The Typical Student

You have been asked to help teachers understand their

students better. You must collect numerical data about
the lives of students and present your findings to the
faculty of your school. Survey 25 students and include
data about how students spend their spare time, what
they wear, where they shop, what they like to eat, etc.
You must include 10 different aspects about student life
in your data. You must then analyze your data and
present it in a variety of data representations. Include a
typed page of what a typical student is based on your
data. Use the rubric on the following page to guide your
work.

Modified from copyrighted material of IDE Corp. © 2006, www.idecorp.com. Permission to duplicate for registered users of the IDEportal only. 201 934 5005
 Rubric for The Typical Student

Novice (1 point) Apprentice (2 pts) Practitioner (3pts) Expert (4 pts)

Survey  includes less than 7  includes 7 – 9  includes 10 questions all of Practitioner
Questions questions questions about student lives plus questions
 just a few of the  most of the  all 10 can be answered contain a unique way
questions can be questions can be with numbers of collecting
answered with answered with  all the questions can numerical data
numbers numbers be represented in the
 just a few of the  most of the data representations
questions can be questions can be mentioned below
represented in the represented in the
required data displays required data
displays
Data  representations are  representations are includes all of the all of Practitioner
Representations clear and add to the clear and add to the following: plus data
reader’s understanding reader’s  number line plot representations
of the data understanding of the  histogram greatly add to the
 includes less than 4 of data  box-and-whisker plot reader's
the data  includes 4-5 of the  stem-and-leaf plot understanding of the
representations from data representations  scatter plot data in a creative or
the Practitioner from the  representations are extraordinary way
column Practitioner column clear
Measures of correctly gives less than 2 correctly gives 2 of the correctly gives the correctly gives all of
Central of the items from the items from the following for your the items from the
Tendency Practitioner column for Practitioner column for questions Practitioner column
most of your questions most of your questions  mean for all of your
 median questions and
 mode explains what
average is best to use
for each question
Measures of correctly gives less than 2 correctly gives 2 of the correctly gives the correctly gives all of
Variation of the items from the items from the following for your the items from the
Practitioner column for Practitioner column for questions Practitioner column
most of your questions most of your questions  percentiles for all of your
 Interquartile Range questions and
 mean Absolute explains the
deviation difference between
each
Mathematical  all work is neatly  all work is neatly  all work is neatly  work is neatly
Computations shown shown shown typed
 work contains more  work contains 2 – 5  work contains 1 or 2  work contains no
than 5 errors errors errors errors
Mathematical  contains more than 5  contains 4 - 5  accurate use of math  accurate use of
Content/ spelling or grammar spelling or grammar vocabulary math vocabulary
Mechanical mistakes mistakes  contains only a few  complete accuracy
Criteria  explanation shows  explanation shows spelling or grammar in spelling and
limited understanding some understanding mistakes grammar
of the mathematical of the mathematical  explanation shows  vivid writing style
concepts concepts complete
understanding of the
mathematical concepts

Modified from copyrighted material of IDE Corp. © 2006, www.idecorp.com. Permission to duplicate for registered users of the IDEportal only. 201 934 5005
 Unit Activities for The Typical Student

This unit should take approximately 2 – 3 weeks. The survey project

provides students with a “felt-need” to master the ability to make sense out of
real-world data through use of graphical displays and summary statistics.

Benchmark Lessons – whole-class, new content lessons

• Histograms
• Measures of Variation (Percentiles
Interquartile Range, Mean Absolute deviation)
• Relationships of Data represented in Scatter Plots
• Misleading Statistics

Mini-Lessons – small-group lessons on specific skills

• Mean, Median, Mode
• Creating Frequency Tables
• Using Statistics to Predict
• Creating Stem-and-Leaf Plots
• Creating Number line plots
• Creating Box-and-whisker plot

How-to-Sheets – step by step directions for specific skills

• Creating a Graph with Multiple Sets of Data in Microsoft Excel*
• Make a Graph in Excel*
• Insert an Excel Graph into a Word Document*
• Creating Box-and-Whisker Plots

*Can be found on the IDE Portal

Group Tasks – collaborative work such as brainstorming, planning, developing and editing
• Brainstorm Project Questions
• Gathering Data
• Organizing Data

Peer Tutoring – allowing students to discuss concepts and teach each other
• Peer Editing
• Gathering Data
• In Class Technology Tutors

Technology Assignments – using technology make things easier, look better, etc.
• Making Graphs in Excel
• Finding Mean, Median, Mode on TI – 83 Calculator
• Creating a scatter plot on TI-83 Calculator

Modified from copyrighted material of IDE Corp. © 2006, www.idecorp.com. Permission to duplicate for registered users of the IDEportal only. 201 934 5005
 Unit Activities for The Typical Student, continued

Learning Centers – self-directed activities to practice and acquire skills

• Mean, Median, Mode Mini Lesson on Internet
• Finding averages on TI-83 Calculator

Individual Tasks – individual practice and assessment for mastery of skills

• Daily HW practice
• Measures of Central Tendency Quiz
• Using Statistics to Predict Quiz
• Unit Test

Here are some sample survey questions. You may use these or create your own. Just make sure you are
collecting numerical data.

