Reflection: What should my students currently understand and do? What do my students need to learn?
udents need to learn? Where are the students headed with this learning?
Prior Learning in Grade 3
Step 1.
 collect data by conducting a simple survey about themselves, their
environment, issues in their school or community, or content from another
subject;
 collect and organize categorical or discrete primary data and display the data
Know the in charts, tables, and graphs (including vertical and horizontal bar graphs),
learner. with appropriate titles and labels and with labels ordered appropriately
along horizontal axes, as needed, using many-to-one correspondence
 read primary data presented in charts, tables, and graphs (including vertical
and horizontal bar graphs), then describe the data using comparative
language, and describe the shape of the data
 interpret and draw conclusions from data presented in charts, tables, and
graphs;
 demonstrate an understanding of mode
By this time in the unit, my students will have reviewed how to
compare graphs, and are working towards reviewing and learning
more about collecting, organizing, and representing data on
different types of graphs.
Know the
What do I want students to understand and be able to do as a result of
learning.
this lesson sequence?
Learning Goal
 I am learning to read, represent, and analyze data
related to animals and their habitats using a variety of
terms, charts, and graphs.
Learning in Grade 4 Future Learning in Grade 5
Future Learning in Grade
Mathematics (Data Management)
 collect data by conducting a survey or an experiment and record
observations or measurements  collect data by conducting a survey or an experiment and record
 collect and organize discrete primary data and display the data in charts, observations or measurements;
tables, and graphs (including stem-and-leaf plots and double bar graphs) that  collect and organize discrete or continuous primary data and secondary
have appropriate titles, labels, and scales that suit the range and distribution data and display the data in charts, tables, and graphs (including broken-line
of the data, using a variety of tools graphs) that have appropriate titles, labels, and scales that suit the range
 read, interpret, and draw conclusions from primary data and from secondary and distribution of the data using a variety of tools
data, presented in charts, tables, and graphs (including stem-and-leaf plots  read, interpret, and draw conclusions from primary data and from
and double bar graphs); secondary data presented in charts, tables, and graphs
 demonstrate, through investigation, an understanding of median, and  calculate the mean for a small set of data and use it to describe the shape of
determine the median of a set of data; the data set across its range of values, using charts, tables, and graphs
 compare similarities and differences between two related sets of data, using
a variety of strategies
Science (Habitats and Communities)
Demonstrate an understanding of habitats and communities and the relationships
among the plants and animals that live in them.
 3.1 demonstrate an understanding of habitats as areas that provide plants
and animals with the necessities of life
 3.3 identify factors (e.g., availability of water or food, amount of light, type
of weather) that affect the ability of plants and animals to survive in a
specific habitat
 3.5 classify organisms, including humans, according to their role in a food
chain (e.g., producer, consumer, decomposer)
 3.6 identify animals that are carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores
Success Criteria
 I can collect, sort, and read data using a tally chart.
 I can organize and display data using pictographs, bar graphs, and stem-and-leaf plots with appropriate
titles, labels, and scale.
 I can find the mean, median, and mode of a set of data.
 I can understand, sort, and apply the role a plant or animal plays in the habitat.
 Building understanding of Working towards proficiency with Creating engagement in the Providing opportunities for reflecting on, Fostering positive dispositions
math concepts facts, skills, procedures mathematical processes monitoring and working towards goals towards mathematics

