Science Data

Today's Science lesson had to do with the data that Scientist take and how they do multiple trials to make sure they are right.  Each partner group was given ten 3-oz. Solo cups.  They were given a data sheet and told to count the cups four times and record the number of cups that they counted.  When we first decided to do this, I have to admit that I missed the point.  I figured they would count the ten cups correctly each time.  After all, these are first graders and they have pretty good number sense for numbers 1-10.  However, I was wrong!

Much to my surprise only 14 of our 35 students counted ten cups on each of the four trials!  As the data sheets were posted, there was a great discussion on why there were discrepancies and why it is so important for Scientist to do experiments many times.  Great lesson!