Virginia SOL 8.PS.2.j
The Standard
Identify components of graphical displays that can be misleading.
Virginia Standards of Learning for Mathematics · The student will apply the data cycle (formulate questions; collect or acquire data; organize and represent data; and analyze data and communicate results) with a focus on boxplots.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students inspect titles, labels, scales, intervals, symbols, and omitted information in graphs. They name the feature that could distort a reader’s conclusion and explain how to fix it.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can point to a specific feature, such as unequal intervals, missing labels, or inconsistent scales. They explain how that feature could affect a reader’s conclusion and suggest a clear correction.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may call any unusual shape misleading, even when the graph accurately shows the data. They may assume every axis must begin at zero, which is not required for a boxplot. They also miss unequal intervals, swapped labels, hidden outliers, or side-by-side plots using different scales.
How to Assess It
- Give students two side-by-side boxplots of class quiz scores that use different horizontal scales. Ask them to circle the misleading feature and explain how to revise it.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs two printed boxplots with mismatched scales; students cut out and align the axes, then write how the comparison changes.
Display a flawed boxplot and ask, “What conclusion might a reader make, and which design choice pushes that conclusion?”
Run a card-sort game where teams match misleading graphs to flaw cards such as unequal intervals, missing labels, or omitted outliers.
Have students inspect a news graphic or advertisement, mark one potentially misleading feature, and rewrite its caption accurately.
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