COUNT THE CARS

 

A Mean, Median, and Mode project for Algebra 1 Part 1 by Erin Welch

 
 

Teacher Information:

Benchmarks N.3,N.5,N.7,D.1,D.7,

Time Frame 2 class periods

 

Curriculum Integration mean, median, mode, tables

Materials Student: notebook, pencil, calculator, a parking lot full of cars Teacher: pre-selected categories, a fair way to decide which group gets which category

 

Applications: salaries, income to be generated, insurance, medical

Student Groupings: groups of four

 

Possible Obstacles to Student Learning basic counting skills remembering how to use a calculator working well with others organizing data in table form

 

Opportunities for Assessment Group Project: Students collect data of different categories of vehicles such as color, make, model or year of vehicle. They record their data, regroup and compile their data to put in chart form. They then divide up chores into statistician, report writer, and presenter. They should then be able to form a conclusion about their findings. Journal Entry: Explain the importance of finding mean, median, and mode and give examples of where it is used in real life situations.

 

Lesson

Procedure  After having taught how to compute the mean, median, and to find the mode, the class is divided into groups of four. Before giving out categories, discuss with students what would be some of the things that could be counted about vehicles. List these on the board and then number each category. Try to lead them into the obvious, and also have them brainstorm about something they would look for in a vehicle that could be counted. Instruct the students about the project itself and the procedure that should be followed. Depending on how many groups you have, you may have more than one group counting the same category. Write the numbers of the categories on pieces of paper and  have each group pick a category number. Instruct the groups that they are about to go outside into the parking lot . They only have 20 minutes to count so give the groups 5 minutes to decide how they are going to divide up the parking lot so that they can use their time wisely. Take the class as a whole outside to the parking lot and monitor what they are doing. Bring the students back to class, have them regroup. They are to then spend the rest of class compiling their information and deciding who's going to compute the mean, the median and the mode; who's going to write the report, which should be illustrated with pictures; who's going to type up the report and who's going to present the group's findings to the class. During the next class period, get students back into their groups and give them a few minutes to fine tune their activity. The groups should then take turns presenting their findings to the class. Discuss the outcomes of the presentations with the class. Have them give ideas where else they could use mean, median and mode.