Substrand	Data
Purpose	Describing possibilities Collecting and organising data Interpreting data Reasoning
CSF level suggested	1–2
Equipment	Enough dice for one per student

The Task

Students were asked which number they thought would be rolled most often using a regular die.

Each student wrote or drew their prediction. They were then given a die and asked to conduct their own experiment, keeping a record of the numbers rolled. Before starting to roll the die they were asked to think of a way to organise their recording to make for easy reading and counting later on.

Students were given some time to roll their die and record their results. They were then asked to check their results, and write or draw their findings.

Look For

• ability to keep an organised record
• accuracy of recording and interpretations
• ability to interpret their findings
• complexity of student interpretations of data

James (Year Prep) thought the number one would be thrown the most because it "comes first." He kept his record by writing the number each time it was thrown. These were organised into separate rows. He did not total each group but noticed that "2 and 3 came a draw". Suggests Level 1 in the substrand.

Sally (Year Prep) thought the number three would be thrown most often because "it's my favourite number". She organised her recording into columns for each number, saying "I'm putting them in groups". She totalled each column accurately and noticed that "the most was ones and the least was fives." Suggests Level 2 in the substrand.

Michael (Year 1) predicted that it "could be six or three because they are lucky numbers". He made a table and then used tally marks to record his results. He found the totals and noticed that "The most was two, the least was four and the six. Three was in the middle." Suggests Level 2 in the substrand.