Texas TEKS 7.2.B

Science7th GradeScientific and engineering practices

The Standard

analyze data by identifying any significant descriptive statistical features, patterns, sources of error, or limitations

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students summarize a data set using measures such as mean, median, mode, range, and outliers. They describe trends, then identify possible measurement errors, sampling problems, and limits on the conclusions.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student selects useful statistics and explains what they show about the data. The student spots patterns and outliers, suggests plausible errors, and states conclusions that fit the sample.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat every outlier as a mistake or assume a pattern proves cause and effect. They may rely on the mean when an outlier makes the median more useful. They may also confuse a study limitation, such as a small sample, with a measurement error.
How to Assess It: Give this exit ticket: Plant heights are 12, 13, 14, 14, 15, and 28 cm. Find the median and range, identify an outlier, and name one possible error or limitation.

Lesson moves

Have teams measure one desk five times, graph the results, calculate the range, and explain why the measurements differ.
Show two graphs of the same data with different scales, then ask students which claims each graph seems to support.
Give groups data cards and award points for correctly naming the center, spread, pattern, outlier, error, and limitation.
Analyze one month of local temperatures, identify a trend or unusual day, and discuss what the data cannot explain.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 7.2.B, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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