Mathematics 

Numeracy

Term 4 is a time when all of our Year Levels are focussing on Statistics and Probability at some point. The Victorian Curriculum defines Statistics and Probability as…

Students recognise and analyse data and draw inferences. They represent, summarise and interpret data and undertake purposeful investigations involving the collection and interpretation of data. Students recognise variation, assess likelihood and assign probabilities using experimental and theoretical approaches. They develop an increasingly sophisticated ability to critically evaluate chance and data concepts and make reasoned judgments and decisions, as well as building skills to critically evaluate statistical information and develop intuitions about data.

The above process is used by many year levels to delve deeper into collecting and analysing data. One of the hardest parts of teaching students about collecting data is the type of questions that they need to ask someone when they survey them. 

Do they questions need to be open or closed? Do you need to come up with options for the people you survey to choose or do you gather the data they tell you and then graph that?

Data is information. We collect data to help us find out about the world. Data can be in the form of numbers, words or pictures. We organise and record data so that we can look at it easily and learn more.

Students will then move onto creating graphs, either written or digital, to represent the data that they have collected. 

Susan Mitchell & Mel Sanderson

Numeracy Leader