Max Maths, Year 4, Learn together, Reading and making tables (1)

In a Year 4 mathematics lesson, students are introduced to the concept of organising and presenting data through tables. The lesson uses a relatable example where a character named Jade sorts through her collection of pencils by colour. Jade discovers she has 4 yellow pencils, 3 blue pencils, and 7 red pencils. To represent this information clearly and concisely, she creates a table that lists the pencil colours in one column and the corresponding number of pencils in another. The table effectively displays the data, showing 'Pencil colour' as the heading for the first column with entries 'Yellow', 'Blue', and 'Red' underneath, and 'Number of pencils' as the heading for the second column with the quantities '4', '3', and '7' listed below each colour respectively.

The lesson then encourages students to think about different methods of presenting data by asking how the information about Jade's pencils could be shown in other ways. This question prompts critical thinking and allows for a discussion on various forms of data representation. The table Jade made serves as an excellent example and a starting point for exploring alternative options such as charts or graphs. By engaging with this activity, students learn the importance of tables as a tool for making sense of numerical information and how to read and construct them effectively.