Problem Teachers' Notes Hint Solution

This problem challenges learners to interpret data carefully and to search for all the information that there is implicit in any graphical representation. The question encourages them to contrast different ways of representing similar data and helps to make explicit their interpretation of what the data represents in order to solve the problem.

Later on in secondary school children often leave out the labels on axes so rendering the representation meaningless. This question will help children to realise the significance of the labels.

You could get the group to make about sixteen throws of a die and make a rough bar chart of the results of the throws on the board. Then give a brief introduction to the problem as given '?? just reading will probably be sufficient.

After this learners could work in pairs on the actual problem from a computer or a printed sheet so that they are able to talk through their ideas with a partner.

At the end of the lesson you should discuss not only the answers to the problem itself, and how these were reached, but also to stress why it is important not to leave out the labels on axes of a graph.

What number does green (etc) represent?

What colour is six (etc)?

How can you label this axis?

How many times did they all throw the dice?