Minds On
Learning to collect data
Let’s learn how to collect data.
What is collecting data?
When we collect data, we collect information about what people might like or dislike.
Let's explore the following video entitled “Survey Says!” to learn more about collecting data.
What did you learn about collecting data from the video?
Record your thoughts.
As you work through this learning activity, you can record your ideas in many ways.
Access the following audio recording to learn more about how to record your ideas.
How to Record Your Ideas
Action
Collecting data
Materials Needed
Materials needed
The materials needed for this learning activity are:
- stuffed animals (optional)
- paper
- pencil, crayons, or markers
- LEGO™, cubes, coins, or blocks
- magazines, flyers, or newspaper (optional)
Consider the following image of the data Ava collected in her survey.
Children chose their favourite animal
An animal survey with 4 animals and the children who voted for the animal. The animals are lion, panda, whale, and owl. 14 children chose lion. 4 children chose panda. 3 children chose whale. 6 children chose owl.
- What do you notice about the survey?
- Which animal has the most votes?
- Which animal has the least votes?
Record your thoughts.
What is a graph?
Ava's survey has the children lined up with their favourite choice of animal. This way of representing the children’s votes is known as a graph.
Try It
Your turn!
It's now your turn to collect data.
Let's discover which of your stuffed animals is each person's favourite.
- If possible, collect data from the people around you, like your peers or adults.
- Ask each person, “Which stuffed animal is your favourite?”
- Record their answer with a pencil and piece of paper, or with another method of your choice.
Creating a fruit survey
Ava did another survey for favourite fruits. Let’s discover which fruits are the most and least favourite. Let's explore the following survey:
| Fruit Survey |
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A fruit survey with four fruits: apple, strawberry, grapes, and watermelon. Five children chose apple. Four children chose strawberry. Two children chose grapes. Three children chose watermelon.
After exploring the fruit survey, respond to the following:
- Which fruit did most people like? How do you know?
- Which fruit did the least number of people like? How do you know?
- How many more people liked watermelon than grapes? How do you know?
Record you answers. If possible, share your answers with a partner.
You may also show your findings by filling in each square. For example, for each person who likes strawberries, fill in one square.
Complete the following Fruit Survey Graph in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document. If you would like, you can use speech-to-text or audio recording tools to record your thoughts.
| Place a filled in square next to each fruit that a person chose. | |||||
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Press the ‘Activity’ button to access Fruit Survey Graph.
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
If we surveyed a new group of people about their favourite fruits, would their graph be the same as the graph we made today? Why?
Record your thoughts.
If possible, share your thoughts with a partner.
Consolidation
Creating a data question
Create a question you would like to ask next time you collect data. Record your question.
For example, you could ask:
- What is your favourite toy?
- What is your favourite game?
- What is your favourite food?
- Another question of your choice!
You can find pictures in flyers, magazines, newspapers, or you can draw pictures for the data sheet.
To collect your data, you can survey those around you or your stuffed animals.
To collect your data, you can survey those around you or your stuffed animals.
What did you find out from your survey?
Record your thoughts.
Share your learning with a partner, if possible.
Reflection
How do you feel about what you have learned in this activity? Press the button next to the sentence that matches how you feel.
