Maryland Math 7.DS.A.1.b
The Standard
- 7.DS.A.1
- Determine when generalizations about a population are appropriate based on how the sample was selected.
Explain how a random sample increases the likelihood that the sample represents the population.
Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for Mathematics (2025) · MAKE SENSE OF STATISTICAL INQUIRY.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use a random method, such as drawing names from a complete roster, to choose a smaller group. They explain why giving everyone a chance to be picked helps the group reflect the whole population.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can identify who belongs in the population and choose a way to sample from all of them. They can explain why asking only volunteers may skew the results, and why a random sample can still differ from the population by chance.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may call a sample random because they asked people they happened to see. They may think a random sample is guaranteed to match the population exactly. Some think a large sample is fair even if it leaves out whole groups.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A principal wants to know how seventh graders get to school. Should she ask 30 bus riders or draw 30 names from the seventh-grade roster? Explain your choice and why its results might still be off.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Draw eight names from class roster slips, then compare their lunch-choice tally with the class tally and a tally from eight volunteers.
Ask: If we draw names from one homeroom, can we describe all seventh graders? Have students explain who had no chance to be picked.
Play Sample Sort with cards labeled 'draw names from roster,' 'ask your friends,' and 'ask bus riders'; have pairs defend each label.
For a school bus survey, have students explain why drawing names from the grade roster beats asking only bus riders.
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Related Standards
- 7.DS.A.2.a
Use data from a single random sample to estimate an unknown characteristic of a population.
- 7.DS.A.1
Determine when generalizations about a population are appropriate based on how the sample was selected.
- 7.DS.A.2
Use data from random samples to make and evaluate estimates or predictions about a population.
- 7.DS.A.1.a
Decide whether a sample is representative of a population by explaining how it was selected and how that selection affects the accuracy of conclusions.
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