Data driven decision making in Yr 6

To help determine how many bikes and scooters we would need to accomodate in our new Bike Shelter the Yr 6 students surveyed our existing bike racks over a 2 week period in Term 1.

After they had gathered the data, I ran lesson on Mean, Mode and Median to determine the number of bike and scooters we usually have onsite and help decide how many racks we would need to accomodate.

We started by calculating the results in the traditional way by hand, and then I extended the lesson by showing the students how to input the data into Excel and write the formulas to determine the Mean, Mode and Median as a way of check their working out.

The data provided a great example of the concept of an outlier. On one day there were less than half the normal amount of bikes and scooters. This was the day the of the swimming carnival. After reviewing the concept of an outlier, the students removed the swimming carnival day in the Excel formula which changed the results quite significantly.

It was extremely helpful to have this data to drive the decision that the proposed bike shelter of 28 bikes and 20 scooters would accomodate our current and expected future usage. At the same time having the opportunity to practice and review maths skills to provide solutions to real life problems is priceless for the students understanding of the concept, so it was a win all round!