Mammals+Activity

=Mammals Activity: What does the data say?=

This activity showcases how measures of center and spread, as well as certain types of graphs, "tell" us things about the data we are looking at.

This activity was written in 2009 by Donna Toll (Ball State Creative Teaching Grant). I really like it because students are prompted to make conjectures and comparisons about different animals (including humans) based on the different attributes provided. An example would be to describe the relationship between the animal's heights and diets. What type of graph would you use and what does it "tell" you? Sometimes my students try to use a scatter plot to answer this question because they see the word "relationship" (parallel box plots should be used). By asking students to describe the relationship between sleep and life span, students are introduced to the meaning of scatterplots - what they "tell" the reader.



This activity was updated in May 2015. The answer key needs to be modified.