Teaching Box As Well As Whisker Plots

Image: ruthmaas.com
When I wrote Long Live Stem as well as Leaf, I'd been challenged to detect a practical application of stalk as well as foliage diagrams exterior the maths classroom. After extensive googling - as well as helpful input from twitter - the exclusively examples I could detect were motorcoach as well as prepare timetables. But I argued that existent life application isn't the hold upward all as well as goal all.

Stem as well as foliage diagrams were invented inwards the 1970s yesteryear Consistent Mathematics if y'all desire to know why). This is a lovely action inwards a lesson introducing the thought of median, exactly non thus effective inwards a box plot lesson. Because fifty-fifty though y'all tin role a bedsheet as well as string to larn the students to expect similar a box plot, if they’re non appropriately spaced out (ie if there’s no scale) as well as thus it’s non a box plot. If y'all desire a proper box plot you’ll bring to truly mensurate the heights as well as depict a scale on the floor.

An option thought (inspired yesteryear this post) involves newspaper aeroplanes. You’ll quest a large infinite for this - the schoolhouse hall or playground. Tape (or depict inwards chalk) a long scale on the floor. Have each of your pupils brand a newspaper aeroplane, write their cite on it, as well as throw it from the outset of the scale. Leave the aeroplanes where they land. Once all pupils bring thrown their aeroplane, y'all tin depict or record a box plot on the flooring approximately the planes to correspond the distance flown. Pupils volition hold upward able to run across which quartile their plane landed in. Hopefully 1 hereafter engineer volition throw an amazing outlier which volition brand a skillful tidings point! You could fifty-fifty dissever the degree inwards one-half as well as do 2 box plots on the flooring side yesteryear side, as well as thus the degree could verbalise over which squad had amend aeroplanes as well as which team’s planes were to a greater extent than consistent.

If y'all similar practical activities, here’s 2 more:
  • This uncomplicated newspaper folding action is a overnice introduction to median as well as quartiles.
Source: bigideasmath.com


Resources
There’s surprisingly few skillful box plot resources online. But Don Steward never lets us down. His website has a reveal of box plot activities - my favourite is this truthful or fake activity.


I also similar the action below from bigideasmath.com:

If you’re looking to generate box plots on your interactive whiteboard for degree discussion, this online tool is overnice – it has pre-populated information or y'all tin input your own.

I've listed some to a greater extent than skillful box plot resources below. I’ve constitute that many resources enquire questions almost skewness, which nosotros don’t encompass until S1 (but perchance nosotros should encompass earlier). Treatment of outliers is also non covered at GCSE exactly makes for a overnice discussion.

If y'all desire to exhibit your degree some ‘real world’ box plots as well as thus these box plots showing the ages of World Cup players could prompt some skillful discussions almost comparisons. Read @loumeracy’s blog post for to a greater extent than on this.


If y'all desire to ‘wow’ your degree amongst an instance of how box plots tin hold upward used to compare huge amounts of information inwards a pocket-size space, exhibit them this example which shows the historic menses distribution of Olympics athletes (more of this here).

Final thoughts
In French the box plot is called boîte à moustaches (box amongst a moustache). The author of this article attempts to create a box as well as beard plot!

There are many variations to the box as well as whisker plot, such every bit the edible bean plot as well as violin plot. Look these upward on google images for lots of examples.

I read an interesting thought here that I’d never thought of before: “One agency to assistance y'all translate box plots is to imagine that the agency a information gear upward looks every bit a histogram is something similar a mount viewed from the world plane as well as a box as well as whisker diagram is something similar a contour map of that mount every bit viewed from above”.

Well, at that topographic point y'all are – a 'box plot weblog post'. Try maxim that 5 times out loud. I've invented a novel natural language twister.