WD Hill Fall Workshops Grades K-3 4:00pm to 6:00pm
Date: 4/10/07
Topic for workshop: Misleading Graphs
Instructor: Lateasha Shirer
Number of Students: 10
1. Provide a brief overview of the workshop (i.e. purpose, activities and materials):
Teaching misleading graphs will show students the bad side of misleading graphs and the
positive side of misleading graphs. This lesson will show how people use graphs to focus on a
certain point or to make something look more or less like how it actually is. This lesson
helps students identify good and bad graphs.
2. Did the students engage the workshop and ask questions?
The students engaged in class discussions about what makes a good graph and what might be a
misleading graph. This class separated into groups and discussed different misleading graphs.
Students asked questions about misleading graphs that were displayed on the board.
3. Did the students seem to learn and understand the material? For example, can the students
explain what they learned?
The students seemed to really understand how to determine a good graph from a misleading
graph. To test their knowledge the instructor passed out sample graphs. The students had to
determine if the graphs were good and explain why they thought the graphs were good.
4. Is this material appropriate for the K-7 grade level? Is it more appropriate for K-3 or
4-7, and why?
This material was a little challenging for the younger students, but they were able to
identify which graphs are good graphs and which ones are misleading. The older students
understood the lesson really well. They were excited about answering questions about the
graphs. Everyone identified the graphs correctly. Each graph was discussed after the class
reunited for more instructional time.
5. How do the materials and activities apply to the science and math the students are
currently learning?
This lesson is geared towards math, however it can be used in science. Scientists can
formulate graphs that may appear to prove an argument on their side. Math contains misleading
graphs often in statistics.
6. Additional comments:
Use graphs that the students can relate to. Using graphs that they don't understand only makes
teaching a little harder on the instructor.