 Model data collection and graphing on
the board
 Explain that the titles, labels, and an
Step 2. appropriate scale are essential for
someone else to read and understand
Plan for
your graph.
Instruction  Explain that there are different ways to
and represent data on graphs, and some
ways may be more appropriate for
Assessment
certain kinds of data.
 Explain that mean, median, and mode
are one way that we can analyze our
graphs. This also allows us to compare
multiple graphs.
 Scaffolding – first constructing a graph on
the board as a class, then together in
small groups, and then independently.
 Independent practice of reading and
representing data can be assigned in their
math journals if needed.
 Presenting real-life problem-solving
scenarios: sorting and graphing trends
in animal populations in a variety of
habitats over time.
 Use appropriate math vocabulary to
communicate ideas about graphs,
trends, axis, title, scale, mean, median,
mode, and data.
 Use appropriate science vocabulary
such as habitat, population, community,
adaptation, and food chain to
communicate ideas.
 Represent and create graphs using
manipulatives like sticky notes,
Cuisenaire Rods, Linking Cubes, and
the Learning Carpet.
 Incorporating technology through
assigning graphing activities on Math
Playground and Mathletics.
 Working in groups or partners to
combine their ideas and thinking.
 Co-construction of success criteria
for the summative graphing activity.
 Assessment for learning – making
anecdotal notes and observations,
looking at student work.
 Assessment as learning – providing
peer feedback, checklist for peer-
assessment., exit tickets,
questionnaires,
 Assessment of learning – handing
in final activity and having a
conference about the process.
 Activate prior knowledge about
graphs and data collection through
problem-solving activities.
 Singing songs about mean, median,
and mode.
 Working towards a deeper
understanding of organizing data in a
safe classroom space, developing
confidence.
 Integrating with the Grade 4 Science
Unit of Habitat and Communities,
which includes going on nature walks
to survey, collect, and document first-
hand data
 Connecting to real-world issues like
sustainability, climate change, and
endangered species that students feel
passionate about.

Step 3. Problem Solving Direct Instruction Guided Investigation Independent Practice

Instructional  Asking students to look at and analyze trends  Difference between mode and median.  Working in groups and partners to create graphs.  Working independently to create graphs.
Strategies in animal communities through tally charts,  How to read and represent data using stem-and-  Bansho method  Practice worksheets in their math journals.
graphic organizers, and graphs. leaf plots. o Asking students to explain their thinking and  Mathletics online questions to be completed at
for co‐
provide comments on each other’s work. home or at school on the Chromebooks.
learning  Asking students to represent information on
 Guide students through discovering the median and
a tally chart using any chart format they mode of a set of data.
prefer.
 Overall Expectations:
Have students consider different types of habitats, both locally and
Math worldwide, and the living beings that reside within them. This will be
the basis for many of our graphing and data collection exercises.
 collect and organize discrete primary data and display the data using charts and graphs, including stem-and-leaf plots and double bar graphs;
 read, describe, and interpret primary data and secondary data presented in charts and graphs, including stem-and-leaf plots and double bar graphs;

Science

 Overall expectation 3: demonstrate an understanding of habitats and communities and the relationships among the plants and animals that live in them.

Specific Expectations:

Math (Data Management)

 collect data by conducting a survey (e.g., “Choose your favourite meal from the following list: breakfast, lunch, dinner, other.”) or an experiment to do with
themselves, their environment, issues in their school or the community, or content from another subject, and record observations or measurements;
 collect and organize discrete primary data and display the data in charts, tables, and graphs (including stem-and-leaf plots and double bar graphs) that
have appropriate titles, labels (e.g., appropriate units marked on the axes), and scales (e.g., with appropriate increments) that suit the range and
distribution of the data, using a variety of tools (e.g., graph paper, simple spreadsheets, dynamic statistical software).
 read, interpret, and draw conclusions from primary data (e.g., survey results, measurements, observations) and from secondary data (e.g., temperature
data in the newspaper, data from the Internet about endangered species), presented in charts, tables, and graphs (including stem-and-leaf plots and
double bar graphs);
 demonstrate, through investigation, an understanding of median, and determine the median of a set of data;

Science (Habitat and Communities)

