7.11 Lesson Plan
The student, given data in a practical situation, will construct and analyze histograms; and
compare and contrast histograms with other types of graphs presenting information from the
same data set.
1. Give the students a copy of the chart with the names of last 20 presidents and their ages at
inauguration.
2. They should use that data to make a stem-and-leaf plot. This is a 5th grade SOL, but they will
need a review. From the stem-and-leaf plot, have them find the mean, median, mode, and range
of the data. Again this is a 5th grade SOL, but you will need to review it. Make sure as students
are making these graphs that they always have a title.
3. Have them use the same data to make a line plot. This is a good time to talk about intervals
and scale. Ask them if they can still use the line plot to find the mean, median, mode, and range
of the data.
4. Ask students if they could use the data to make a bar graph. Don’t actually make the graph,
but ask them how they could organize the bars. They can actually take the line plot and just turn
the x’s into bars.
5. How can you take the data and put it into a frequency table? Again this is a good time to talk
about intervals. Make sure they are using consistent intervals and not overlapping them. They
should then take the frequency table and make a histogram. Once the data is in the histogram,
ask them if they can still find the mean, median, mode, and range from it.
6. They could take the histogram and make it into a circle graph. I would ask them the best way
to do it – making fractions and percents, but maybe just show the attached circle graph to see
how they compare.
Other questions to ask.
1. Can you tell from all of the graphs around what age most of the presidents were when they
were inaugurated? Do all of the graphs give you the exact age of the youngest president
inaugurated? The oldest?
2. Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. He was inaugurated
the first time at age 47 and the second time at age 55. If we add those numbers to our data, how
will it change our mean, median, mode, and range, or will it? Will it change our histogram?
How?
3. In order to be elected President of the United States, you must be at least 35 years old. We
have never had a president that young elected. What would happen to the histogram if our next
president was 35? Would it change the circle graph? How?
4. Of all of the graphs shown, which graph do you think best displays the data? Justify your
answer.
Ages of Presidents at Inauguration
Number
President
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Dwight D. Eisehhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Age at
Inauguration
54
42
51
56
55
51
54
51
60
62
43
55
56
61
52
69
64
46
54
47
Mean
54.15
Median
54
Mode
51 and 54
Range
27