MathScience6-8
Frequency Tables and Histograms for 6th Grade
By Lesley H.
A practice set for 6th graders that walks them through reading a data set, tallying values into intervals, and building a frequency table that feeds directly into a histogram. Students practice identifying the independent variable, dependent variable, title, scale, and interval, using a seedling-height investigation as the context.
Customize for your classroom
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this as a 45-minute lesson or as independent practice after a brief introduction to data, frequency, and intervals; the key terms callout and worked example make it workable without much prior direct instruction.
- Discussion question: Why does grouping 30 separate heights into intervals make the pattern easier to see, and what might we lose by grouping too broadly?
- Scaffold for struggling readers: Have them complete the worked tally with you first, marking each value with a tally before counting, and provide a blank histogram template with the axes already labeled.
- Extension for advanced students: Ask them to try two different interval widths on the same data and compare which histogram better shows the shape of the distribution.
- Estimated time: About 30 to 40 minutes for the tally and frequency table, plus 15 to 20 minutes to build and label the histogram.
MathScience6-8
Frequency Tables and Histograms for 6th Grade
By Lesley H.
A practice set for 6th graders that walks them through reading a data set, tallying values into intervals, and building a frequency table that feeds directly into a histogram. Students practice identifying the independent variable, dependent variable, title, scale, and interval, using a seedling-height investigation as the context.
Customize for your classroom
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this as a 45-minute lesson or as independent practice after a brief introduction to data, frequency, and intervals; the key terms callout and worked example make it workable without much prior direct instruction.
- Discussion question: Why does grouping 30 separate heights into intervals make the pattern easier to see, and what might we lose by grouping too broadly?
- Scaffold for struggling readers: Have them complete the worked tally with you first, marking each value with a tally before counting, and provide a blank histogram template with the axes already labeled.
- Extension for advanced students: Ask them to try two different interval widths on the same data and compare which histogram better shows the shape of the distribution.
- Estimated time: About 30 to 40 minutes for the tally and frequency table, plus 15 to 20 minutes to build and label the histogram.