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Christmas Data Investigations Introduction

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Christmas Data Investigations Introduction

The team at a volcano observatory is planning a Christmas open day. Use the information on this sheet to practise asking questions, collecting and interpreting data. For questions with more than one possible answer, give a sensible example.

Ask and plan

A data investigation follows PPDAC: Problem, Plan, Data, Analysis and Conclusion.

1.Which statement best describes data?

Information collected to help answer a question
A guess made before an investigation
A list of Christmas presents
Only information written as numbers

2.Number the PPDAC steps from 1 to 5 in the order an investigation usually follows: Data; Conclusion; Problem; Analysis; Plan.

3.Which is the clearest investigative question for planning the open day?

Is Christmas the best time of year?
What is your favourite Christmas treat?
Which activity would visitors aged 8–12 most like at the observatory open day?
Why are volcanoes interesting?

4.For the question “Which open-day activity would each visitor most like?”, name the group of interest and the variable being recorded.

5.The team asks 12 visitors to choose one activity. Suggest one fair way to collect their answers so that everyone gets the same choices.

Read the results

The team surveyed 12 visitors. Each person chose one favourite activity.

Activity

Number of visitors

Volcano viewing

Rock and mineral table

Make a paper volcano

6.How many visitors were surveyed altogether? Show how you worked it out.

7.Which activity was the most popular, and how many more visitors chose it than the least popular activity?

8.True or false: The results show that every visitor to the open day will prefer volcano viewing. Explain your choice.

9.Write one conclusion the team can make from these results. Include a detail from the survey.

10.Plan a new Christmas data investigation for the observatory. Write a question that can be answered by collecting data, name the group you would ask, and say what answer or measurement you would record.