Concrete and Pictorial Graphs
Warm-up
'We are going to find out something about our class. Let's find out: what is your favourite season — winter, spring, summer, or fall?' Have students stand in four groups. 'What do you notice about the groups? What can we say about our class?'
Explore
Students each place a linking cube in their chosen category to build a class concrete graph on the floor. Together: 'Count your category. Which category has the most? The least? How many students answered our survey altogether?'
Consolidate
Practice
Small groups choose their own survey question, survey classmates, and build a small concrete graph. Present their graph to the class with one statement about what it shows. Exit: teacher points to a category on the class graph — students hold up fingers to show how many.
Exit reflection
'Let's organize our groups into straight lines so we can compare them. Stand in a line from this wall.' Now the lengths of lines are immediately comparable — this is the concrete basis of a bar graph.
It's a mathematical observation (more students chose summer) combined with a value judgment (best). Separate them: 'You're right that more students chose summer. Does that mean it IS the best season, or just that more people in our class prefer it?' This introduces the idea that data describes a sample.