Statistics enriches everything!

In many school systems in the world, subjects are taught separately. In primary school, children  learn reading and writing, maths and social studies at different times of the day. But more than that, many topics within subjects are also taught separately. In mathematics we often teach computational skills, geometry, measurement and statistics in separate topics throughout the school year. Textbooks tend to encourage this segmentation of the curriculum. This causes problems as students compartmentalise their learning.  They think that something learned in mathematics can’t possibly be used in Physics. They complain in mathematics if they are asked to write a sentence or a report, saying that it belongs in English.
I participated in an interesting discussion on Twitter recently about Stretch and Challenge. (Thanks #mathschat) My interpretation of “Stretch and challenge” is ways of getting students to extend their thinking beyond the original task so that they are learning more and feeling challenged. This reminds me a lot of the idea of “Low floor High Ceiling” that Jo Boaler talks about. We need tasks that are easy for students to get started on, but that do not limit students, particularly ones who have really caught onto the task and wish to keep going.

Fractions

As a statistics educator, I see applications of statistics and probability everywhere. At a workshop on proportional thinking we were each asked to represent three-quarters, having been told that our A5 piece of paper was “one”. When I saw the different representations used by the participants, I could see a graph as a great way to represent it. You could make a quick set of axes on a whiteboard, and get people to put crosses on which representation they used. The task of categorising all the representations reinforces the idea that there are many ways to show the same thing. It also gets students more aware of the different representations. Then the barchart/dotplot provides a reminder of the outcome of the task. Students who are excited about this idea could make up a little questionnaire to take home and get other family members to draw different fractions, and look at the representations, adding them to the graph back at school.

Measurement

Measurement is an area of the mathematics curriculum that is just begging to be combined with statistics. Just physically measuring an object leads to a variation in responses, which can be graphed. Getting each child to measure each object three times and take the middle value, should lead to a distribution of values with less spread. And then there is estimation. I love the example Dan Meyer uses in his Ted talk in 2010 of filling a tank with water. Students could be asked their estimate of the filling time, simply by guessing, and then use mathematical modelling to refine their estimate. Both values can be graphed and compared.

Area and Probability

Area calculations can be used nicely with probability. Children can invent games that involve tossing a coin onto a shape or shapes. The score depends on whether the coin lands within the shape, outside the shape or on a line. They can estimate what the score will be from 10 throws, simply by looking at the shape, then try it out with one lot of ten throws. Now do some area calculations. Students may have different ways of dealing with the overlap issue. Use the area calculations to improve their theoretical estimates of the probability of each outcome, and from there work out the expected value. Then do multiple trials of ten throws and see how you need to modify the model.  So much learning in one task!
Statistics obviously fits well in much topic work as well. The Olympics are looming, with all the interest and the flood of statistics they provide. Students can be given the fascinating question of which country does the best? There are so many ways to measure and to account for population. Drawing graphs gives an idea of spread and distribution.
There is so much you can do with statistics and other strands and other curriculum areas!  Statistics requires a context, and it is economical use of time if the context is something else you are teaching.

Can you tell me some ways you have incorporated statistics into other strands of mathematics or other subject areas?