Graphing

We used the Create a Graph feature of the NCES Kid's Zone webpage to graph the results of our straw rocket launches. I worked with the 3rd through 8th graders for this graphing project. For some students this was an introduction to graphing and others were more comfortable and organized their data before entering it. We talked some basic ideas of range and the median. Here are a few more questions we asked about the data.

Using the data, what distance would you predict a straw rocket would go?
If you were building a straw rocket, who would you choose as your partner? Why?
Why is it better to use a bar graph instead of a scatter plot for this data?

Entering the data was a slow process for some of the younger students. It was still worth the time to walk them through the process. They were very proud of the graphs when they created. The website was easy to use and I would definitely use with students again. I think if it was a regular part of classroom instruction they would become proficient with the data entry.

Today we reached out to the families of students who expressed interest in the program but have not come yet this summer. Transportation is an issue for some of the families. If we are able to do this program next year, I hope to find a way to remedy this need.