Pancakes, Anyone? (Grade 1)

Master Teacher

Linda Stickles

Time Allotment

Two 45-minute lessons

Overview

In these lessons students will be introduced to data collecting using video and the Internet. They will practice collecting data and transferring this information to a graph.

Subject Matter

Mathematics

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

South Carolina Standards

(These Standards can be found at http://sde.state.sc.us/offices/cso.)

First Grade

Data Analysis and Probability

I. B. Sort and classify objects according to their attributes and organize data about the objects.

     1.  Compare, sort, and group objects by
          observable attributes.

I. C.    Represent data using concrete
           objects, pictures, and graphs.

       1. Use organized data to construct
           picture, object, and bar graphs.

II.A. 1 Interpret information displayed in a picture graph, object graph, and bar graph using the vocabulary more, less, fewer, greater than, and less than.

Media Components

Video

Math Monsters, Lesson 1: "Data Collecting." The Monsters decide to open a restaurant that sells pancakes. Their first challenge is to find out which are the most popular types of pancakes.

Web Sites

Mathsfiles: Data Pickings
This Web site shows a group of children using tally marks to record data about the number of sisters they have, their pets, and their favorite sport.

Bugs in the System
This Web site has a game where the children catch bugs in a room and put them on a graph. This site is not used in this lesson, but would make a great follow-up game or a center activity.

Materials

Equipment

Prep for Teachers

Mathsfiles: Data Pickings (http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/mathsfile/shockwave/games/datapick.html) Click on "Games." Stop here until ready to show. When ready to use, click on Level 1 and "Start." The teacher, Mr. Taylor, will tell you what to do. The activities don't always come up in the same order. If the screen does not show the sister chart, click on "Stop," and then "Start" again until you get the one about sisters.

Bugs in the System http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/bargraphs/bargraphs.html

As mentioned earlier, this site is not used in the lesson but would make a wonderful follow-up activity or a Learning Center.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Tell the children that you want to know how many brothers and sisters they each have. Ask those with no sisters to stand. Then ask those with 1 sister to stand, then 2, and so on until all children are standing. Explain that now you have a problem because you are confused and can't remember who had how many sisters. Tell them that today you will learn a way to gather and record information like this.

Step 2: Explain that you are going to show them a Web site where a class will tell them about the number of sisters they have. Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction and ask them to tell you how the children on the Web site keep track of the number of sisters each person has. (They put little marks by the number of sisters each child says he/she has.)

At the computer, go to bookmarked site at http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/mathsfile/shockwave/games/datapick.html

Follow on screen directions for activity. After the frequency chart has been completed, you can click on "Stop," or you can go on to find the pie graph that matches the frequency chart. Ask the children to explain how the students kept up with the number of sisters each child had.

Step 3: Explain to the students that the children were taking a survey. This is when you ask people a question and tally their answers to find specific information. Tell the children that there are many ways to keep track of the answers, but that the children on the Web site used something called tally marks. Explain what tally marks are and how they're used. Explain how they are grouped in 5s to make counting easier. Demonstrate this on the board.

Learning Activities

Step 1: Tell the children that they are going to watch a lesson from Math Monsters. In this lesson, the monsters want to open a pancake restaurant. All of the monsters like different kinds of pancakes, but they have only 3 bowls in which to mix the pancakes. They have to decide on which three flavors they will serve. Ask the class to come up with suggestions for doing this.

Step 2: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by asking them to watch to see if the monsters use any of their suggestions. PLAY the video. PAUSE when you see Split hold up the sign that says, "Data" and she sings, "We'll use the data to figure out their favorite taste sensation." Ask the children, "How are the monsters going to find out which 3 kinds of pancakes most of the monsters like?" (They're going to ask all of their neighbors which flavor pancake they like best.) Tell the children that when you ask a lot of people the same question, you are taking a survey. Remind them of the survey taken on the Web site. Explain to them that when people give you their answers, this is called data.

Step 3: Give the children a Focus for Media Interaction by asking them to look for a mistake Addison makes when explaining his data collection. START the video. Watch until the monsters say, "We need to put all of the information together. Yes, we need to organize it, but how?" A big question mark will appear on the screen as they say, "Can anyone think of a way?" PAUSE the video. Ask the children what problem the monsters are having and let children brainstorm ways the monsters can organize the information.

Step 4: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to predict which kind of pancake will be the most popular when all of the data is organized and to watch to see if their prediction is correct. START the video. PAUSE when Addison says, "I wonder if those strange creatures called human beings also collect data," and the dog comes in with the computer. Check to see if any of the children made the correct prediction. (The correct prediction is blueberry with 13 votes.)

Step 5: Ask the children which method of collecting data they liked the best and why. Why were some of the methods more confusing than others? Explain to the children that the monsters ended up recording all of the information on a bar graph. Tell them that a bar graph is an easy way to organize information so that the results are easily seen. Tell them that long bars indicate more and short bars indicate less.

Step 6: Tell them that now we are going to see how "those strange creatures called human beings" use data. Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by asking: What 2 things does the lady feed the animals? (grain and hay) START the tape and play until the monsters say, "We organized our information in a bar graph. I wonder if there were any other ways to do it." The big question mark comes on the screen. STOP the tape. Again, let the children brainstorm other ways the data could have been organized.

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Arrange the children so that they can work in pairs. Designate one child as the "zoo keeper" and one as the "data collector."

Step 2: Give each pair of students a bag of animal crackers. Tell them they are not to open them until they are told to do so. Also, give them a copy of Activity Sheet 1. Help the children identify the kinds of animals they will find in their bags of animal cookies and to write their names at the bottom of the columns. They are to make a prediction about the number of each kind of animal they have in their bags. Explain to the students that when told to do so, the "zoo keeper" will take the crackers one by one from the bag and call out the kind of animal it is. The "data collector" will make tally marks to indicate the kind of animal taken from the bag. They will continue to do this until the bag is empty. Tell the students that they may now open their bag and tally their animals.

Step 3: The students should then count their tally marks to determine the number of animals of each kind they had in their bag.

Step 4: Give each student a copy of Activity Sheet 2. Tell them that they are to use this sheet to make a bar graph, like the one the Math Monsters made, to show the results of the data they collected. They are to record the information they gathered about the animal crackers. Point out the title of the graph and talk about the importance of the title to show what information has been collected. Tell the children that one block will represent one kind of cracker. Give the children time to complete this activity.

Step 5: When all children have completed their graphs, have the groups combine into groups of four. They are to tell one another which animal they had more of, less of, were there fewer elephants or fewer lions, of which animals did they have less than 5 and of which animals did they have greater than 5.

Assessment

The Culminating Activity will be the Assessment.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Science: Have children talk about the kinds of food a real zoo keeper might have to acquire in order to feed the real animals that were represented in the box of animal crackers.

Social Studies: Have the children research to find out where in the world these animals can be found in the wild and locate these countries on a world map.

Language Arts: Have the children write about what it might be like to be a real zoo keeper. What problems might arise in a day's work? Why would it be important for a zoo keeper to keep a count of the animals in the zoo?

Community Connections

Student Materials