Tables are a handy tool. They help us understand numbers in a quick and easy way. Newspapers, reports, and magazines sometimes use tables to give facts about a topic. Tables are often used to compare two sets of information.
In this activity, you will do a survey and create a table to show what you have learned.
Here's what to do.
First, think of two topics you would like to survey people about. The questions should be simple and should have only two or three possible answers. For instance, you wouldn't want to ask, "What is your favorite movie?" There could be many different responses to the question, which would not fit in a table. A simpler question you could ask is, "Are you left-handed or right-handed?" or "Do you prefer the summer or the winter?"
When you have decided on your two questions, create the table. Create two (or more) rows that include the answers to the first question. Then create two (or more) columns that include the answers to the second question. A sample table might look like this:
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|
Prefers Summer |
Prefers Winter |
Total |
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Right-Handed |
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|
|
|
Left-Handed |
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|
|
|
Total |
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Survey several of your friends or neighbors. Try to survey at least ten people. Write down each person's responses to both questions. Be sure that if a person says he or she is left-handed and prefers summer, a tally mark is in the box indicating a person who is left-handed and prefers summer. Now create another copy of the table with numbers instead of tally marks.
Now fill in the total for each row and column. Make comparisons between the numbers of left-handed and right-handed people. Choose other comparisons to make.
Ready to move on to the next lesson?
Number Family Review
