Chapter 11 & 12

1. How does the task presented in class (examining fair tests) compare to the content covered in chapter 11?
In class, we completed a task on our own and then discussed as a class if it was a fair representation of the data, and we explored what makes data analysis fair and the procedures and rules that may need to be established. We discussed how if results are unfair, they alter the results and make them worthless, and we came up with ways to keep this from happening. I learned that it is important to teach the meaning of the data collection, analysis, and graph representation because otherwise it is not relevant to the students and is simply a monotonous task to be completed. Chapter 11 discusses these same principles, including also that a connection to the real world is beneficial in addition to teaching the reasons of importance when teaching graphs and data analysis. The chapter also discusses various data can be collected that is meaningful to children, such as their favorite things, numbers of different things (pets, siblings, etc.), and measurements. Just as we did in class, the chapter talked about having children classify their data, which is important so that they will learn to make sense of real-world data in a variety of ways.


2. What are you seeing related to data analysis and probability in your own classroom settings?
I am in a first grade classroom and I see a few aspects of data analysis and probability present. One of the students' favorite things is their tooth chart. Each time a student loses a tooth, he or she writes his/her name on a tooth shaped piece of paper and Mrs. Smith tapes it above the last one on the chart in the correct month's column. Each time this happens, she talks to the class about different things about the graph, such as how many more/less are in this month than last month, how many altogether, how many has a particular student lost, and other things as well. During calendar time, Mrs. Smith always includes the weather and she keeps tallies of how many days it has been sunny, rainy, cloudy, etc. She does the same thing with this chart as with the tooth chart and asks the students various questions about how many more days has it been cloudy than rainy, if any are the same, etc.


3. Examining the SC early childhood content standards (K-3) for data analysis and probability, how do the state standards compare to chapters 11 and 12?
The standards for data analysis and probability are closely intertwined with the content in chapters 11 and 12. In kindergarten, students are expected to organize and interpret data using drawings and pictures. Chapter 11 discusses collecting data from kindergarteners and teaching them to classify objects, as well as the introduction of picture graphs and classification loops. The standards specify expectations in the organization and interpretation of numerous types of graphs, as well as the use and creation of surveys for data collection and analysis. Chapter 11 discusses these graphs, but also talks about not having children make the graphs until later grades, which is represented by the standards of the early grades that show simple organization and interpretation only. The standards also specify expectations of children to learn probability on a continuum, just as described in Chapter 12. The chapter says that it is important to teach children probability on a continuum rather than using percentages and fractions, and the standards follow this by increasing from "likely or unlikely" to "more likely and less likely," and so on.