Data Sense Practice

Name:

Date:

Students collecting data with charts and graphs

📊 Part 1: Data Collection and Organisation

1. Which of these are good methods for collecting data in science? (Circle all that apply)

Making careful observations

Guessing what might happen

Using tally marks to count

Asking people survey questions

2. Fill in the blanks: Scientists collect information called __________ to answer questions about the world. This information must be recorded __________ to be useful.

3. Which type of graph would be best for showing how many students chose each favourite fruit?

Bar graph

Dot plot

Both would work well

Neither would work

4. Look at this tally chart showing favourite school subjects:
Maths: |||| ||||
Science: |||| ||
Art: ||||
PE: |||| |||| |

Which subject was most popular? ___________
How many students chose Science? ___________

🔍 Part 2: Data Accuracy and Errors

5. Why is it important for scientists to collect data accurately?

6. Sarah counted the number of birds she saw each day for a week. On Tuesday, she forgot to write down 3 birds she saw in the afternoon. What type of problem is this?

Data collection error

Calculation error

Graph error

No problem at all

7. Tom made a bar graph but forgot to label his axes. List two problems this might cause for people reading his graph:

Problem 1: _________________________________________________

Problem 2: _________________________________________________

8. Circle TRUE or FALSE: A graph can sometimes be misleading even if the data is correct.

TRUE

FALSE

📈 Part 3: Reading and Interpreting Data

9. A class collected data about pets owned by students. The bar graph shows:
Dogs: 8 students, Cats: 6 students, Fish: 3 students, Birds: 2 students, No pets: 6 students

Write two sentences describing what this data shows:

10. If you were collecting data about favourite colours in your class, what steps would you take to make sure your data is accurate?

11. Complete this sentence: When presenting data to others, it is important to be __________ and __________ so people can understand what the information really means.