Playing with Data

Have you ever watched the show Chopped on Food Network? I love this show. For those of you that don't watch it, professional chefs open a basket of mystery ingredients and make a meal using all the ingredients.  I've thought I would like to compete in a teacher version of this show where I open a basket and have to create a lesson plan from the objects in the basket. You see I love to write lesson plans. It's what I do for fun. (Sad, I know.) My family and friends know this about me, so they bring me stuff to look at before they throw it out. Nine times out of ten I can come up with a lesson to go with the unwanted  item. And that leads me to the picture above. My mom, a first grade teacher, was getting ready to throw these jacks out but made the mistake of asking me if I could think of a lesson for them.  After a couple of minutes I had an idea, and I created a data analysis packet to go with the game of jacks. The students play a game of jacks and record the results of the game or the number of jacks they are able to pick up. (Give each student or group a ball and 5 jacks.) Then they take the results and create four different types of graphs using the data they gathered.

Now I need your help. I really like to use authentic data to teach students math skills, but sometimes my ideas might be a little far fetched. Of course, I haven't tried this in my classroom, so I have no idea if this would work in the real world. I would love to have your thoughts about this activity. What do you think? How could I make it better? Does it even make sense? I can take the criticism. Bring it on:) Click {HERE} or on the picture for a free copy.

Update:
I had a couple of questions about the circle graph and thought I should elaborate a bit. I've been working with my students all year on turning data into a graph. During Calender Math we tackle a different graph each day based on authentic data we have collected. We create a bar, pie, pictograph, and line graph every week. Then we talk about which one is the best for displaying the information. I compare this to graphic organizers. There are many to choose from but one usually works better than the others. The pie graph and pictograph are a stretch for this activity but can still be done.  Here's how I pictured it: If a student picked up three jacks in three attempts they would color three slices blue. If they picked up 1 jack in the other two attempts they would color in the two slices red. Their pie graph would then be three blue and two red.  At the end of the activity we would discuss which graph is the best for displaying the information and  which ones were not great for displaying the information.

Good luck as you continue to create magic in your classroom!