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Web Quest
Chapter 3
NAMES, NAMES, NAMES
TASK CONTEXT
The students have been asked to research common first names using information
from government websites. They are then to use this data to recommend
the 10 most popular boy's names and 10 most popular girl's names to a
company that manufactures nameplates for children. As the students look
at the data provided at each of the websites, they will begin to see that,
although there are similarities, the most popular names vary somewhat
from province to province. They will also find that the popularity of
certain names has changed over time. Students may wish to investigate
popular names for the current year, or they may realize that it might
be better to investigate popular names of past years. Although it is not
important to introduce this level of sophistication in reasoning, it is
worthwhile to explore the change in popularity, and to compare it to the
names of the students in the classroom.
GOALS
- Collect, sort and organize data.
- Create graphs with scales.
- Interpret and describe data from graphs.
MEETING INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
- Some students may find that some websites present too much data for
them to sort and organize.
- Begin with the article about common names on Nova Scotia. This data
is presented in paragraph form and gives the reader information about
2002 and 2001. At the end of the article there is a simple chart presenting
the top boy's and girl's names.
- Students who have difficulty finding an appropriate scale should be
encouraged to begin with a pictograph that uses counting by 5's or 10's.
- Students who require a challenge can be encouraged to create a pictograph
and a bar graph, using computer software, for each of the sets of data.
INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE
- Discuss common first names that they know, either among their friends
or in the classroom. Tell the students that when a baby is born, the
parents must register the birth with the city and the province.
Some provinces then keep a record of the most popular names each year.
Have the students guess what the most popular girl's name and boy's
name might have been for the year they were born.
- Read the Introduction and the Task with the students. If possible,
show them an example of the type of nameplate that might be manufactured
by the company. Discuss why it would be important for the company to
choose the correct names to place on the nameplates.
- Place the students into groups of 3. Have them decide which websites
each will explore, with each student taking responsibility for 2 of
the sites. Keep in mind that the data at the Alberta site may be the
most challenging to organize because of the amount of data that is given.
- Provide students with blank organizational charts and paper to create
pictographs and bar graphs.
- After the students have created their individual graphs, have them
move back into their groups of 3 to compare the results, come to conclusions
and write their recommendations to the company.
RESOURCES
Materials:
Blank organizational
charts
Grid paper for graphing
Rulers, pencils, coloured
pencils
Graphing software such
as Graphers® (optional)
Websites:
Popular
names in Nova Scotia
Baby's
Most Chosen Names in Saskatchewan
Baby
Boy's Names in Alberta
Baby
Girl's Names in Alberta
Baby's
Most Chosen Name in British Columbia
Most
Popular baby names in the last 120 years
Charts:
Organizational Charts
form
Letter
form
ASSESSMENT
|
Level
1 |
Level
2 |
Level
3 |
Level
4 |
Sort and Organize
Data |
Sorted some data for one province by identifying some popular names. |
Sorted all data for one province by identifying the 20 most popular
names. |
Sorted and organized correct data for most provinces by identifying
the 20 most popular names. |
Sorted and organized correct data for all provinces by identifying
the 20 most popular names. |
Create Graph |
Created a graph - scale may not be appropriate or accurate.
Frequent and
major errors made. |
Created one graph using an appropriate and accurate scale.
Few major errors
in graph. |
Created several graphs using an appropriate and accurate scale.
No major errors
in graphs. |
Created graphs for each set of data.
Scale chosen
allows graphs to be compared.
All graphs
are correct. |
Interpret
and Describe Data |
Description of graph is incomplete or rarely uses math language.
Recommended
20 names may not be related to the graph. |
Description of graph is generally clear, using some math language.
Recommendations
are based on information in the graph. |
Explains the similarities and differences in the graphs.
Uses the data
appropriately to form recommendation. |
Clearly explains the patterns in the graphs and uses data from all
the graphs to form recommendation. |
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