How to use these resources
This website features a continually growing set of resources for Core Maths teachers and consists of graphs, charts and data representations that require some interpretation. This will help students to develop their critical analysis skills.
If you want longer critical analysis tasks then Quibans might do the job for you.
How each of the tasks work
Clicking on an image opens the task (as a pdf) in a new tab. It might be necessary to use the +/- buttons to change the size of the file, so it fits on the screen well.
Page 1 is intended to be projected (it could be printed, but there will usually be no need to do this).
Page 2 consists of teacher notes that are not designed to be presented. The teacher notes include:
How to use them in a lesson
Here is my suggested model for using one of these resources (clearly, you might want to do things differently, and that would be fine).
Read p2 (or print it out so you can refer to it) in advance of the lesson.
Project p1 (which includes the general statement: "comment on this graph").
2 mins of silent individual work. Here are some things you could ask them to focus on (in particular for the first few times you do this):
2 more mins of silent individual work during which they write down anything important they have spotted and any questions they have. They should be focused (eg they shouldn't copy the graph ...).
3 mins: exchange what they have written with a partner - and then discuss. Each pair should choose 2 comments and 1 question that they want to share with the rest of the class.
3 mins to 8 mins: whole-class discussion of the things they have chosen. Ensure that student ideas, your own ideas and those from p2 of the pdf are covered.
Don't rush, but do keep it brief.
Enjoy!
This website features a continually growing set of resources for Core Maths teachers and consists of graphs, charts and data representations that require some interpretation. This will help students to develop their critical analysis skills.
- Some of the representations will be unfamiliar to students.
- Some might be difficult to understand or to interpret.
- Some contain errors or problems for students to spot.
If you want longer critical analysis tasks then Quibans might do the job for you.
How each of the tasks work
Clicking on an image opens the task (as a pdf) in a new tab. It might be necessary to use the +/- buttons to change the size of the file, so it fits on the screen well.
Page 1 is intended to be projected (it could be printed, but there will usually be no need to do this).
Page 2 consists of teacher notes that are not designed to be presented. The teacher notes include:
- questions you might want to ask
- answers
- comments about the graphs
- additional information about the graph or the scenario
- links to the source of the graph.
How to use them in a lesson
Here is my suggested model for using one of these resources (clearly, you might want to do things differently, and that would be fine).
Read p2 (or print it out so you can refer to it) in advance of the lesson.
Project p1 (which includes the general statement: "comment on this graph").
2 mins of silent individual work. Here are some things you could ask them to focus on (in particular for the first few times you do this):
- Do you understand the graph?
- What do the axes mean?
- Pick a data point: what does it tell us?
- What does the graph as a whole tell us?
- Are there any issues/problems with the graph?
- Is there anything you can work out?
- Do you have any questions about the graph?
2 more mins of silent individual work during which they write down anything important they have spotted and any questions they have. They should be focused (eg they shouldn't copy the graph ...).
3 mins: exchange what they have written with a partner - and then discuss. Each pair should choose 2 comments and 1 question that they want to share with the rest of the class.
3 mins to 8 mins: whole-class discussion of the things they have chosen. Ensure that student ideas, your own ideas and those from p2 of the pdf are covered.
Don't rush, but do keep it brief.
Enjoy!