What the lesson is about

“Data handling” is a collection of resources to help teach the topic in a meaningful way. Pupils can use tables and charts to collect information, and compare various methods of displaying survey results. They can also practise interpreting data from charts and graphs.

How to use it

For younger primary children, (KS1P1-3), there is a transport survey where they can count how many vehicles pass on a busy road and compare different types of vehicles (TES iboard). If you want to display this in the form of a graph, there is also an interactive graphing tool from the same source. Pupils can display and compare the data as a tally chart, total numbers or block graph.

Another idea for charting a graph is to use pupils’ birthdays. Use the TES iboard resource to create a class chart of all the pupils’ birthdays, then use it as a stimulus for questions, such as “Which month is your birthday in? Is it in the Summer?”

For upper primary (KS2P4-7), Shahira has uploaded a useful classroom activity where pupils look at the personal profiles of different people and collect information on their ages, type of car they drive, type of house they live in and how many children they have. They can then plot this information into graphs and work out means and medians.

The Warriner School in Oxfordshire (username FACEonline) has supplied a resource where pupils can survey the snails in their school grounds. This includes Excel spreadsheets that will help teachers plot, for example, the type of snails or their shell colour, and record sheets to print off for the pupils.

Where to find it

www.tes.co.ukdata-handling.