5th Grade Math Lesson

Plotting & Analyzing Fractional Data: Line Plots with Fractions

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5th Grade Level IBTC Style / Thinking ClassroomsCCSS 5MD.B.250 min

Learning Objective

Students will be able to make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8) and solve problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions using information from the line plot (CCSS 5.MD.B.2).

Lesson Overview

Students progress from reading existing line plots with whole-number data to creating and interpreting line plots with fractional measurements, culminating in solving real-world problems using addition and subtraction of fractions from line plot data.

Materials

Vertical whiteboards or chart paper
Dry-erase markers (multiple colors)
Rulers
Random grouping tool
Sticky notes for data collection
Number lines printed on paper for reference

Scaffolded Task Progression

1Task 1

Here is a line plot showing how many books students read last month: [ Interactive graph / diagram, available in the full lesson ] Answer these questions:
(a) How many students are represented in this data?(b) What is the most common number of books read?(c) How many students read MORE than 3 books?

2Task 2

A group of friends measured how long (in inches) their pet fish are. Here is their data: 2 inches, 3 inches, 2 inches, 4 inches, 3 inches, 3 inches, 2 inches, 4 inches Create a line plot for this data on your whiteboard. Then answer:(a) How many fish were measured?(b) What length appeared most often?

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