This task is about statistical investigations.
Mrs Judd gets a box of ball-point pens. She wonders if all the pens have equally strong flicks. To test this, she flicks a cube in the centre and measures how far it slides.
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Part I - Getting started - whole group
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| a) |
List as many different things as you can that will affect how far a cube will slide when it is flicked by the pen.
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| b) |
Why does the cube sometimes travel different distances, even though it is flicked in the same way?
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Part II - Collecting and looking at data – in pairs
My name: ______________________ My partner’s name: _____________________ |
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| c) |
1. Get one person to flick the cube exactly in the centre.
2. The partner marks the distance travelled with a dot on the person’s recording strip. 3. Return the cube to the person. 4. Repeat this 20 times. 5. Swap roles and repeat steps 1 – 4 so both of you have flicked the cube 20 times each. |
| d) |
Compare the results of your recording strips to decide which person’s cube usually goes further or if both cubes travel about the same distance.
i) My cube usually travels: further / about the same distance / not as far (circle one)
ii) Explain your answer (make reference to the data plotted on your two recording strips).
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Part III - Looking at all the data – whole group
Get into larger groups. Each group puts their recording strips on the wall or a large sheet of paper with blue-tack. Make sure each pairs’ strips are one under the other.
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| e) |
Discuss what you notice about your groups’ results. Make your own notes.
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| f) |
i) Do you think that all the pens flick the cubes about the same distance? Yes / No (circle one)
ii) Explain your answer (make reference to the data plotted on all the recording strips).
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