Data Displays for Children
Data Displays for Children
Are you a parent of a child who is currently learning about data displays at school? Are they coming home and struggling with their homework? Are you as a parent struggling to properly answer the many questions they may have regarding their data display homework? Well, look no further; I am here to help! In this week's blog, I will explain what data displays are, the different types of data displays used, why data displays are so important for your child's math learning, and how you as parents can help your child by using math language at home.
What are Data Displays?
According to Tamara Faires (2021), Data gathering, Data Display and Data Analysis, a data display "Represents numerical information visually" (slide 3). A data display takes answers from a question and displays sed information clearly and in a variety of different ways (Faires, 2021, slide 3). There are many different types of data displays:
1. Data Displays Using Concrete Materials: "What are concrete materials? and How does my child create a data display using sed concrete materials?" you ask. Well, a data display using concrete materials is when your child uses materials such as paper clips, clothespins, and even linking cubes to represent the data that they have collected (Faires, 2021, slide 24).
2. Data Displays Using Pictures: This type of data display refers to using pictures of the options to represent the data collected, using a T-Chart. For example, they can use photographs of themselves when placing answers on display to represent their choice. For example, if your child is asking the question, "Do you like snow?, Yes or No? They can use snowflakes to represent the number of people in each column. A simpler version of this type of data display, is placing tallies to represent the data collected. Here is an example of a data display using tally marks, that I did personally, to help you better understand : (To collect the data, I asked my family and friends the all important question: "Do you like snow? Yes or No?").
3. Data Displays Using Paper Squares: This type of data display should be introduced to your child only after they have had multiple experiences with exploring and representing data (Faries, 2021, slide 42). This form of data display is as simple as it sounds. It involves cutting paper squares and using them to represent the data collected. Almost like bar graphs.
4. Data Displays Using Pictographs: This type of data display is almost identical to the data display using pictures. The only difference is, instead of using actual pictures, your child will be required to use symbols.
5. Data Displays Using Glyphs: This type of data display is different yet similar to those I have discussed. Data displays using glyphs are "a pictorial form of collecting data" (Faires, 2021, slide 46). Through this form of data display, children can learn how to collect and analyze the data they are looking for (based on their questions). Now what are glyphs, you may be asking. Here is an example: your child will be given a snowman shape. They then must follow the instructions to create their own frosty snowman, with a chart, tallying the number of children that get the eyes, the carrot nose, the mittens, the scarf, and the branches.
6. Data Displays Using Bar Graphs: According to Tamara Faires (2021), "Bar graphs are displays that use lengths or heights of bars to represent quantities" (slide 49). This is a very common type of data display that will most often be used by your child. Below, I have taken a picture of a bar graph I have done, asking the question "What is your favourite colour?" With the options of Purple, Blue, Pink, and Green:
7. Data Displays Using Circle Graphs: Circle graphs allow your child to demonstrate the relationship "between each part and a whole" (Faires, 2021, slide 51 ). Circle graphs can be used to introduce your child to "the concept of measurement and fractions" (slide 51). Typically, your child will not use a circle graph until they are around the age of nine, so you as parents do not have to worry about this just yet if they are still young.
8. Data Displays Using Line Graphs: This type of data display, according to Faires, "Requires more concrete operational thinking as the child must focus on more than one aspect of the data at the same time" (2021, slide 52 ). Instead of having numbers on just one side of the display, there are numbers on both the horizontal and vertical axes. Complicated, right?!
9. Venn Diagrams: Venn Diagrams are used to compare two different things with similar characteristics. Using a Venn diagram, your child will sort each category's differences while also comparing the similarities.
(this list of data displays was retrieved from Faries, 2021, slide 6).
According to Faires (2021), your child must go through a series of steps to properly create their own data display regardless of the type of data display they choose. The steps are as follows:
1. Creating appropriate questions for the data display
When it comes to creating an appropriate question for your child's display, there are many considerations to keep in mind. Firstly, your child must first consider the type of question that they wish to ask. Yes/No questions are the easiest, as they provide straightforward answers, making it much easier to collect and organize the data collected (Faires, 2021, slide 10). However, if your child is of school-age (6-12), questions with more than one option may be better. When coming up with a question for the data display, encourage your child to ask a question that derives from his/her interests. Examples of these questions could be "Do you like ice cream?" (or for a more complicated question) "What is your favourite flavour of ice cream?" When the data display represents your child's interests, they are more likely to want to do it than a question regarding vegetables or the weather. Do you get what I mean? Okay perfect!
