Lesson 16

Interpret Measurement Data

Warm-up: Number Talk: Addition within 50 (10 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this Number Talk is to activate students’ previous experiences with addition methods involving composing a ten. In previous lessons, students used their knowledge of making a ten to find sums within 20 and used methods based on place value to compose a ten when adding within 100. This string is designed to encourage these methods. 

Launch

  • Display one expression.
  • “Give me a signal when you have an answer and can explain how you got it.”
  • 1 minute: quiet think time

Activity

  • Record answers and strategy.
  • Keep expressions and work displayed.
  • Repeat with each expression.

Student Facing

Find the value of each expression mentally.

  • \(15 + 5 + 1\)
  • \(25 + 6\)
  • \(16 + 7\)
  • \(37 + 6\)

Student Response

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Activity Synthesis

  • "How do you think the third expression could help with finding the value of the fourth one?" (In the ones place there was a 6 and 7, so I knew that \(6 + 4 = 10\) and there were 3 left over. In the fourth expression the ones were switched, but it was still 10 with 3 left over.)

Activity 1: The Plant Project (20 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this activity is for students to create a line plot from data presented in a table. The table includes data with longer lengths and a greater difference between the shortest and longest lengths than the data used in previous lessons. Students make decisions about how to label the number line using what they have learned about the structure of line plots and how to represent and label measurement data. The synthesis discussion focuses on sharing and comparing the strategies students used to create their line plots, focusing on how they chose which numbers to use on their line plots (MP3).

Representation: Internalize Comprehension. Activate or supply background knowledge. Provide either a blank line plot on grid paper or a copy of a previously created line plot for students to use as a reference. The components of the line plot can be reviewed once again before getting to work.
Supports accessibility for: Organization, Memory

Required Materials

Materials to Copy

  • Line Plot Template

Launch

  • Groups of 2
  • Give each student the Line Plot Template.
  • Display the table showing plant heights.
  • “Second grade students were growing plants in science class. They each measured the height of their plants. Height tells us the length of the plant from the soil to the top of the stem.”
  • “Here is how they represented their data.”
  • 30 seconds: quiet think time

Activity

  • “Your job is to create a line plot to represent this data. Think about how you want to label the tick marks with numbers. Be sure to include a title, label your units of measure, and think about how you are drawing your Xs so others can easily read your data.”
  • 8 minutes: independent work time
  • “Compare your line plot with your partner’s.”
  • 2 minutes: partner discussion
  • Monitor for students with clear and accurate line plots.

Student Facing

Use the data in this table to create a line plot.

Group B plant heights (centimeters)
Andre 33
Clare 25
Diego 27
Elena 25
Han 35
Jada 33
Kiran 26
Noah 30
Priya 26
Tyler 33

Student Response

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Activity Synthesis

  • Invite 23 students to display their line plots.
  • Consider asking each student:
    • “How did you decide which numbers to start and end your line plot with?” (I looked at the table to find the shortest and longest lengths.)
  • “How are these line plots the same? How are they different?”
  • “What can you say about the height of their plants by looking at the line plot?” (There are 3 Xs over 33, so those plants all measured 33 cm. Only 1 plant was 27 cm.)
  • “How many students had a plant that measured more than 30 cm?” (4 because 3 had 33 and 1 had 35).

Activity 2: Interpret Measurement Data on a Line Plot (15 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this activity is to interpret measurement data represented by line plots. Students use the line plots they created in the previous activity and another line plot about plant heights to answer questions. In the activity synthesis, students share how they found the difference between two lengths using the line plot and discuss how the structure of the line plot helps to show differences (MP7).

MLR8 Discussion Supports. Activity: Display sentence frames to support small group discussion: “I agree because. . . .” and “I disagree because. . . .” Listen for the appropriate use of comparative words such as shortest and tallest.
Advances: Speaking, Conversing

Launch

  • Groups of 2

Activity

  • “Now you are going to use the line plots you have created to answer questions about the measurement data.”
  • “You will also answer a few questions based on a line plot created by Han.”
  • 8 minutes: independent work time
  • Monitor for students who notice they can count the length units on the line plot to find the difference between the tallest and shortest plant.
  • “Check your answers with your partner and share what you learned about Han's line plot.”
  • 3 minutes: partner discussion
  • Monitor for a variety of student statements about Han's line plot to share in the lesson synthesis.

Student Facing

The Plant Project

Answer the questions based on your line plot.

  1. What was the shortest plant height?
  2. What was the tallest plant height?
  3. What is the difference between the height of the tallest plant and the shortest plant? Write an equation to show how you know.

    Ruler measuring a plant.

    Answer the questions based on Han’s line plot.

     Line plot titled Plant Height from 22 to 32 by ones. Horizontal axis labeled length, in centimeters. Beginning at 22, the number of x’s above each increment is 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 4, 5, 2, 1, 1.
  4. Han looked at this line plot and said that the tallest plant was 29 centimeters. Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
  5. How many plants were measured in all?
  6. Write a statement based on Han’s line plot.

Student Response

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Activity Synthesis

  • Invite 1–2 students to share how they found the difference between the height of the tallest and shortest plants on their line plot.
  • “How does the line plot help you see differences in the measurements that are collected?” (Each tick mark is the same length apart. You can count the distance between each. You can see if there’s a big or small difference between the measurements by how they are spread out.)

Lesson Synthesis

Lesson Synthesis

“Today you created line plots to represent measurement data about plant heights, answered questions about the data, and shared statements based on what you learned from the line plots.”

Display Han’s line plot:

 Dot plot titled Plant Height from 22 to 32 by 1’s.

Invite previously selected students to share their statements based on Han's line plot.

If time permits, share additional responses.

Cool-down: Diego’s Art Project (5 minutes)

Cool-Down

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Student Section Summary

Student Facing

In this section of the unit, we learned about a new kind of graph. A line plot is a way to show how many of each measurement using an x for each measurement. The line and the numbers on it represent the units used to measure. Line plots for length look like a ruler or parts of a tape measure. We made our own line plots and used them to answer questions about the data represented.
Line plot titled Hand Spans of Teachers, from 1 to 10 by ones. Horizontal axis labeled hand span, in inches. Beginning at 6, the number of x’s above each increment is 3, 3, 4, 2, 1.

From this line plot, we learn that 4 teachers have a handspan of 8 inches because there are 4 Xs above the 8.