Cover lesson · Science · Year 7 · Beginner
LNF: Numeracy → Learning that statistics represent data and that probability models chance helps us make informed inferences and decisions → Collecting data
Name: Class: Date:
Print: this sheet, one per pupil, and the stimulus sheet “Cae Bryn Eithin: are there more daisies on the short grass?”, one between two. No computers are needed and pupils do not go outside. They count daisies in the 10 quadrat pictures in Step 5. Pupils need a pen and a pencil. A calculator is useful in Step 6 but not essential.
Run: 5 min pupils read the stimulus in pairs · 7 min Step 2, the question and the types of data · 8 min Step 3, fixing a plan · 6 min Step 4, designing a results table · 12 min Step 5, counting, alone · 8 min Step 6, answering the question · 4 min success criteria. Total 50 minutes.
Collect: this sheet. It is numeracy practice: planning how to collect data fairly to test a prediction, and collecting it accurately. It prepares pupils for the ecological sampling in GCSE The Sciences Unit 4, Section 4.1.1, where they use quadrats to measure how many of a species live in an area. All answers are on the worked example.
A Year 7 class at Ysgol Bryn Eithin noticed lots of daisies on the school field. They want to know if there are more daisies where the grass is mown short than in the long grass by the hedge. You will plan how to collect the data fairly, design a table, then collect the data yourself from pictures of 10 quadrats.
Read sections 1 to 3 of the stimulus with a partner. Make sure you know what a quadrat is and the counting rule for daisies on the frame.
(a) Write the class’s question as a prediction that you could test. Start: “I predict that ...”
(b) Sort the 8 pieces of data in section 4 of the stimulus. Write the letters in the correct column.
| Quantitative (a number or a measurement) | Qualitative (a description in words) |
|---|---|
Read Owain’s first plan in section 5 of the stimulus. It has 4 problems that would make the results unfair or not useful. Find them and write how to fix each one.
| The problem | How to fix it |
|---|---|
Draw a table to record the number of daisies in 10 quadrats: 5 on the mown grass and 5 in the long grass. Your table needs a column for the quadrat number, a column for where it was, a column for a tally and a column for the total. Give each column a clear heading.
Count the daisies in each quadrat below and record them in your table as a tally, then as a number. Q1 to Q5 are on the mown grass. Q6 to Q10 are in the long grass by the hedge.
Counting rule: count every daisy inside the frame. If a daisy sits on the frame, count it only if it is on the top or the left side. Tick each daisy lightly in pencil as you count it, so you do not count it twice.
(a) Complete the table.
| Area | Total daisies in 5 quadrats | Mean daisies per quadrat | Fewest and most in one quadrat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mown grass (Q1 to Q5) | |||
| Long grass (Q6 to Q10) |
(b) Was your prediction correct? Use numbers from your table in your answer.
(c) Are 5 quadrats in each area enough to be sure? Give one reason.
(d) Name one other thing the class could measure in each quadrat to help explain the difference.