Real stats?

By -
With the census looming on March 6th 2018 we have an authentic context for our stats teaching and for meeting the intent  of The New Zealand Curriculum.



advertising the 2013 census


TKI notes Students can:
  • demonstrate the curriculum vision of being connected, actively involved, lifelong learners
  • explore the future focused issues of sustainability, citizenship, and globalisation
  • consider the NZC values of diversity, respect, community, and participation
  • make use of key competencies, especially using language, symbols, and texts, relating to others, thinking, and participating and contributing

In Maths & stats students may meet acheivement objectives by
  • designing and conducting their own census investigations using the statistical enquiry cycle
  • evaluating their findings
  • analysing the findings of the 2018 census and those of previous years
  • evaluating the effectiveness of different data displays.
TKI has links to a number of ideas that could be incorporated into lessons including using past data to answer questions like :

Usng an Excel spreadsheet Stats NZ combine historical data from 1876 with the latest national population projections to give an indication of the age you're likely to live to.

I particularly liked the discussion that goes with these questions
Eg. The Trends
  • New Zealanders are living progressively longer
  • women live longer than men
  • death rates continue to decline at all ages
  • life expectancy increases further for each additional year we live.
and then the  discussion about the certainty of these statements along with definitions and assumptions


From Stuff NZ: A century of change in New Zealand

https://www.colmarbrunton.co.nz/does-what-it-means-to-be-a-kiwi-depend-on-where-you-live/


Links:
Official NZ Census site https://www.census.govt.nz/
TKI - NZ Curriculum online
Census at School - the goto site for all stats teaching
NZ population statistics; https://www.stats.govt.nz/topics/population

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Seven Sites to build rich mathematical discussions

By -
We are often looking for ideas to have students work purposefully for short or longer bursts. This post has a collection of  seven sites that you and your students could work on independently, in pairs, small groups or as whole class  Would you rather ?  Would you rather began as a way for John Stevens to start his classes. It has evolved into a large collection of graded problems that ask students to choose an option and justify their choice using maths.  Visual Patterns.org A collection of over 400 patterns to begin rich discussions which can lead to a generalisation for the pattern. Collated by Fawn Nguyen , On the sidebar of her blog you will find links to others sites. Open Middle A huge collection of  problems sorted by topic and grade level. Open middle problems start and finish at the same point but offer multiple pathways through. Put together by    Nanette Johns on and Robert Kaplinsky Estimation 180 This site is curated by Andrew Stade...
Read more

RISKing Success

By -
Image
Happy hump day - of course hump day means that there is not long until our students are leaving to write their exams. With that comes plenty of practice tests. I wonder what effect the results of these tests have on students mindset and motivation especially those that continually get Not Achieved ? Stiggins (2007) suggests we should look at the effect of assessment from the students point of view. from his research he notes that: For students who are succeeding For students who are Not Achieving Assessment Results Reinforce success Reinforce failure Which makes them feel Hopeful & optimistic Useless They think I am in control I can’t do this Feedback helps me Feedback is more criticism They become more likely to Revise Quit Take initiative Avoid doing anything Keep going when the going gets hard Simply give ...
Read more

teachers learning from teachers

By -
Image
Today  Ormiston Senior College opened their doors to mathematics teachers to share how they are personalising learning utilising technology. Teachers came from Albany in the north to Onewhero is the south. I was definitely the kid with a new toy as I learned to drive a sphero. With a bit of trial and error however the sphero was off. I think the best day of school just got better. Many thanks to Ormiston Senior College, Subash and his department for hosting us - A great morning - lots of learning - and lots of ideas shared. Next stop Auckland Maths Association   AGM & Quiz Night Get a team (of 4) together  or join a team on the night Wednesday February 28th  Mt Eden Bowling Club, Epsom Ave, Epsom. Happy Hour 6-7pm AGM followed by quiz night, 
Read more