 2.3 use scientific inquiry/research skills to investigate ways in which plants and animals in a community depend on features of their habitat to meet
important needs
 3.1 demonstrate an understanding of habitats as areas that provide plants and animals with the necessities of life (e.g., food, water, air, space, and light)
 3.3 identify factors (e.g., availability of water or food, amount of light, type of weather) that affect the ability of plants and animals to survive in a specific
habitat
 3.5 classify organisms, including humans, according to their role in a food chain (e.g., producer, consumer, decomposer)
 3.6 identify animals that are carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores
 Day 1
Use a problem solving/Bansho task to
review the basics of data collection and
graphing.
Minds-On: Show students this image of
the Great Migration in the Serengeti
National Park.
https://www.zambezi.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/01/type_migratio
n.jpg These grasslands are a habitat to a
variety of animals. Zebras, wildebeests,
and gazelles migrate every year to follow
the water supply and look for green
pasture. What does this photograph tell
us about the habitat and the animals?
How can we compare the animals?
Working with a partner, count the
number of wildebeests and zebras that
you can see in this picture. Create a tally
chart to record your information. How
can we can represent this information
using a graph? Brainstorm and discuss.
Practice: Students are to work with a
partner and go on the World Wildlife
Federation's web page on habitats:
https://www.worldwildlife.org/habitats
Browse through the photographs of the
different habitats, and choose an image
that has multiple animals from at least
three different species. Create a tally
chart of the number of each species, and
then graph the information in whichever
graph format (bar graph, pictograph, etc)
they prefer.
Consolidation: Have students share and
discuss the different ways they graphed
the data. Why did you choose the way
you did? What are some elements of a
graph that we need to always remember
to include?
Assessment for learning: looking at the
graphs and seeing what students have
retained from previous years, and where
they need refreshers in subsequent
lessons.
Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5
Guide students through an investigation of Use direct instruction to teach students how to Use direct instruction and guided investigation to Use a problem-solving task to assess student
creating bar graphs by taking results from a organize data in a stem-and-leaf plot. discover the mode and median of a set of data. understanding of how to read data and organize
personal survey of the environment. This should it into a variety of graphs. This task is also
be a review of prior knowledge, and will prepare Minds-On: Show students a video on Ontario’s Minds-On: Show students this image of different designed to assess their understanding and
them for creating double bar graphs later on in Algonquin Provincial Park fish species in the coral reef habitat.
the unit. application of plants and animals’ roles in a
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASaJivWcYX (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cC9r0jHF-
habitat.
U). Ask students to predict the number of Fw/maxresdefault.jpg) Challenge them to find the
Students went out during their Science period to
take data from habitats in their local mammals that live in the habitat of Algonquin most common fish species. This should be a Present students with a generic bar graph that
community. They already sorted the living Park and write down everybody’s estimate on the review of the concept of mode, or finding the has 12 bars of varying lengths – it has no title, no
beings into a tally chart of the number of board in a line. (The correct answer is 55.) Is there number that occurs most frequently in a set of labels, no scale, and no indication of what data it
producers, consumers, and decomposers. another way to organize this data? data. is representing. Ask students to do a Think-Pair-
Share on what they think this bar graph could be
Direct instruction Introduce students to stem-and-leaf plots, which Ask students to stand up and order themselves in about.
Students are looking at a sample tally chart that is a table that separates data value into “stems,” a line from shortest to tallest. Challenge them to
the teacher created. How can we represent this which are usually the ten’s values, and “leaves,” find the person whose height is exactly in the Ask students to come up with a scenario related
data using a bar graph? Walk students through which are usually the one’s values. Work together middle. This is an introduction to the concept of to Habitats and Communities to describe the
the steps, or if they feel confident, ask them to to create a stem-and-leaf plot to organize the the median, or finding the number that occurs in graph. It should be in response to student
walk you through it. Ask questions along the class’ estimates. Model by thinking out loud and the middle of an ordered number set. interests and ideally based on a real-world
way. What do we need to draw first? What are going through the sorting steps. Explain the problem. Maybe it could be the squirrel
