Our everyday lives have been transformed in 2020. Key features of this transformation have been the significance of COVID-related numeracy in our everyday lives and the realisation of the story it might tell about lives, health and death. In recent years, governments and educators around the world have been advocating for numeracy as an essential…

The sample mean is sometimes depicted as a fulcrum placed under the Dot plot. We provide an alternative geometric visualization of the sample mean using the empirical cumulative distribution function or the cumulative histogram data.

Numeracy in schools is becoming an increasingly important part of mathematics learning and teaching. This is because educators want students to engage with mathematical concepts more deeply, use mathematics to make sense of their environment and make decisions that are based on the analysis of mathematical information. In order to be numerate,…

Quantitative literacy, the ability to discriminate between good and bad data, the disposition to use quantitative information to think through complex problems are capacities that educators across fields should be helping students develop. Burke leads the reader to this conclusion through an extended example of income distribution, clarified and…

Representative samples of fourth- and eighth-grade public school students from 21 urban districts participated in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics. Eighteen of the districts participating in the 2011 NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) participated in earlier assessment years, while three districts…

This informal survey found that the probability that a person is in the over 45 age group, and is left-handed, is significantly different from the probability in the population as a whole. (MP)

A magazine article is shown to contain material that could lead to discussions of several topics in mathematics. The article and the related mathematics are discussed in detail. (MP)

Estimating the weight of large pumpkins before harvest presents an opportunity for applying several diverse mathematical topics. A model that allows an estimation by easy tape measurement is derived. (MP)

As part of their teacher training course, graduate students visited several industries to find what mathematics was in use. (MM)

Using Freudenthal's method of historical phenomenology, the history of statistics was investigated as a source of inspiration for instructional design. Based on systematically selected historical examples, hypotheses were formulated about how students could be supported in learning to reason with particular statistical concepts and graphs. Such a…

Presents an activity considering whether a difference exists in the age of Oscar winners. Describes how to draw a stem plot and a box plot as an example of implementing the recommendations of the NCTM Standards. Provides tables showing the name, movie titles, and ages of the Oscar winners since 1928. (YP)

Considers definitions of quantiles. Describes median and quartiles. Compares the usefulness of 3 different definitions of quartile using a computer program to simulate 500 quantiles on a sample of a fixed size. Five references are listed. (YP)

Describes classroom activities and shows that statistics is a practical tool for solving real problems. Presents a histogram, a stem plot, and a box plot to compare data involving class enrollments. (YP)