Census at School with TinkerPlots

Student Worksheet

Think back to the questions on the Census at School survey. We have so much information about the class. What we need to do is find ways of examining the results to help us understand the class better. This worksheet teaches you about asoftware program, TinkerPlots, that helps make sense of a large amount of information.

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Instructions

1)Open the TinkerPlots program and import your class data by dragging the internet icon (to the left of the website address) onto the TinkerPlots workspace. Maximize the TinkerPlots window.

2)You will see the data cards for your class. Each card holds the data from the survey questions for each student in your class. If you click on the left and right arrows in the cards, you will see the data for each student.


3)Make the cards small and drag them to the top left corner of the workspace, so they are out of the way. Drag the Table icon onto your workspace and you will see a table that containsthe data for all the students. You can navigate through the table by dragging the bars at the bottom and the side.

4)Drag thePlot icon into your workspace. Each dot represents one student.

5)From the case table, drag the gender attribute into the box on the x-axis.

Find the % icon on the top toolbar (above the word Counts).

Turn it on by clicking on it.

What is the percentage of females in the class? _____

What is the percentage of males in the class? _____

Turn on the n icon (above the word Counts).

What is the number of females in the class? _____

What is the number of males in the class? _____

Click on the Key icon at the far right. A legendwill appear in the plot. You can choose the colour of the dots by double clicking on each colour in the legend and selecting the colours you want.

What colour did you make the females? ______

What colour did you make the males? ______

6)Now mix up the data again by clicking the arrows at the bottom left of the plot.

7)In the case table, scroll across to find the data about the ways people communicate with their friends. Drag the communicationattribute to the x-axis. The answer labels are shown in alphabetical order. Drag the answer labels so that they are in order from the method of communication used by the greatest number of students to the method of communication used by the least number of students. In the table provided, write in the order of the answer labels and the number of students in each group.

Answer Label / Number of Students

8)Mix up your plot. Drag the favourite subject attribute onto the x-axis. Then, choose a different shape for your graph by selecting the drop down arrow at the bottom of the graph. Choose fuse rectangular to produce a bar chart.

What are the top three favourite subjects for your class?

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9)Keeping favourite subject on the x-axis, drag the gender attribute onto the y-axis.

What is the favourite subject for females? ______

For what percentage of females is this the favourite subject? _____

What is the favourite subject for males? ______

For what percentage of males is this the favourite subject? _____

10)On a new plot, drag the height attribute onto the x-axis. Separate into smaller groupings by dragging a dot to the right or left. Continue doing this until you see a scale at the bottom of the graph. Find the Mean icon (a triangle) at the top above the word Averages. Turn it on and find the average of the heights. Use the drop down arrow beside the Mean icon to show the exact value. To find the median, click on the button to the left of the Mean icon. To find the mode, use the drop down arrow.

What is the mean? _____ What is the median? _____ What is the mode? _____

11)Now drag the gender attribute onto the y-axis.

What is the mean height of the males? _____

What is the mean height of the females? _____

You have now completed this exercise – Well done!! 

Enrichment Activity: Individual Research Project

1)Examine the dataset for your class. There are over 50 variables from the survey. Select two variables that you think might be related and come up with a question about them. For example, is reaction time related to gender?

Write your research question here:

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2)Make a prediction about what the results will be in the space below. Why do you think this will be the case?

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3)Create a graph comparing your two chosen attributes. Remember to try different graph types to see which displays your data the best. If your graph has numeric data (numbers), figure out the mean, median, and mode for your dataset.

Summarize your findings in the space below.

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4)Did the data in your graph match what you predicted? Try to explain the similarities or differences between your prediction and the data in the space blow.

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5)Print your graph and staple it to this worksheet before handing it in.

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