Illuminations: What's in a Name?

What's in a Name?

Unit Overview

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

Describing Data

Students create glyphs based on the characteristics of their names. They also enter data into a spreadsheet and sort it in several ways.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Create and read glyphs
Create a spread sheet with a given set of data
Use the sorting function of the spreadsheet to answer questions

Materials

Crayons
Paper
Computer with spreadsheet program (such as Microsoft Excel)
Glyphs Activity Sheet

Instructional Plan

Students will use a keyboard to enter data, so prior keyboarding experience will be helpful. You may wish to plan a session for students who need keyboarding practice.

To begin the lesson, give paper and crayons to each student and inform them that they are going to represent data in a glyph.

Glyphs are versatile data representation tools that you can use several times during the year. It is especially appropriate as a "getting to know you" activity during the first week of school. It is also an innovative way to review social studies data. Glyphs can be created on paper or as three-dimensional representations with paper mache or clay.

Distribute the Glyphs activity sheet to students.

Glyphs Activity Sheet

They should complete their personal glyphs individually, based upon the directions on the activity sheet.

Encourage students to discuss the glyphs in small groups. While they are discussing the glyphs, call them one at a time to enter their names and the characteristics of their names onto a spreadsheet that you have set up, as in the example below. The order of the names does not matter.

SAMPLE LIST OF NAMES
First	Last	Vowels 1	Vowels 2	Gender	Letters 1	Letters 2
Valerie	Bertinelli	4	4	F	7	10
Nicholas	Cage	3	2	M	8	4
Michael	Caine	3	3	M	7	5
Katharine	Hepburn	4	2	F	9	7
Anthony	Hopkins	2	2	M	7	7
Ben	Kingsley	1	2	M	3	8
Paul	Newman	2	2	M	4	6
Jack	Nicholson	1	3	M	4	9
Christopher	Reeve	3	3	M	11	5
Diana	Rigg	3	1	F	5	4
Susan	Sarandon	2	3	F	5	7
Meryl	Streep	1	2	F	5	6

Call the class together and lay the glyphs where all can see them. Ask students what they notice about the drawings. Use the key questions to prompt this discussion. Pick one glyph at random and see if the students can determine whose glyph it is. Repeat with other glyphs as time allows.

Display the spreadsheet into which they entered their names. Demonstrate how the names can be sorted alphabetically.

If you are using Excel, remember to highlight the set before you select "Data Sort," and select "Header Row" before you select Sort. Ask what they can find out about the names from looking at the data.

Ask if it would be helpful to sort the data another way. For example, if they want to find out which first name is the longest, demonstrate how the set can be sorted by "Letter1." After they have examined the data, ask how it should be sorted next.

Questions for Students

If you want to know who has more than 15 letters in their name, how can you tell from the glyphs the class made? How many students are in this category? How many students have exactly 15 letters in their name? How many have less than 15? How do you know we have counted all the students?

[Answers will depend upon student data. However, students should be able to identify the number of letters in a name by the color of the diamond. If the outline of the kite is crawn in blue crayon, a name has more than 15 letters. If it has less than 15 letters, a green crayon will be used.]

If you want to know who has more than three vowels in their first name, how can you tell from the glyphs the class made? How many students have more than three vowels? How many students have exactly three vowels in their first name? How many have less than three? (Repeat with last names.)

[Answers will depend upon student data. However, students should be able to identify the number of vowels in the first name based upon the color of the horizontal bar in the kite. If there are less than three vowels, an orange line would appear. If there are exactly three vowels in a first name, then a red line would appear. If there are more than three vowels in a first name, then a yellow line would appear.]

How many students in our class have a birthday this month? Can I tell how many have a birthday in (name another month)?

[Answers will depend upon student data; No.]

Could you find out from the glyph how old someone is? Why or why not?

[No; We didn't collect that data.]

What else can you tell from the glyphs?

[Students may respond by saying whether or not someone has a birthday in the current month.]

How would you help a friend read your glyph?

Assessment Options

At this stage of the unit, students should be able to:
- Create and read glyphs
- Create a spreadsheet with a given set of data
- Use the sorting function of the spreadsheet to answer questions
The key questions will provide information about the ability of individual students to make a glyph and gather data from a glyph someone else has made. You may wish to add comments on the new objectives to your Class Notes. These notes may be helpful as you plan future units on data.
The glyphs that your students made will make an attention-grabbing hallway display that can be later added to their portfolios.

Extensions

Challenge: How can you use the spreadsheet to find the mean of the number of vowels in our names? What is it? [Sum the column and divide by the number of students.]

Teacher Reflection

Which students could easily classify data about themselves and draw the appropriate indicator on the glyph?
Which students could answer questions by looking at another's glyph?
Which students could pose questions that could be answered by looking at the spreadsheet?
Are any students still having difficulty with the objectives of this lesson? What additional instructional experiences do they need?
What will I do differently the next time I teach this lesson?