For Grade 5 Students (Ages 10-11) - Let's learn to collect, organize, and understand information!
In this lesson, you will learn to:
Hello, young mathematicians! Have you ever counted how many students in your class like apples, or how many different colored pens you have? When you collect and organize information like this, you are doing **data handling**!
**Data** is simply information or facts. Data handling is about collecting, organizing, representing, and interpreting this information to make sense of it. It helps us answer questions and make decisions.
Let's learn how to become data detectives!
The first step in data handling is to **collect** the information. You can do this by asking questions, observing, or counting.
Once you have collected data, it's important to **organize** it so it's easy to read and understand. A common way to organize data is using a **table**.
Example 1: Favorite Fruits in a Class
Imagine you asked your friends about their favorite fruit and got these answers: Apple, Orange, Banana, Apple, Grape, Orange, Apple, Banana, Apple, Grape.
We can organize this data in a table using **tally marks** and **frequency**.
| Fruit | Tally Marks | Frequency (Number of Students) |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | IIII | 4 |
| Orange | II | 2 |
| Banana | II | 2 |
| Grape | II | 2 |
Tally marks help us count quickly. Every fifth mark is drawn across the previous four (IIII) to make counting easier.
Exercise 1: Collect and organize data.
Count the number of times each digit ($0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9$) appears in the number $123451234512345$. Then, fill in the frequency table below.
| Digit | Frequency |
|---|---|
| 0 | |
| 1 | |
| 2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | |
| 7 | |
| 8 | |
| 9 |
A **pictogram** (or pictograph) uses pictures or symbols to represent data. Each symbol usually stands for a certain number of items.
Example 2: Number of Books Read by Students
Let's say: = 2 books
| Student | Number of Books |
|---|---|
| Amal | |
| Bimal | |
| Kamal |
From this pictogram, we can see:
Amal read $3 \times 2 = 6$ books.
Bimal read $4 \times 2 = 8$ books.
Kamal read $2 \times 2 = 4$ books.
A **bar graph** uses bars to show data. The length or height of each bar represents the quantity. Bar graphs usually have two axes: one for categories and one for values.
Example 3: Favorite Colors of Students
Let's say: Red (5 students), Blue (7 students), Green (4 students), Yellow (3 students).
From this bar graph, we can quickly see that Blue is the most favorite color.
Exercise 2: Interpret data from a table.
The table below shows the number of students who like different sports.
| Sport | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| Cricket | 12 |
| Football | 15 |
| Netball | 8 |
| Swimming | 10 |
Which sport is liked by the most number of students?
How many more students like Football than Netball?
What is the total number of students surveyed?
Let's check your answers!
Exercise 1: Collect and organize data.
Exercise 2: Interpret data from a table.
Excellent work, Math Lanka students! You've learned the basics of data handling – how to collect, organize, and interpret information. This is a very useful skill in everyday life!
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