standard_description: Distinguish between correlation and causation.
problem_activity: Activity
Now that students are more familiar with two-way tables showing relative frequency, they are ready to create their own segmented bar graphs. In this activity, students create two segmented bar graphs based on the same two-way table by considering percentages of the rows and columns separately. After creating the segmented bar graphs, they are analyzed to determine if there is an association present in the data.
Launch
Arrange students in groups of 2. After a brief introduction, give 5–10 minutes of quiet work time. Ask students to compare their answers with their partner and try to resolve any differences. Finish with a whole-class discussion.
Display the two-way table from the previous lesson's cool-down activity containing the data collected about the class's playing sports and musical instruments. If the data is unavailable, the data from this lesson's warm-up can be used.
Tell students they should work with their partners to each work on one of the graphs. One student should work on problems 1 and 2 while their partner should work on 3 and 4. After they have completed their graphs, they should work together to understand their partners graphs and complete the last problem together.
Action and Expression: Internalize Executive Functions.
Chunk this task into more manageable parts to support students who benefit from support with organization and problem solving. For example, present one question at a time. Some students may benefit from a checklist on how to create a segmented bar graph.
Supports accessibility for: Organization; Attention
Student Facing
Your teacher will give you a two-way table with information about the number of people in your class who play sports or musical instruments.
Complete this table to make a two-way table for the data from earlier. The table will show relative frequencies
by row
.
{"table": [{"_attributes": {"border": "1"}, "thead": [{"tr": [{"th": [{"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}}, {"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}, "_value": "plays instrument"}, {"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}, "_value": "does not play instrument"}, {"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}, "_value": "row total"}]}]}], "tbody": [{"tr": [{"th": [{"_value": "plays sport"}], "td": [{}, {}, {"_value": "100%"}]}, {"th": [{"_value": "does not play sport"}], "td": [{}, {}, {"_value": "100%"}]}]}]}]}
Make a segmented bar graph for the table. Use one bar of the graph for each row of the table.
[IMG]
Complete the table to make a two-way table for the data from earlier. The table will show relative frequencies
by column
.
{"table": [{"_attributes": {"border": "1"}, "thead": [{"tr": [{"th": [{"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}}, {"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}, "_value": "plays instrument"}, {"_attributes": {"scope": "col"}, "_value": "does not play instrument"}]}]}], "tbody": [{"tr": [{"th": [{"_value": "plays sport"}], "td": [{}, {}]}, {"th": [{"_value": "does not play sport"}], "td": [{}, {}]}, {"th": [{"_value": "column total"}], "td": [{"_value": "100%"}, {"_value": "100%"}]}]}]}]}
Using the values in the table, make a segmented bar graph. Use one bar of the graph for each column of the table.
[IMG]
Based on the two-way tables and segmented bar graphs, do you think there is an association between playing a sport and playing a musical instrument? Explain how you know.
Student Response
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Anticipated Misconceptions
Students may draw the segmented bar graph incorrectly. Most likely, they will accidentally graph frequency instead of relative frequency. They may also graph relative frequencies, but without stacking them. Both segmented bars should go from 0 to 100.
Activity Synthesis
To clarify how to create and interpret segmented bar graphs, ask:
“What different information can be seen by the two segmented bar graphs?”
“Why are the numbers in the top left box in the two tables different? What do they mean?” (In the first table it represents the percentage who also play musical instruments out of all the people who play sports. In the second table it represents the percentage of people who also play sports out of all the people who play musical instruments.)
“Is there an association between the two variables? Explain or show your reasoning.” (The answer will depend on class data, but the reasoning should include an analysis of the relative frequencies within categories. There is an association if the percentages within one category are very different from the percentages in another category.)
If there is an association, ask what the segmented bar graphs would look like if there was no association. If there is not an association, ask what the segmented bar graphs would look like if there was one.
Writing, Speaking: MLR1 Stronger and Clearer Each Time.
Use this routine to give students a structured opportunity to revise and refine their response to the last question. Ask each student to meet with 2–3 other partners in a row for feedback. Provide students with prompts for feedback that will help them strengthen their ideas and clarify their language (e.g., “Why do you think there is a (positive/negative) association?”, “How do the relative frequencies help to answer this question?”, “How could you say that another way?”, etc.). Students can borrow ideas and language from each partner to strengthen the final product. They can return to the first partner and revise and refine their initial response.
Design Principle(s): Optimize output (for explanation)


aligns: no