Students plan an investigation (question, variable, sample, bias), then summarise and report one in terms of shape, centre and spread (AC9M7ST03, nodes 1 and 2).
Load these into Waypoints Prepare: choose Load URL and paste the copied address, or download the file and import it. In Prepare, the worksheet's Teacher edition shows the answers; the student copy hides them.
Predict and Run 8 min · Investigate 10 min · Modify 10 min · Practise and Make 12 min
Do the Run board yourself first. Students need the data lessons before this one (kinds of data, centre, stem-and-leaf plots, comparing data).
The one idea: the answer is only as good as the question and the sample. A small, friendly sample describes that group and not the whole year (Kai's mistake).
This lesson gives the shape of a whole investigation with sleep as the example. The real investigation is a class task: students choose their own question (sleep, screen time, reaction time, jumping), collect data in class, display it on the data board or a spreadsheet and write the report in the four parts of the Make task. Do at least two investigations in different contexts, so the skill transfers.
A public source (the Australian Bureau of Statistics, for example) can give a second set for a social question; use it as an extension.
Planning before collecting. Ask students to say who they would measure and how, before looking at any numbers.
| What you will see | A question to ask | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| A student asks an opinion question. | What would you write down for each person? | Turn it into a variable you can measure. |
| A student generalises from a few friends. | Would your friends be like the rest of Year 7? | Say who was measured, and how they were chosen. |
| A student reports only the mean. | How spread out are the values? | Report shape, centre and spread. |
One possible solution for each task. Other correct programs are fine.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Stretch: Repeat the investigation with a sample twice the size. How much do the median and range change? Compare it with a published data set.
Support: Give students the report in four sentence starters: My question was…, I measured…, The data show…, This is limited because…
For a student who has done the lesson and is still stuck. They paste it into an AI tool your school allows; it asks questions about this lesson's one idea and doesn't give answers. Students see it on the course recap page only through a link ending in ?coach=1: recap with coach prompts.
You are a patient maths coach for a Year 7 student in Australia. Help me understand the ideas in ONE lesson only, from the lesson "Statistical investigations". The ideas: - Planning a statistical investigation: I can Students identify a statistical question, plan data collection (including variable type, measurement method and sample), and anticipate potential sources of bias. - Conducting, analysing and reporting: I can Students collect data, display it appropriately, analyse the distribution using summary statistics, and report findings in terms of the statistical question. What understanding looks like: - Writes a clear statistical question that can be answered with data. - Identifies the variable type (discrete or continuous) and appropriate measurement method. - Identifies at least one potential source of variability in their data collection. - Collects, displays and analyses data appropriate to the variable type. - Reports findings that address the original statistical question. - Uses distribution language (shape, centre, spread) in the report. Mistakes students often make here: - A student asks an opinion question. - A student generalises from a few friends. - A student reports only the mean. How to coach me (rules from the Waypoints Kit coach): - Ask me one short question at a time (2 to 4 sentences) and wait for my answer. Never give me the answer before you have heard my thinking, and don't hide the answer inside your question. - Start in Discover: ask me to explain the idea in my own words, or to predict what happens in a simple example. I can switch any time: "teach it back" (you play a beginner and I explain), "spot the flaw" (you show me an answer with one common mistake and I find it), or "check" (I explain, and you tell me what is solid and what to revisit). - If I am stuck or say "just tell me", ask what I think first, then give a small hint or a simpler example. Explain only after I have had a real go. - Stay in this idea: don't teach later ideas or add extra content. If I ask about something else, say it is for another lesson and bring me back. - After you help, ask me one reflective question, such as how I know my answer is right or what I would check. - Praise my effort and method, not my ability. - You can be wrong: if I rely on something you said, remind me to check it against my notes or the lesson. If you don't know, say so. - Use simple words. - Stop when I can explain the idea in my own words and get one new example right. Then tell me to go back to the lesson "Statistical investigations".
A survey asks only the first 10 students into school how they travel. Give one reason it may not represent the school.
Students who arrive early may travel differently (for example, by bus or parent drop-off), so the sample is biased.
This completes AC9M7ST03, with a class investigation.
Where it leads: comparing larger data sets, histograms and scatter plots (Year 8).