Mathematics

__**State curriculum standard:**__
 * **Data Analysis and Probability Standard**
 * **A--**Create, interpret and use graphical displays and statistical measures to describe data; e.g., box-and-whisker plots, histograms, scatterplots, etc.

__**Technology Needed:**__
 * Graphing Calculator

__**Task or activity related to that standard that uses some form of technology**__ Students will use data (the height of the people in their class), put the data into a graphing calculator, create box plots using the data and answer questions pertaining to the data.

1. Take the height of all students in the class and use the height as the data for this activity. 2. Put data in graphing calculator 3. Create box plot on calculator (set window to see actual picture--zoom) 4. Students will have to reproduce the box plot that they see on their graphing calculator onto paper. 5.Get Five-Number Summary from the picture: first number--Minimum, second number--mean (located in the lower quartile), third number--median, fourth number--mode (located in the upper quartile) and the fifth number--maximum height 6.From there, students will go in their graphing calculator to the "Statistics" section of the calculator to get the five-number summary and get the numbers of the mean, standard deviation and other statistical numbers. 7. Students will have to reproduce the box plot that they see on their graphing calculator onto paper. 8. As students are completing these tasks, they will be completing a worksheet along the way and answering questions such as: What do the numbers mean in terms of percentages? What does the mean represent? What does the standard deviation mean?

__**Summary of at least one scholarly resource (journal article or book) that supports using technology**__ Using a graphing calculator is important for all students because it allows them to understand computations and how to put data into displays to assist them in their learning. Ruthven mentions that "Under appropriate circumstances, the calculator can help pupils tackle problems involving more realistic data" (p.455). Therefore, it is evident that calculators can help with problems of data. In addition, Ruthven continues and explains, "At upper secondary and tertiary levels, there have been similar claims that graphic calculators can increase the accessibility of realistic problems to students" (p. 455). All students at the secondary level need to learn how to use graphing calculators due to the content of the curriculum and this allows them to solve problems that they can translate to real-life equations, etc.

Ruthven, K. (1996). Calculators in the Mathematics Curriculum: the Scope of Personal Computational Technology. In A. J. Bishop (Ed.), //International Handbook of Mathematics Education// [GoogleBooks version] (Vol. 2, pp. 435-467). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=vY64iuJJHJ8C&printsec=copyright#v=onepage&q&f=false

__**"tried and true" or "new and innovative" and why**__ This activity is another "tried and true" method because students have been using graphing calculators for a long time. This is nothing new to secondary education. However, I'm sure the type of graphing calculators have changed and advanced, so students can probably create more types of graphs, tables, etc. using the advanced applications. This activity holds true because it is an activity that students in the high school I teach at actually do. By using the graphing calculator to upload data and create charts, graphs, etc., students can view data in ways that help them understand different aspects (like the five-number summary and the standard deviation). Therefore, students using graphing calculators will continue using them in high school math classes because they are known to help with education.