2. Gathering data to answer the question
As a parent, it is important to understand that there are many ways your child can collect and display the data. Therefore you must allow them to explore these different ways. You can allow your child to do so by using themselves and family members to represent the data. Organize the family into two lines. Explain to your child that they can only choose between one of two lines to stand in. Then count the people in each line, recording the number on a piece of paper. By doing this, your children will begin to understand how to collect and demonstrate the data.
3. Representing and Organizing the Data
In this step of the data display process, your child must now choose the best form of data display for the question that they have asked. Once they have chosen their preferred display method, your child must begin to organize the data into categories. For example, if your child decides to do a data display using paper squares, your child will place the appropriate number of squares next to the appropriate answer. In simpler terms, if your child collected answers from 12 people, and 4 of those 12 people answered "yes" to the question "Do you like ice cream?" then your child will put 4 paper squares on top of or beside the word yes. The remaining 7 squares will go under the "no" column.
4. Describing and Comparing the Data
Even though collecting the data is quite important in the data display process, believe it or not, describing and comparing the data is actually way more important. To assist your child in making good comparisons in the data that they have collected, you, as their parent, must be willing to ask good questions to help them. I will provide examples of good questions to ask later on in my blog.
Why are Data Displays Important for your Child's Math Learning?
When it comes to your child's learning, data displays can prove to be very important. Firstly, data displays help your child to organise data in a clear fashion (Faires, 2021), through visual representation. This means, in simpler terms, that data displays help your child to organize information that they have received, displaying it in a way that communicates what they have learned to those around them. Secondly, data displays help your child continue to develop their problem solving skills. When doing a data display, your child is gathering answers to the question that they pose, trying to figure out for example, if more of his peers like ice cream, or less. Thridly, according to Faires, data displays help your child "... to develop skills in comparing, sorting, classifying, counting, 1:1 correspondence, and predicting" (2021, slide ). "What is 1:1 correspondence?" you ask? Well Faires (2021) describes 1:1 correspondence as a "Fundamental component of the concept of number... Understanding that one group has the same number of things as another" (slide 19). To demonstrate how your child will develop these skills, here is an example: If your child asks the question "Do You Like Ice Cream?", gathering answers from their peers, they will then have to take the time to sort the answers into the proper columns, "YES", "NO", before counting the number of results in each column. From there, they will then be able to compare their results: 10 people said Yes, while only 5 people said No. Does this make a bit more sense?
Finally, through data display, your child will also be encouraged to ask questions and draw conclusions, building their ability to communicate (Faires, 2021). It is for these reasons, that data is so important when it comes to your child's mathematical learning. Developing the skills that data displays provide, allows your child to better succeed in their mathematical studies, and in the world around them.
How Can the Use of Math Language Enhance Your Child's Learning Experience?
Even though this may sound ridiculous when you as parents model the language of math for your child at home, you will be helping them develop many essential mathematical skills, such as "...recognizing patterns, analyzing data, and problem-solving" (Faires, 2021, slide 27). Now you may be wondering, "How can I as a parent, model the language of math at home?". Well, there are many different ways in which you as parents can model mathematical language. The main way in which to do this is by asking your child questions, as they do their data displays. Examples of questions could be: "Which column has the most? The Least?" or "Which column is highest? Lowest?". By asking these questions and using comparison and concept words, your child will be better able to understand math, while also learning how to communicate using the language of math. Furthermore, by asking these questions, children will be able to compare and analyze the results of their data display.
Well, that was a lot of information, do you not agree? I hope that this week's blog helps you as parents, help your child with the most difficult task of all... THEIR MATH HOMEWORK!
Until next week,
Lauren
References
Tamara, F. (2021). Data gathering, data display, and data analysis. {Powerpoint slide}. Algonquin College. https://brightspace.algonquincollege.com/d2l/le/content/315788/viewContent/5195765/View
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