Year 2 · Mathematics · Statistics
Collecting and showing data
Asking simple yes/no or choice questions, collecting answers from family members and showing the results with objects or simple drawings.
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These lessons were written around Australian Curriculum strands and matched to UK year groups by age (Year 1 is the year a child turns 6 in England). They are not mapped to the National Curriculum in England or the curricula of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, so check them against your own plans.
Learning goals
Learners will
- Ask a simple yes/no or choice question to collect information.
- Record answers from family members using objects, ticks or drawings.
- Show the results so they are easy to compare and talk about what they show.
Success looks like
- I can ask a question and give people choices to answer.
- I can keep track of everyone's answers.
- I can show the answers with objects or drawings and say which answer got the most.
The big idea
Collecting data means asking people a question and keeping track of their answers. It helps us find out things, such as which fruit to buy or which game to play.
A good question has clear choices. A yes/no question might be 'Do you like rain?' A choice question might be 'Which fruit do you like best: apple, banana or orange?' Choices make it easy to count the answers.
As your child asks each person, they need to record the answer. They could put a block on a pile, make a tick next to a picture or draw a small face. Remind them to ask each person only once.
Next, show the results. Stack blocks into towers, one tower for each choice, standing side by side on the same starting line. Or stick paper squares in neat rows on a sheet of paper, one row for each choice.
Now talk about it. 'Which tower is tallest? That choice got the most votes.' 'Which is shortest? That choice got the least.' Count each tower to check, and see if any choices are the same.
Finally, ask, 'What did we find out?' A simple sentence such as 'Most people in our family like apples best' is the goal.
- Ask a clear question with choices.
- Record each answer once.
- Show the results side by side and compare.
Worked examples
A yes/no question
Ask 6 family members: 'Do you like spicy food?' 4 say yes and 2 say no. Show the results.
- Make a 'yes' tower and a 'no' tower with blocks.
- Add 4 blocks to the yes tower and 2 blocks to the no tower.
- Stand the towers side by side and compare.
Answer: The yes tower is taller, so more people like spicy food (4) than do not (2).
Favourite fruit
Results: apple ✓✓✓, banana ✓✓✓✓✓, orange ✓✓. Which fruit is the favourite?
- Count each row of ticks: apple 3, banana 5, orange 2.
- 5 is the biggest number.
Answer: Banana is the favourite fruit, with 5 votes.
How many people were asked?
In a pet survey, 3 people chose dog, 2 chose cat and 1 chose fish. How many people answered?
- Each person gave one answer, so add all the answers.
- Start with 3, count on 2: 4, 5. Then count on 1: 6.
Answer: 6 people answered the question.
Practice check
Have a go, then check your answers. Each answer comes with an explanation.
Answer guide for parents
Which is a yes/no question?
Do you have a pet? — 'Do you have a pet?' can be answered with yes or no.
Favourite colour: red ✓✓, blue ✓✓✓✓, green ✓. How many people chose blue?
4 — There are 4 ticks next to blue.
Favourite colour: red ✓✓, blue ✓✓✓✓, green ✓. Which colour got the least votes?
green — Green has only 1 tick, the smallest number.
Block towers: 'walk' has 5 blocks and 'car' has 3 blocks. How many more people chose walk than car?
2 — Count on from 3 to 5: 4, 5. That is 2 more.
Why should each person be asked only once?
So each person's answer is counted one time — If someone is asked twice, their answer is counted twice and the results are not true.
Do you like rain? Yes: 3 people. No: 4 people. How many people were asked altogether?
7 — 3 + 4 = 7. Everyone gave one answer, so 7 people were asked.
Pets survey: dog 3, cat 3, fish 1. Which sentence is true?
Dog and cat got the same number of votes — Dog and cat both got 3 votes, so they are the same.
Three block towers stand side by side on the same line. Which one shows the choice with the most votes?
the tallest tower — Each block is one vote, so the tallest tower has the most votes.
Watch out for
- Asking a question with too many possible answers (such as 'What is your favourite food?'). Help your child offer 2 to 4 clear choices.
- Making towers or rows from different-sized objects so they cannot be compared fairly. Use the same blocks or same-sized squares for every answer.
- Forgetting to start rows or towers at the same line. Line them up along the edge of the paper or table.
Tips for parents
- Choose questions your child genuinely cares about, such as what to have for a family dinner or which park to visit.
- Include grandparents, neighbours or friends on a video call to get more answers.
- Ask 'What did we find out?' and help your child say a full sentence about the results.
Go further
- Survey toys: ask each soft toy (or each family member on their behalf) a choice question and make a picture display.
- Keep a week-long weather record, adding one picture each day for sunny, cloudy or rainy, then count which happened most.
- Ask the same question to two different groups (such as adults and children) and compare the results.
About 30 minutes
You'll need
- Blocks or Lego bricks that join together
- Paper, pencils and crayons
- Small sticky notes or paper squares
- A list of family members or friends to ask
Key words
- question
- What we ask to find something out.
- data
- The information we collect, such as people's answers.
- choice
- One of the answers a person can pick.
- record
- Keep track of answers by writing, drawing or using objects.
- most
- The answer chosen by the greatest number of people.
- least
- The answer chosen by the smallest number of people.
Still tricky?
For parents
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