Lesson Plan: Scientific Investigations: Displaying and Analyzing Data
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to represent and analyze data from a scientific investigation using graphs as a visual tool.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- describe how to use a table to display the results of an investigation,
- identify why graphs are useful in an investigation (for example, they communicate data more easily than sentences),
- compare different types of graphs (line plots, dot plots, and bar graphs) to determine which is best at presenting data for a specific investigation,
- match line plots and bar graphs with data from an investigation,
- identify and describe conclusions by analyzing and interpreting data presented in tables and graphs.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- making observations and asking questions about the world around them,
- measuring length and distance,
- formulating a measurable question,
- scientific investigations,
- measuring mass.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- creating scientific investigations (this is covered in a previous lesson),
- collecting data in investigations,
- the scientific method.
