ACARA v9 CONTENT DESCRIPTION “sort and order data and information and represent patterns, including with provided tables and visual or physical models”
Builds on watching and counting what you see. Here you take the numbers you collected, put them in order, and show them in a table or chart so the pattern is easy to see and to tell others about.
Sorting bouncy balls by how high they jump
You drop five balls from the same height and watch how high each one bounces back up. If you just remember it in your head, it is hard to compare. So you write each bounce height as a number. Then you can order the balls from the smallest bounce to the biggest bounce. A table of numbers is a good start, but a chart makes the tallest and shortest bounces jump out at once.
Show the bounce heights and find the pattern
Five balls were dropped from the same height. Look at the table, then switch to the bar chart and line to see the pattern.
In the table the numbers grow row by row, but the bar chart shows it best: the bars get taller from the foam ball to the super ball, so the balls are already in order from the lowest bounce to the highest.
One reading that does not fit
When you order your numbers, most of them climb in a steady way. Sometimes one reading is much lower or higher than the ones beside it. That odd reading does not mean the whole test is wrong. It is a sign to test that one again, in case the ball slipped or you read the ruler in a hurry. Spotting the reading that breaks the pattern is part of being a careful scientist.
Spot the bounce that breaks the pattern
The same ball was dropped from higher and higher each time. The bounce height should keep climbing, but one trial does not fit.
Click the point that does not fit the pattern of the others.
Ordering the days by how warm they were
Sorting and ordering works for all kinds of information, not just bounces. Say you measure the temperature outside on five days. You can order the days from the coolest to the warmest. To be sure your ordering is right, you sort each fact about the week into a real clue about the warming pattern or a fact that has nothing to do with it.
Which facts help you order the days by warmth?
The claim is about the warming pattern across the week. Decide which facts are real clues about how warm each day was.
Claim: The days got warmer through the week, so they can be ordered from coolest to warmest by temperature.
The thermometer read 12 degrees on Monday and 24 degrees on Friday.
Each day from Monday to Friday read a higher number than the day before.
The class drew the chart with a blue pencil.
On the warmest day the playground felt hot and nobody wore a jacket.
Friday is the last day of the school week.
Decide whether each statement is evidence for the claim, or not.
Why this matters
Numbers on their own are hard to read, but sorted and shown in a table or a chart they tell a clear story. Learning to order your information and show the pattern is how scientists, shop keepers and weather watchers all make sense of what they collect.
Quick self-check
1. You test five balls and write down how high each one bounces. Putting them in order from lowest bounce to highest is called...
2. A table puts the bounce numbers in rows. What is the easiest way to see the pattern jump out?
3. In the bounce results, one ball bounced much lower than all the balls near it. That odd reading means you should...
4. You write the days of the week and the temperature for each day. Sorting the days from coolest to warmest is using a pattern in...
5. Why is sorting and ordering your information helpful?