Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade 4

Lesson Video

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Performance objectives

• Collect data using tally marks and simple questionnaires.
• Organise collected data in tables.
• Represent data using pictographs (1 picture = 1 item).
• Answer simple questions about data in pictographs.

Lesson summary

Data handling is all about collecting information, organising it, and then showing it in a way that's easy to understand.

Think about it: when you’re choosing what snack to buy at the tuck shop, the tuck shop owner used data to decide what to stock! They looked at what snacks kids bought most often. That’s data handling in action. It helps us make decisions and understand the world around us. In South Africa, data handling skills are important for understanding things like census information, election results, and even sports statistics. Learning about data handling now will help you understand news reports, make informed choices, and even plan events like your birthday party.

Lesson notes

What is Data? Data is just a fancy word for information! It can be anything from the number of learners in our class to the colours of the cars in the school parking lot.

Collecting Data: We can collect data in different ways. One easy way is to use tally marks. A tally mark is a simple way to keep track of how many times something happens. We make four vertical lines, and then a diagonal line across them for the fifth one. This makes it easy to count in groups of five. Another way is to use a questionnaire. This is just a list of questions you ask people to get information.

Organising Data: Once we have collected our data, we need to organise it. The best way to do this is in a table. A table has rows and columns, and it helps us to see the data clearly.

Representing Data: We can represent data in different ways. One of the easiest ways is to use a pictograph. A pictograph uses pictures to represent data. Each picture stands for a certain number of things. In Grade 4, we'll start with pictographs where one picture represents one piece of data.

Example 1: Favourite Fruits Let’s say we want to find out the favourite fruits of learners in our class.

Collecting Data: We ask each learner to tell us their favourite fruit from a list: apple, banana, orange, mango, or pear.

We use tally marks to record the answers: Apple: |||| Banana: |||| | Orange: ||| Mango: |||| || Pear: || Organising Data: We put the data into a table: | Fruit | Number of Learners | | -------- | ------------------ | | Apple | 4 | | Banana | 6 | | Orange | 3 | | Mango | 7 | | Pear | 2 | Representing Data (Pictograph): We can use a picture of a fruit (like a simple drawing of an apple) to represent one learner who chose that fruit. | Fruit | Pictograph | | -------- | ------------------------------- | | Apple | 🍎🍎🍎🍎 | | Banana | 🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌 | | Orange | 🍊🍊🍊 | | Mango | 🥭🥭🥭🥭🥭🥭🥭 | | Pear | 🍐🍐 | (Key: 🍎 = 1 learner, 🍌 = 1 learner, 🍊 = 1 learner, 🥭 = 1 learner, 🍐 = 1 learner)

Example 2: Pets in the Class Let's say we want to find out what kinds of pets learners in our class have.

Collecting Data: We ask each learner what kind of pet they have (dog, cat, fish, bird, or other).

We use tally marks: Dog: |||| ||| Cat: |||| |||| Fish: ||| Bird: | Other: || Organising Data: Table: | Pet | Number of Learners | | ------- | ------------------ | | Dog | 8 | | Cat | 9 | | Fish | 3 | | Bird | 1 | | Other | 2 | Representing Data (Pictograph): | Pet | Pictograph | | ------- | ---------------------------------- | | Dog | 🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶 | | Cat | 🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱 | | Fish | 🐠🐠🐠 | | Bird | 🐦 | | Other | 🐹🐹 | (Key: 🐶 = 1 learner, 🐱 = 1 learner, 🐠 = 1 learner, 🐦 = 1 learner, 🐹 = 1 learner)

Interpreting Data: Once we have our pictograph, we can answer questions about the data. For example, in the favourite fruits pictograph, we can see that mango is the most popular fruit, and pear is the least popular. In the pet example, we see cats are the most common pet. This "reading" of the data is crucial. Guided Practice (With Solutions)

Question 1: Learners were asked what their favourite colour is.

The results were: Red: 5, Blue: 7, Green: 3, Yellow:

2. Represent this data in a table.

Solution: | Colour | Number of Learners | | ------- | ------------------ | | Red | 5 | | Blue | 7 | | Green | 3 | | Yellow | 2 |

Commentary: This question focuses on organizing data into a table, a foundational skill for data handling. We simply transfer the given data points into a structured table format.

Question 2: Use the table from Question 1 to create a pictograph. Use a circle (⚪) to represent one learner.

Solution: | Colour | Pictograph | | ------- | -------------------------------- | | Red | ⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪ | | Blue | ⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪ | | Green | ⚪⚪⚪ | | Yellow | ⚪⚪ | (Key: ⚪ = 1 learner)

Commentary: This question builds on the previous one by requiring learners to visually represent the data in a pictograph. Choosing a simple symbol like a circle makes it accessible. It reinforces the concept of one picture representing one piece of data.

Question 3: The following pictograph shows the number of sweets eaten by four children: | Child | Pictograph | | ------- | --------------------- | | Sipho | 🍬🍬🍬🍬 | | Aisha | 🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬 | | Thando | 🍬🍬 | | Zola | 🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬 | (Key: 🍬 = 1 sweet) How many sweets did Aisha eat? Which child ate the fewest sweets?

Solution: Aisha ate 6 sweets. Thando ate the fewest sweets (2 sweets).

Commentary: This question focuses on interpreting data from a pictograph. Learners need to be able to "read" the pictograph and extract information by counting the symbols. Independent Practice (Questions Only)

Question 1: Collect data from 10 friends or family members about their favourite South African dish (e.g., pap and vleis, biltong, bunny chow, bobotie). Use tally marks to record your data.

Question 2: Organise the data you collected in Question 1 into a table.

Question 3: Represent the data from your table in a pictograph. Choose a suitable picture to represent one person's choice.