1. How many brothers and sisters do you have (include half and step)?
2. How many bedrooms do you have in your house or apartment?
3. How many miles do you live from school?
4. How many minutes does it take you to get to school?
5. How long do you spend on your math homework on a given night (include studying for tests and
quizzes)?
6. What was the grade on your last math test?
7. How much money do you spend on food in a typical week?
8. How many times do you go to the movies in a month?
9. Use the following rating scale to tell how you feel about hip hop music.
1 = hate it 2 = dislike it 3 = okay 4 = like it 5 = love it
10 Use the following rating scale to tell how you feel about country music.
1 = hate it 2 = dislike it 3 = okay 4 = like it 5 = love it
11. Use the following rating scale to tell how you feel about jazz music.
1 = hate it 2 = dislike it 3 = okay 4 = like it 5 = love it
12. How much to you spend on clothes in a typical month (include what you buy and your
parents)?
13. Use the following rating scale to tell how you feel about the clothes at ______ (insert popular
store).
1 = hate them 2 = dislike them 3 = okay 4 = like them 5 = love them

Modified from copyrighted material of IDE Corp. © 2006, www.idecorp.com. Permission to duplicate for registered users of the IDEportal only. 201 934 5005
 Activity List for The Typical Student

Due Materials/Information Date

Activity Date Needed Completed
Create 10 questions about
student lives. (Make sure
all answers are numbers.)

Get questions approved by

teacher

Find 25 students to
interview

Find mean, mode, median

of each question.

Create data displays for

each question

Modified from copyrighted material of IDE Corp. © 2006, www.idecorp.com. Permission to duplicate for registered users of the IDEportal only. 201 934 5005
 Typical Student Survey Brainstorm

What do you want to know about?

Come up with as many questions as you can:

Modified from copyrighted material of IDE Corp. © 2006, www.idecorp.com. Permission to duplicate for registered users of the IDEportal only. 201 934 5005
 My 10 Survey Questions for the Typical Student:

1.________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Results: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

2.________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Results: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

3.________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Results: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

4.________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Results: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

5.________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Results: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

6.________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Results: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

7.________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Results: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

8.________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Results: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

9.________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Results: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

10._______________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Results: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

Modified from copyrighted material of IDE Corp. © 2006, www.idecorp.com. Permission to duplicate for registered users of the IDEportal only. 201 934 5005
 Venn Diagram for The Typical Student

Modified from copyrighted material of IDE Corp. © 2006, www.idecorp.com. Permission to duplicate for registered users of the IDEportal only. 201 934 5005
 “The Typical Student”
A Unit on Statistics and Graphs
Benchmark Lessons Mini-Lessons
• Histograms Objectives: Gather and Record Data; • Mean, Median, Mode
• Measures of Variation (Percentiles Find and Describe Measures of Central • Creating Frequency Tables
Interquartile Range, Mean Absolute Tendency and Measures of Variation; • Using Statistics to Predict
deviation) Use Statistics to Predict and Recognize • Creating Stem-and-Leaf Plots
• Relationships of Data represented in Misleading Statistics • Creating Number line plots
Scatter Plots • Creating Box-and-whisker plot
• Misleading Statistics •

Scaffold for Learning

How-To Sheets Technology Assignments
• Creating a Graph with Multiple Sets • Making Graphs in Excel
of Data in Microsoft Excel* • Finding Mean, Median, Mode
• Make a Graph in Excel* on TI – 83 Calculator
• Insert an Excel Graph into a Word • Creating a scatter plot on TI-83
Document* Calculator
• Creating Box-and-Whisker Plots

*Can be found on the IDE Portal

Learning Centers Group Tasks Individual Tasks Peer Tutoring

• Mean, Median, Mode • Brainstorm Project • Daily HW practice • Peer Editing
Mini Lesson on Questions • Measures of Central • Gathering Data
Internet • Gathering Data Tendency Quiz • In Class Technology
• Finding averages on • Organizing Data • Using Statistics to Tutors
TI-83 Calculator Predict Quiz
• Unit Test

Modified from copyrighted material of IDE Corp. © 2006, www.idecorp.com. Permission to duplicate for registered users of the IDEportal only. 201 934 5005
 What are the measures of central tendency?

What are the types of graphs are used to display

numerical data?
Comprehension

Find measures of central tendency

Find measures of variation

Application

Complete data displays

How do you compare to the typical student?

What does this data say about the students at

your school?
Connection
Facilitation Grid for The Typical Student

How do you describe a typical students, based

on the data?

What do the measures of central tendency say

about the data?
Synthesis

What is the relationship in your scatter plot?

©2006, IDE Corp. www.idecorp.com, Permission to duplicate for classroom use by registered IDEportal users only. 201 934 5005

What was the most difficult part of the unit?

How did you decide what questions to include in

your survey?
Metacognition