FACTivity – Oooh! That’s Growth!
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For this FACTivity, you will answer the question: What is the relationship between tree height and the diameter at breast height (DBH)? In other words, when trees get taller, does the DBH get smaller, larger, or stay the same?
Materials:
- Flexible tape measure or a length of string or rope and a yard stick
- Data log (included)
- Sample bar chart (included)
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Standards addressed in this Activity:
The Common Core Standards are educational benchmarks in the United States that outline clear expectations for what students should know and be able to do in English language arts and mathematics from kindergarten through 12th grade, aiming to ensure consistency and coherence in education nationwide.
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Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
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Display numerical data in plots on a number line, including dot plots, histograms, and box plots.
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Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context, such as by:
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Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.
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Decide whether two quantities are in a proportional relationship, e.g., by testing for equivalent ratios in a table or graphing on a coordinate plane and observing whether the graph is a straight line through the origin.
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Understand that statistics can be used to gain information about a population by examining a sample of the population; generalizations about a population from a sample are valid only if the sample is representative of that population. Understand that random sampling tends to produce representative samples and support valid inferences.
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Use data from a random sample to draw inferences about a population with an unknown characteristic of interest. Generate multiple samples (or simulated samples) of the same size to gauge the variation in estimates or predictions. For example, estimate the mean word length in a book by randomly sampling words from the book; predict the winner of a school election based on randomly sampled survey data. Gauge how far off the estimate or prediction might be.
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Informally assess the degree of visual overlap of two numerical data distributions with similar variabilities, measuring the difference between the centers by expressing it as a multiple of a measure of variability. For example, the mean height of players on the basketball team is 10 cm greater than the mean height of players on the soccer team, about twice the variability (mean absolute deviation) on either team; on a dot plot, the separation between the two distributions of heights is noticeable.
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Use measures of center and measures of variability for numerical data from random samples to draw informal comparative inferences about two populations. For example, decide whether the words in a chapter of a seventh-grade science book are generally longer than the words in a chapter of a fourth-grade science book.
Social Studies Standards are educational guidelines outlining the essential knowledge, skills, and concepts students should learn in subjects such as history, geography, civics, and economics, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of societal structures, historical events, and global perspectives.
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People, Places, and Environments
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Science, Technology, and Society