Olympic Records
Why do this problem?
This problem gives students the opportunity to make sense of
graphical data and challenges them to apply their own knowledge
about athletics to explain and interpret key features of the
graphs.
Possible approach
Arrange the class in groups of three or four, and give each
group the
ten
graphs.
"You need to look at the graphs and work out which Olympic
athletics event each graph represents. The graphs all show how the
Olympic records have changed since the modern Olympics
began."
Give the groups plenty of time to look at all the graphs,
discuss them and start to make sense of which events they could be.
Towards the end, ask them to write down a list of the events.
Collect the lists from each group.
"Most of you thought graph 1 was ... and a few groups thought
it was ... or ...
Does anyone have any convincing reason why it might be ...? Or
why it might NOT be ...?"
Go through the graphs in this way to draw out the key points
of the graphs and the convincing reasoning each group came up with.
This
list has the ten events that actually generated the graphs
(although not in order!)
If a computer room is available, groups may wish to look up
Olympic record data
online to check which event gave rise to each graph.
Key questions
What can you deduce about the event if the record
increases/decreases over time?
Possible extension
Ask students to carry out some extra research in order to
explain unusual features in the graphs, such as:
- Drastic changes
- Long gaps
- Absence of data in the early twentieth century
- Records that go both up and down
Possible support
Hand out this list
of events and ask students to match them to the ten
graphs.