Benchmarks 9D (The Mathematical World: Uncertainty)
Grades 3-5, page 228
Spreading data out on a number line helps to see what the extremes
are, where they pile up, and where the gaps are. A summary of data includes
where the middle is and how much spread is around it.
Benchmarks 9D (The Mathematical World: Uncertainty)
Grades 3-5, page 228
A small part of something may be special in some way and not give and
accurate picture of the whole. How much a portion of something can help
to estimate what the whole is like depends on how the portion is chosen.
There is a danger of choosing only the data that show what is expected
by the person doing the choosing.
Benchmarks 12B (Habits of Mind: Computation and Estimation)
Grades 6-8, page 291
Find the mean and median of a set of data.
Benchmarks 9D (The Mathematical World: Uncertainty)
Grades 6-8, page 229
The mean, median, and mode tell different things about the middle of
a data set.
Benchmarks 9D (The Mathematical World: Uncertainty)
Grades 6-8, page 229
Comparison of data from two groups should involve comparing both their
middles and the spreads around them.
Benchmarks 9D (The Mathematical World: Uncertainty)
Grades 6-8, page 229
The larger a well-chosen sample is, the more accurately it is likely
to represent the whole. But there are many ways of choosing a sample that
can make it unrepresentative of the whole.
Benchmarks 12D (Habits of Mind: Communication Skills)
Grades 6-8, page 297
Organize information in simple tables and graphs and identify the relationships
they reveal.
Benchmarks 12D (Habits of Mind: Communication Skills)
Grades 6-8, page 297
Read simple tables and graphs produced by others and describe in words
what they show.
Benchmarks 9C page 224 (The Mathematical World: Shapes)
Grades 6-8
The graphic display of numbers may help to show patterns such as trends,
varying rates of change, gaps, or clusters. Such patterns sometimes can
be used to make predictions about the phenomena being graphed.
Benchmarks 12E (Habits of Mind: Critical-Response Skills)
Grades 6-8, page 299
Seek better reasons for believing something than "Everybody knows that..."
or "I just know" and discount such reasons when given by others.
Benchmarks 9D (The Mathematical World: Uncertainty)
Grades 3-5, page 227
Statistical predictions (as for rainy days, accidents) are typically
better for what proportion of a group will experience something than for
which members of the group will experience it and better for how often
something will happen than for exactly when.
Benchmarks 9D (The Mathematical World: Uncertainty)
Grades 3-5, page 228
Summary predictions are usually more accurate for large collections
of events than for just a few. Even very unlikely events may occur fairly
often in very large populations.
Benchmarks 11D (Common Themes: Scale)
Grades 6-8, page 278
As the complexity of any system increases, gaining an understanding
of it depends increasingly on summaries, such as averages and ranges, and
on descriptions of typical examples of that system.