At a recent conference of 40 Key Stage 3 mathematics teachers, the guest speaker, Bob Sawyer, a mathematics adviser from Stoke-on-Trent, demonstrated the following data handling activity.

 He asked each member of his audience to prepare for a quick . true or false. test by numbering one to five on a sheet of paper.

 He then asked five questions to which the audience could only guess the answers. For example: . My favourite colour is green . true or false?. or . At the 1966 World Cup final, approximately 50 000 meat pies were sold . true or false?.

 The forty teachers provided a sufficiently large sample for the group to:

> collect in the results and produce a tally chart

> draw a bar graph and a line graph

> discuss the shape of the distribution and the random nature of the results

> identify symmetry  - it was as difficult to get them all wrong as it was to get them all right!.

> consider how you might change the questions in order to change the shape of the graph

 

There is here the framework for an interesting and challenging lesson for a Year 6 or a Year 7 class. The teachers. results are attached in an excel spreadsheet. You may wish to use them with your class.

John Plant

Adviser for Mathematics

Download spreadsheet