Students of all ages will enjoy exploring data handling and statistics with this mixed bag of engaging books. Ranging from narrative nonfiction to a puzzle book to a thought-provoking look at how we can manipulate statistics, there is something for everyone from the beginner to the advanced mathematician.
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The Great Graph Contest
by Loreen Leedy
Review: Follow along with Gonk and Beezy and their love of graphs in this entertaining story. In a bid to decide who makes the best graphs, Gonk and Beezy compete with each other; they receive points for correct maths, creativity and neatness. Readers are introduced to quantity graphs, Venn diagrams, circle graphs and bar graphs in a playful way. The story shows the main characters collecting, representing and interpreting data from their graphs. The end pages explain more about each graph type and challenge readers to make their own graphs. This is a highly engaging introduction to graph making and its uses.
Suggested Reading Age: 4 – 8. I feel this is best suited for children in the 4 – 6/7 year age bracket.
Nonfiction Nuggets Teaching Tips: A Graph of My Own: Students choose one of the graph types explored in the book and create one to answer a specific question they have.
Best Fit (for older students): Extend students’ thinking further by asking them to represent the data they have collected using each of the different graphs. Discuss with them whether this is actually possible. Ask the students to consider if one graph is better for representing the data and, if yes, which graph it is and why.
Making Graphs
by Bridget Heos (author), Katya Longhi (illustrator)
Review: Readers join along with a class learning about graphs in this easy to understand book. Vocabulary such as surveys and interpreting data are explained along the way in a child-friendly manner. Pictograms, bar graphs and pie charts all feature as ways to organize the data collected. A handy glossary at the back re-explains the terms and lets readers find the information they are looking for quickly. The use of a classroom setting to introduce working with data ensures readers are easily able to connect with the book. A clear, simple introduction.
Suggested Reading Age: 6 – 8. In my opinion, this would appeal most to the younger end of this age bracket.
Nonfiction Nuggets Teaching Tip: Discussion Point: At one stage in the book one of the students is asked to alter their survey question because the data would be too difficult to measure. Discuss what this means and why the teacher said it would be too hard to measure the data.
DIY: Students carry out surveys on a topic of their choice. They then subsequently organise and interpret their data. When designing their survey questions, remind students that they need to be measurable (see Teaching Tip above).
Violet and the Pie of Life
by Debra Green
Review: This book tells the story of Violet, whose parents are separating, and how she uses her love of maths to help her make sense of her life and the world around her. Humorous and heartfelt at the same time, this narrative book draws readers in whilst including plenty of maths along the way. Featuring frequency charts, bar graphs and Venn diagrams, for example, readers can clearly see how graphing is used to organise information. Violet and the Pie of Life provides a unique and engaging approach to exploring maths concepts.
Suggested Reading Age: 8 – 12 years. Violet is 12 years old, and I feel this book is most suited for readers of this age or a little older. Do check the content about a marriage break-up.
Nonfiction Nuggets Teaching Tips: Making Sense of The/My World: Ask students to think of a problem they have or a problem they see in the world around them. Challenge them to see how they can use maths to help better understand or even solve the problem.
Mindful Math
by Ann McNair (author), Robyn Djuritschek (illustrations)
Review: And now for something completely different! Revise, reinforce and practise statistics with this fun book by Tarquin. Including chapters on interpreting data, histograms and correlation (including the line of best fit), readers will enjoy solving the puzzles to find the image hidden in the picture. I, for one, would have loved to have had a book like this when I was at school!
Suggested Reading Age: Middle to High School students
Nonfiction Nuggets Teaching Tip: Purposeful Puzzle: Inspired by the book, students create a puzzle, record the solutions and design the image. They can work on this independently or in pairs. Swap. This same idea could be used for other areas of maths or subjects.
How To Lie With Statistics
by Darrell Huff (author) and Irving Geis (illustrator)
Review: Olden but golden. Still highly relevant, this super book is a terrific look at how statistics can be manipulated to support a given argument. Written in a humorous, accessible style it highlights the need to think critically and not take information at face value. Amusing illustrations highlight key points or observations, bringing levity to a serious subject. Chapters include ”The Sample with the Built-in Bias”, “The Gee-Whiz Graph” and “How to Statisticulate”. You will never look at statistics the same way again!
Suggested Reading Age: Older secondary students and adults
Nonfiction Nuggets Teaching Tip: Search and Find: Look for examples of statistics used in the media. Analyse these to see whether they feature any of the techniques addressed in the book.
Happy Reading!
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