This unit aims to test a student's understanding of statistical concepts and measures, defined in the specification as:
Data handling cycle
Data collection
Data presentation and analysis
Data interpretation
Probability.
For students to be able to work with such themes, their knowledge of statistics will need to be underpinned by an appreciation of fundamental number skills. This has been defined as:
Working with numbers and the number system
Fractions, decimals and percentages
Ratio and proportion
The language of algebra
Sequences, functions and graphs.
Unit 1 Higher: Statistics and Number
Slide 3
Within the assessment, these number skills will generally be tested within statistical contexts although some questions may only assess number skills.Whilst the headings listed above are drawn from the specification, the interlinking nature of statistics means they are not necessarily suitable as teaching topics. For this reason, we have broken down Unit 1 content into nine teaching topics and provided guidance for each topic. Whilst there will still be inevitable overlap between the topics, following these in order will provide a complete and progressive route through the unit content.
Caption: : The teaching topics are: Fractions and decimals, Indices and standard form Collecting data, Percentages, Ratio and proportion, Statistical measures, Representing data, Scatter diagrams and Probability.
Slide 4
Fractions and Decimals
Candidates should be able to:
add, subtract, multiply and divide using commutative, associative and distributive laws
understand and use inverse operations
use brackets and the hierarchy of operations
Examples
Calculate (6 x 108) + (2 x 107) x (3 x 102).
The mean weight of 9 people is 79 kg.A tenth person is so that the mean weight increases by 1 kg.How heavy is the tenth person?
A coin is biased.The ratio of the probability of a head to the probability of a tail is 3 : 5Work out the probability of a tail.
Candidates should be able to:
round numbers to the nearest 10, 100, 1000 or million
round to the nearest whole number
round to one, two or three decimal places
round to one significant figure
Example 120 people take their driving test in a week.71 pass.Work out the percentage who pass.Give your answer to one decimal place.
Candidates should be able to:
round numbers to the nearest 10, 100, 1000 or million
round numbers to the nearest whole number
round to a given number of decimal places
round to a given number of significant figures
choose an appropriate degree of accuracy to round to based on the figures in the question
Example 120 people take their driving test in a week.71 pass.Work out the percentage who pass.Give your answer to one decimal place.
Slide 6
Candidates should be able to:
write down the maximum or minimum figure for a value rounded to a given accuracy
combine upper or lower bounds appropriately to achieve an overall maximum or minimum for a situation
work with practical problems involving bounds including in statistics, e.g. finding the midpoint of a class interval such as in order to estimate a mean.
Candidates should be able to:
enter complex calculations, for example, to estimate the mean of a grouped frequency distribution
enter a range of calculations including those involving money and statistical measures
understand and use functions including memory, brackets and trigonometrical functions
understand the calculator display, knowing how to interpret the display.
Candidates should be able to:
identify equivalent fractions
simplify a fraction by cancelling all common factors using a calculator where appropriate. For example, simplifying fractions that represent probabilities.
Candidates should be able to:
understand whether a value is a percentage, a fraction or a decimal
convert values between percentages, fractions and decimals in order to compare them; for example, with probabilities
Fractions and Decimals
Candidates should be able to:
use fractions to interpret or compare statistical diagrams or data sets
interpret a fraction or decimal as a multiplier when solving problems
convert between fractions, decimals and percentages to find the most appropriate method of calculation in a question; for example, finding 62% of £80
Candidates should be able to:
calculate a fraction of a quantity
apply the four rules to fractions using a calculator
calculate with fractions in a variety of contexts including statistics and probability