We have started our new unit in Math - Data Management and Probability. Our first lesson is called "Collection and Organization of Data"
Because young children are naturally curious about their world, they often raise questions such as, How many? How much? What kind? or Which of these? Such questions often offer opportunities for beginning the study of data analysis and probability.
(National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000, p. 49)
The main purpose for collecting and organizing data is to gather information in order to answer questions. When students collect and organize data, they have an opportunity to learn more about themselves, their environment, issues in their school or community, topics in various subject areas, and so on. Learning activities should help students understand the processes that are involved in formulating questions, seeking relevant information, and organizing that information in meaningful ways. Involving students in collecting and organizing data allows them to participate in the decision making that is required at different steps of the process.
With your child Discuss the “Lost and Found” Activity
We have been learning about organizing data in order to gather information. The class has completed an activity called Lost and Found in which they identified different categories of lost items in a school (e.g., pieces of clothing, toys, sports equipment), and organized data in order to compare the numbers of items in the different categories. Ask your child to tell you about the activity and what he or she learned about organizing data. Here are some questions that you might ask:
• What was the Lost and Found activity about?
• What did you do in this activity?
• What categories of lost items did you identify?
• How did you find the category of items that students lost
most often?
• How did you find the category of items that students lost
least often?
• What kind of graph did you create to show the data?
• What did the graph show about Lost and Found items?
• What could students do to reduce the number of items that
are lost?
Thank you for reviewing this activity with your child.
