Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade 4

Lesson Video

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Performance objectives

• Collect data using tally marks.
• Organise data into a frequency table.
• Represent data using a simple pictograph with a key.
• Read and understand data in pictographs.

Lesson summary

Data handling is an important skill that helps us make sense of the world around us. We are constantly bombarded with information, and data handling helps us organise, understand, and present this information in a clear and meaningful way. Imagine you want to know which is the most popular sport in your class, or how many different types of fruits are sold at your local spaza shop. Data handling helps you answer these questions.

Lesson notes

a)

Collecting Data: Data is information. We can collect data by asking questions (surveys), observing things, or counting. A simple way to collect data is using a tally chart. Tally marks are used to count things. Each tally mark represents one item. We usually group tally marks in fives to make counting easier. Four vertical lines with a diagonal line across represent five (||||).

Example: Imagine you want to find out your classmates' favourite fruits. You can ask each student and record their answers using tally marks. | Fruit | Tally Marks | Number | | ----------- | ----------- | ------ | | Apple | |||| || | 7 | | Banana | |||| | 5 | | Orange | ||| | 3 | | Mango | |||| | | 6 | b)

Frequency Tables: A frequency table shows how many times each item appears in our data. It lists the different items and their corresponding frequencies (how often they occur).

Example: Using the fruit data above, we can create a frequency table: | Fruit | Frequency | | ----------- | --------- | | Apple | 7 | | Banana | 5 | | Orange | 3 | | Mango | 6 | c)

Pictographs: A pictograph is a way of representing data using pictures or symbols. Each picture or symbol represents a certain number of items. It's important to have a key that explains what each picture represents.

Example: Let's represent the fruit data using a pictograph. We can use a fruit emoji 🍎 to represent one fruit. | Fruit | Pictograph | | ----------- | ---------------------------------------- | | Apple | 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎 | | Banana | 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎 | | Orange | 🍎🍎🍎 | | Mango | 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎 | Key: 🍎 = 1 fruit Now, let's use a different key. Let's say each fruit emoji 🍎 represents 2 fruits. | Fruit | Pictograph | | ----------- | ---------------------------------------- | | Apple | 🍎🍎🍎 🍎 | | Banana | 🍎🍎 🍎 | | Orange | 🍎🍎 | | Mango | 🍎🍎🍎 | Key: 🍎 = 2 fruits Important

Note: When a number cannot be represented exactly with whole symbols, we can use half symbols to represent half of the value. For example, if we used 🍎 = 2 fruits, and we had only 1 orange, we would use half a 🍎. d)

Reading Pictographs: To read a pictograph, you need to understand the key. Count the number of symbols for each item and multiply by the value of each symbol (as defined by the key) to find the frequency.

Example: Using the pictograph where 🍎 = 2 fruits: If we see 3 🍎 next to "Mango", it means there are 3 x 2 = 6 mangoes. Guided Practice (With Solutions)

Question 1: You asked 10 of your friends what their favourite colour is.

Here are the answers: Red, Blue, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Red, Blue, Red, Blue. Create a tally chart to represent this data.

Solution: | Colour | Tally Marks | Number | | -------- | ----------- | ------ | | Red | |||| | 4 | | Blue | |||| | 4 | | Green | | | 1 | | Yellow | | | 1 |

Commentary: We listed each colour and then added a tally mark for each time it was mentioned. We then counted the tally marks to find the number of times each colour was chosen.

Question 2: Using the tally chart from Question 1, create a frequency table.

Solution: | Colour | Frequency | | -------- | --------- | | Red | 4 | | Blue | 4 | | Green | 1 | | Yellow | 1 |

Commentary: We simply transferred the "Number" column from the tally chart to the "Frequency" column in the frequency table.

Question 3: Represent the data from Question 1 using a pictograph. Let each smiley face 😃 represent 1 vote.

Solution: | Colour | Pictograph | | -------- | -------------------------------- | | Red | 😃😃😃😃 | | Blue | 😃😃😃😃 | | Green | 😃 | | Yellow | 😃 | Key: 😃 = 1 vote

Commentary: We used a smiley face as our symbol and drew the correct number of smiley faces next to each colour, based on the frequency table.

Question 4: The pictograph below shows the number of learners who walk to school each day. | Day | Pictograph | | -------- | ---------- | | Monday | 🚶🚶🚶🚶 | | Tuesday | 🚶🚶🚶 | | Wednesday| 🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶 | | Thursday | 🚶🚶 | | Friday | 🚶🚶🚶🚶 | Key: 🚶 = 2 learners How many learners walked to school on Wednesday?

Solution: There are 5 🚶 symbols next to Wednesday. Since each symbol represents 2 learners, the total number of learners who walked to school on Wednesday is 5 x 2 = 10 learners.

Commentary: We first identified the number of symbols in the row for Wednesday. Then, we multiplied this number by the value of each symbol as given in the key. Independent Practice (Questions Only) Ask 15 people what their favourite South African dish is (e.g., Bunny Chow, Bobotie, Biltong, Braai, Vetkoek). Create a tally chart to record the data. Using the tally chart from Question 1, create a frequency table. Represent the data from Question 1 using a pictograph. Choose an appropriate symbol and a key. The pictograph below shows the number of books read by a class of learners during the holiday. | Learner | Pictograph | | ------- | ---------- | | Sipho | 📚📚📚 | | Aisha | 📚📚📚📚📚 | | Thabo | 📚📚 | | Zola | 📚📚📚📚 | Key: 📚 = 3 books a) How many books did Aisha read? b) Who read the fewest books? c) How many more books did Zola read than Thabo?