the components of a good bar graph? (Title, Show students the Mean, Median, and Mode
necessary components for the graph. population in Kingston over the span of a year, or
labels, axis, scales). Song:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNdVy the amount of produce yielded by a farm in South
Practice: students take their own tally charts Practice: Give students a scenario about the nH6hcY. Ask them what they know about the two. America. Students must use appropriate language
and create a bar graph to display the data. number of loons that are spotted near the Park’s to describe the scenario, and it must be a
Students can work in groups, partners, or office over the span of 12 months. Ask students Show students a set of numbers: 1, 1, 1, 2, 88, 90, plausible situation. They must label the graph
individually. Remember all of the components of to represent this data using a stem-and-leaf plot 92, 94, 99, 100. Guide students through how to
find the mode and the median. What number accordingly and know what the information the
a good bar graph! Students can choose to graph in partners or small groups.
this on graph paper, or they can choose to use appears most frequently? What number is in the graph is telling them.
manipulatives like Linking Cubes or Cuisenaire Consolidation: Students share their solution and middle?
Rods on chart paper, or Sticky notes on the Students should describe the data using words
answer questions about the stem-and-leaf plot.
Learning Carpet, as long as they still have all of Practice: Give students practice questions with like mode and median.
What is the mean? The median? The mode? How
the appropriate components of a bar graph. number sets. Once they have completed those, After, using the information learned this week,
might we be able to represent the data on this
Consolidation: students will assess each other’s plot on another type of graph? ask students to create data sets with 8 to 10 students are asked to come up with another way
bar graphs with a checklist. Teacher will walk values that fit each of the following situations:
to graph and represent the data.
around and look at everyone’s work, and ask Independent Practice: Assign students a question median of 8 and a small range of data, median of
questions. Why did you choose the scale that you in their math journals to complete for additional 15 and a wide range of data, the mode and the Assessment of learning: students are to hand in
did? Do you think that is the most effective? independent practice. median are the same, and the mode and the their completed work and have a conference with
Why? median are far apart. the teacher about what they have designed.
Assessment for learning: teacher makes
Assign practice problems on
anecdotal notes on student participation and Consolidation: Ask students to think about how We have reached our learning goal when
http://ca.mathletics.com/
student work. they can apply this knowledge to bar graphs and
 We can graph data in a variety of ways.
Assessment as learning: students complete a stem-and-leaf plots. How can they extend their
 We can accurately label the graph.
checklist to assess another student’s bar graphs. Assessment as learning: students reflect on their learning?
Does it have a title? Does it have an appropriate knowledge through the exit cards. Ask students to  We can find and describe the mode and
scale? Are the axis labelled? Is the information complete an exit ticket answering the following Assign students related practice games on median.
from the tally chart represented accurately on questions: How is a stem-and-leaf plot organized? https://www.mathgames.com/.  We can describe plants and animals and
the bar graph? their relationship to their habitat.
When might we use this graph? When would it be
Assessment for learning: teacher makes
useful?
anecdotal notes on students’ prior knowledge
and how they are applying that and their new
knowledge to the problems.
 Works Cited

Barkley, B., Busato, L., Cainen, G., Cook, T., Edgar, G., Green, D.,…Worth, B. (2002). Math everywhere grade 4. Toronto, ON: Harcourt Canada.

Lawson, J. Hands-on science and technology, grade 4 an inquiry approach. Winnipeg, MN: Portage & Main Press.

Small, M., & Tackaberry, R. (2018). Open questions for the three-part lesson. Oakville, ON: Rubicon Publishing.

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2008). A guide to effective instruction in mathematics: Data management and probability, grades 4 to 6. Retrieved from
https://oame.on.ca/eduproject/ontariomathedresources/files/Data%20Management%20Probability%204-6.pdf

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2005). Mathematics. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/math18curr.pdf.

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2007). Science and technology. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/scientec18currb.pdf.

Ontario Teachers’ Federation. (2015). Exploring mathematics through problem-solving and student voice. Retrieved from https://www.otffeo.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/05/Grade-4-Three-Part-Lessons.pdf.

Ontario Teachers’ Federation. (2012). Grade 4 habitats and communities activities. Retrieved from https://www.otffeo.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Grade-4-Lessons-Habitats.pdf.