showing Just a Moment
Technique 2: Bar Graphs with Bad Scales
Technique 3: Leaving Out Information
Technique 4: Asking the Wrong Group
Technique 5: Line Graphs with Bad Scales
Bonus: Getting Too Fancy
Now, your students will produce their own bad graphs.
Students will find at least three ways to express the weight of the world’s heaviest pumpkin.
Students predict the weight of the world’s heaviest pumpkin based on their observations and curiosity about its size.
Students calculate and express the weight of the world’s heaviest pumpkin using different comparisons and units of measurement.
Students will convert between multiple measurements and calculate area per hour to estimate how long it will take to mow a large lawn.
Students gather information to determine how long it takes to mow Central Park’s great lawn using a graphic organizer.
Next, they convert all of their units into feet and square feet (feel free to adapt this however you’d like).
Students calculate how much grass they can mow per hour, then use it to find the total mowing time.
Students choose a new mower and speed, then calculate how long it takes to mow the large lawn.
Finally, they can pick a new lawn, determine the measurements, and decide how long that lawn would take to mow.
Students will determine which unit is most likely if an elephant weighs 176,000. Then… the real fun begins.
Students determine the most likely unit of measurement used to describe the weight of an average-sized African elephant.
Students calculate the weight of an elephant in pounds after converting ounces, estimating it to be approximately 11,000 pounds.
Students calculate how many cars weigh the same as one elephant using the weight of their chosen car for comparison.
Finally, students get to pick their own unit of measurement and compare it to the weight of an elephant.
Students will determine which unit is most likely if a movie is 0.017 long. Then… the real fun begins.
Students brainstorm possible time units for measuring the length of an extremely long movie based on given information.
I offer some scaffolding help to get kids started on their unit conversions (not necessary for all students).
Then, we wonder how long this movie would be if measured in months?
Now, we determine the length of the movie when measured in days on Venus!
Finally, students can pick their own unit of time to measure the length of this long movie.
Students will convert between many US units of volume.
Students determine the best unit of measurement for water volume based on how much a bathtub can hold.
Students calculate how many juice boxes are needed to fill a bathtub based on the bathtub’s volume in pints.
What if we filled an Olympic-sized pool using bathtubs?
Finally, students pick their own item to fill a bathtub with.
Students will convert between many units of time.
I announce that I’ve just turned 341,640 old and ask students to determine which units make the most sense.
I provide a little scaffolding, showing why months is a very unlikely unit.
Then, I ask students to determine how old I am in Saturn years.
After revealing my findings, I ask a final question: how many flies’ lifetimes old am I?
Students calculate their age in different time units, like elephant lifetimes or presidential terms, to understand time measurement.
Students will calculate how much it would cost to fill up a car with liquids of their choosing.
Students compare the cost of various liquids with gasoline.
Then they choose a car and determine its fuel tank capacity.
Using my 2008 Kia Rondo, we calculate the price per fill up.
Students use price anchoring to create an advertisement comparing gas prices to another liquid.
Using Google Earth and authentic measurements, students will reach a reasonable estimate of how many students could fit on their playground.
Make guesses about how many people could fit on a four-square court.
Calculate the area of a four-square court as well as how much space a student takes up.
Calculate how many people really could fit on a four-square court and then test it with real kids.
Calculate how many students could fit onto the entire playground using Google Earth.
Extend the idea to calculate how many people could fit into other large spaces.