Lesson 5

Represent Measurement Data on Line Plots

Warm-up: Number Talk: Multiply Teen Numbers (10 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this Number Talk is to elicit strategies and understandings students have for multiplying within 100 and to help students develop fluency.

When students use known multiplication facts to multiply larger numbers, they look for and make use of structure (MP7).

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.

  • \(3\times10\)
  • \(3\times13\)
  • \(6\times13\)
  • \(3\times26\)

Student Response

Teachers with a valid work email address can click here to register or sign in for free access to Student Response.

Activity Synthesis

  • “How did you use multiplication facts that you already know to find some of the other products?” (I knew that \(3\times10\) is 30, so \(3\times13\) would be 3 groups of 10 and 3 groups of 3 which is 39. Once I knew \(3\times13\), I was able to find \(6\times13\) by doubling 39 which is 78.)

Activity 1: Go for a Measurement Walk (20 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this activity is for students to generate measurement data using rulers marked with half inches and quarter inches. Students go on a walk in nature, around the school, or on the playground to measure the length of items they chose. If time is limited, this activity could also be done in the classroom. 

Students may record and organize their data in the provided tables or on lined paper.

MLR8 Discussion Supports. Synthesis: Revoice student ideas to demonstrate and amplify mathematical language use. For example, revoice the student statement “It lined up with one of the half thingies” as “It lined up with one of the half inch marks,” or “We recorded it in halves” as “We recorded it in half inches.”
Advances: Speaking

Required Materials

Materials to Gather

Required Preparation

  • Each group of 4 needs a ruler marked with half inches and quarter inches from a previous lesson.

Launch

  • Groups of 4
  • “Today we are going to take a walk around the school (or the playground, or the classroom) to measure the length of some objects.”
  • “Talk to your group about some objects whose length we could measure on our walk.” (sticks, leaves, pine needles, plants)
  • 1 minute: group discussion
  • Share responses.
  • Make sure each group has a ruler that shows halves and fourths of an inch (from an earlier lesson).
  • If not using the table in the workbook, give students blank lined paper for recording measurements.

Activity

  • “Discuss with your group what to measure on our walk. You’ll need to gather at least 10 length measurements.”
  • “Later, each group will create a line plot with these measurements and display it on a poster.”
  • 2 minutes: group work time
  • Share responses.
  • “Record and organize your measurements in the table (or on lined paper).”
  • 20 minutes: whole-class walk around the school

Student Facing

  1. What objects will you measure?
  2. Record the lengths of the objects in the table (or on another sheet of paper).
    object length (inches)
    object length (inches)

Student Response

Teachers with a valid work email address can click here to register or sign in for free access to Student Response.

Activity Synthesis

  • “Now that we have our measurements data, let’s make a line plot.”

Activity 2: Let’s Make a Line Plot (20 minutes)

Narrative

In this activity, students create a line plot using the measurement data that they generated earlier and display their group’s line plot for all to see.

Encourage students to plan their line plot using the blank line in the activity statement before creating a poster version for display in a gallery walk. A template for a larger line plot is provided in the blackline master. Students can join the number lines on two copies of the blackline master to create a longer number line.

blank line plot

As students visit others’ data displays, they consider how the line plots are alike and how they are different, as well as why different scales might have been chosen for different objects measured.

Representation: Access for Perception. Synthesis: Use gestures during the explanation of the line plot to emphasize important aspects of the line plot.
Supports accessibility for: Conceptual Processing, Attention

Required Materials

Materials to Gather

Materials to Copy

  • Let's Make a Line Plot

Launch

  • Groups of 4
  • “Look at the data your group collected. What do you need to know to make a line plot that represents the data?” (The longest and shortest measurements. Whether the lengths are whole numbers or include halves and fourths of an inch.)
  • 1 minute: group discussion
  • Share responses.
  • Give each group 2 copies of the blackline master, scissors, glue or tape, and tools for creating a visual display.

Activity

  • “Work with your group to create a line plot that represents your data. You will share your line plot with the class later.”
  • “You can use the blank number line on your page to plan your line plot before creating a final one to display.”
  • Consider asking:
    • “How do you plan to make the scale for the line plot so that it can show all your measurements?”
    • “What information or labels could be included to help others understand your line plot?”
  • Demonstrate how to join and tape (or glue) the 2 copies of the blackline master to make a large line plot.
  • “After you complete your final line plot, tape (or glue) your line plot on a poster.”
  • 12–15 minutes: group work time

Student Facing

Create a line plot to represent the measurement data you collected. You will display and share your line plot with your class later.

You can use the blank number line here for your draft. Think about:

  • how to label the tick marks so that all the measurements are included
  • details to help others understand the data you collected

Student Response

Teachers with a valid work email address can click here to register or sign in for free access to Student Response.

Activity Synthesis

  • Ask students to display their posters.

MLR7 Compare and Connect

  • “As you visit the posters with your group, think about how the line plots are alike and how they are different. Be prepared to share your observations.”
  • 5 minute: gallery walk
  • See lesson synthesis.

Lesson Synthesis

Lesson Synthesis

Discuss students' observations from the gallery walk.

“How are the line plots alike?” (They all show lengths in inches and at least 10 x’s. They all show at least one stack of x’s that is taller.)

“How are they different?” (They represent lengths of different objects. Some line plots show more or fewer x’s than others. The numbers on the ends of the lines are different. The locations of x’s and how they are spread out are different. On some line plots, each space represents \(\frac{1}{2}\) inch. On others, it represents \(\frac{1}{4}\) inch.)

“Why did the line plots have different scales?” (Some types of objects are usually longer than others. For example, twigs are usually longer than leaves. Some data include only lengths in half inches. Others include quarters of an inch.)

Consider asking: “What did you learn about line plots in the past few lessons?” (They are used to show measurements, including fractions an inch. We can choose the scale of the line plot based on the measurements. We can get some information about the data more easily from a line plot than from a list.)

Cool-down: Complete the Line Plot (5 minutes)

Cool-Down

Teachers with a valid work email address can click here to register or sign in for free access to Cool-Downs.

Student Section Summary

Student Facing

In this section, we learned how to measure lengths using rulers marked with halves and quarters of an inch.

A ruler. 0 to 6 in inches with hash marks at fourths.

We also learned to make line plots to show measurements in half inches or quarter inches.

Line plot from 0 to 8 by ones. Horizontal axis, length of twigs in inches. Hash marks at fourths.