A real-object graph: how we travelled to school today

The idea

Data can be shown with objects: one cube for each child, stacked in the column for their answer, makes the most common answer the tallest column.

What you need

• 1 interlocking cube per child, all the same size
• 4 picture cards on the floor: walked, car, bus, bike or scooter
• Floor tape marking 4 columns above the picture cards
• 1 small sticker per child for rebuilding the data as a picture row
• A class list for checking the total

How to do it

1. Each child takes one cube and places it on the column that shows how they came to school today.
2. Join the cubes in each column into a tower.
3. Count the cubes in each tower together and write the number under its picture card.
4. Add the four numbers and compare the total with the number of children at school today on the class list.
5. Rebuild the same data as a row of small pictures (one sticker per child) and check the numbers match.
6. Talk about which tower is tallest and what that tells us.

What you should see

The tower heights add up to the number of children present, which the class checks against the class list; the tallest tower is the most common way of travelling that day. The picture row built from the same answers shows the same four numbers, so the learner sees one set of data represented two ways. The count can differ from day to day, because the data belongs to that day.

What changes

This activity lists no variables to change, measure and keep the same.

Common misconceptions

Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.

• A column of bigger objects shows more (each object must stand for one child, so all objects must be the same size).
• Data only means numbers on a computer (a tower of cubes is data too).
• The picture row and the tower are different results (they are the same data shown two ways).

Safety card

Curriculum references

The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.

• Science and Technology K–6 Syllabus (2017), NESA. The syllabus taught in 2026; the 2024 syllabus replaces it from 2027. Code read from the official syllabus document (DOCX) on 2026-09-22.STe-1WS-S
• Science and Technology K–6 Syllabus (2024), NESA. Implementation from 2027, so this code describes the future syllabus. Code read from the outcomes page on 2026-09-22.STE-PQU-01
• Australian Curriculum v9AC9TDIFK02

Sources

The pages the author read to write this activity.

1. www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/curriculum/science/science-and-technology-k-6-2017
2. curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/science/science-and-technology-k-6-2024/outcomes
3. www.digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au/plan-and-prepare/scope-and-sequence-f-10/foundation
4. www.digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au/media/barlbtay/f-2-hardware-and-software_unit-overview.pdf