Lesson 7: Plot Match
Lesson 7: Plot Match
Objective
You will learn how to create a boxplot from an already-established dotplot.
Vocabulary
representation
Essential Concepts
Lesson 7 Essential Concepts
Boxplots are an alternative visualization of histograms or dotplots. They capture most, but not all, of the features we can see in a dotplot or histogram.
Lesson
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Answer the following questions in your IDS Journal:
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What are the components of the five-number summary that make up a boxplot?
Refer to Lesson 5 if you need to review boxplots.
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What information does each component of the boxplot tell us?
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Recall that in Lesson 5 you created a boxplot based on the heights of containers found in your home.
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A boxplot is one representation of the distribution of a variable in a data set. You have also worked with other representations of distributions: histograms, dotplots, bar charts, scatterplots, and tables.
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In your IDS Journal, make a two-column chart. Label one column Single-Variable and the other Two-Variable. Think about how many variables are represented in each distribution listed below. Then place the name of each distribution into these 2 categories (columns).
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dotplot
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bar chart
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scatterplot
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histogram
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table
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You will make boxplots using the information from a dotplot by completing the From Dotplots to Boxplots handout.
Click on the document name to download a fillable copy of the From Dotplots to Boxplots handout (LMR_2.11).
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Be sure to answer the questions included in the handout after you sketch the two boxplots.
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In the next activity, you will attempt to find plots that represent the same data but are plotted differently.
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Copy the Plot Match (LMR_2.12) PowerPoint slide to your Google Slides.
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You will practice matching different representations of distributions. You will work with 15 plots (5 dotplots, 5 histograms, and 5 boxplots). Your task is to create 5 sets of 3 plots. Each set will contain a dotplot, a histogram, and a boxplot that represent the same data.
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Once you have the 5 matched sets with each set containing a boxplot, a dotplot, and a histogram, respond to the following questions in your IDS Journal:
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What strategies did you use to match the distributions?
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What can you see in dotplots and histograms that you cannot see in boxplots? How about the other way?
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When is a dotplot preferred over a histogram? How about the other way?
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There are reasons for using one type of distribution over another; therefore, there are pros and cons to using different types of graphical representations to display the same data. Brainstorm a list of these pros and cons in your IDS Journal.
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Think about some pros and cons of using different types of graphical representations to display the same data.
Reflection
What are the essential learnings you are taking away from this lesson?
Homework
Reflect on today's lesson. Choose two of the three types of graphical representations from LMR 2.11. Using your brainstormed list of pros and cons, write a paragraph explaining the pros and cons for each representation.