How to Make a Line Plot Using a Number Line
Fundamental concepts in statistics revolve around the number line plot. Teaching the underlying concepts of number line plots lays the foundation for understanding probability and statistics. Those concepts will also help students understand histograms. A fun number line plot exercise will not only provide your students a good time but will also help to develop their interest in statistics and probability.
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Instructions
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Draw a table with six columns and two rows in the center of the graph paper. Write the six numbers of the die starting with the number 1 on the lower left-hand side of the table. Label each grid box to the right increasing sequentially as 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. You should now have a number line that starts at 1 and goes to 6.
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Roll the die and note its value. The die has six possible outcomes, 1 through 6. Enter a check mark in the grid box above the number rolled. If the number 4 was rolled, enter a check mark or any other symbol in the grid box directly above the number line.
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Roll the die again and note the number rolled. If it is the same number as a previous roll, mark a new symbol in the grid box directly above the previous symbol drawn.
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Roll the die at least 30 times. This is an adequate sample size for a probability distribution. For each roll, enter a symbol in the column that corresponds to the number rolled. Enter this symbol in the grid box directly above any previous symbol entered for previous rolls.
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Tips & Warnings
For 30 rolls, your distribution will probably indicate that each number was rolled five times. However, this will vary as a result of random chance.
To have more fun, for each set of data collected from each student tally up the number of times each rolled a specific number. Then find out the average numbers of each roll for each number for all the students who participated. It is even more probable that the average number of rolls for each number will be five.
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