Adjustable Spinner

Tech Tool: NCTM's Adjustable Spinner

Overview

Brief Description of Tech Tool: Adjustable Spinner is well-suited for experiments involving probability and discussions about data. It is the teacher's dream tool; instead having to hunt down brads, have discussions about forceful hits or create a new spinner for each slightly differing science and/or math experiment, teachers can outsource to NCTM's Illuminations Adjustable Spinner tool. Like its name suggests, Adjustable Spinner allows students to adjust the number of sectors on the spinner, the names of the sectors and then to test to their hearts' content without any of the data being lost ("Teacher, I think I've lost count" will become a thing of the past).

Technical and Cost Considerations: Completely free, Adjustable Spinner is available online. It was easy to use on a laptop, and no other technical constraints were not noted (it may even work on an iPad although I was not able to test this). The tool is fairly intuitive and would require limited instruction.

Evaluation

Description of Learning Activity: While the Adjustable Spinner can tie into many different lessons focused on data and probability, I selected this resource to help teachers focus on integrating math and science in the classroom. With this in mind, the adjustable spinner could be used to help students examine the concepts of experimental and theoretical probability which will help them better understand data and research included in scientific articles.

1. Learning Activity Types

• LA-Explore: In terms of exploring and investigating mathematical ideas, the Adjustable Spinner helps students explore probability and data in the real-world. They will better understand statistics presented in articles connected to math and science topics.
• LA-Apply - By experimenting with obtaining certain results, students are applying math (the expected probability of an event) to problems and situations (what they observe in experiments).

2. What Mathematics Is Being Learned?

Standards

This tool and how I suggested using it matches the following NCTM Standards in the Data and Probability strand: 

• Grades 3–5 Expectations: In grades 3–5 each and every student should ...
• design investigations to address a question and consider how data-collection methods affect the nature of the data set;
• collect data using observations, surveys, and experiments;
• represent data using tables and graphs such as line plots, bar graphs, and line graphs

As for CCSSM, at the Grade 6 level, this meets the following standard:

• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.SP.B.5: Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context, such as by:
• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.SP.B.5.A: Reporting the number of observations.

For Grade 5, it also meets the following math practice:

• CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP4 Model with mathematics.

Additionally, as I am aiming to connect math and science, this activity could fit (depending on how it is adapted) the following Grade 5 Next Generation Science Standard:

• 5-ESS3-1: Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space. But individuals and communities are doing things to help protect Earth's resources and environments.

Proficiency Strands

• Conceptual Understanding: Through experiments with the spinner, students will develop a conceptual understanding of the differences of experimental and theoretical probability and how they are related to each other.
• Adaptive Reasoning: Students will be forced to think logically about their results, reflect on them and explain them.

Additional Comments

Depending on the data being analyzed, this tool has great potential for helping teachers address concepts beyond those standards already outlined.

3. How Is the Mathematics Represented?

Data is represented numerically in a chart and with manipulatives through a virtual spinner. The idea of probability varying depending on the individual trial is captured. However, some variability is removed by having a computer represent the spinner (for example, the resistance of the brad to turning, an overenthusiastic spinner or a lethargic one, etc.). The technology is very dynamic and demonstrates what good charts and data recording can look like for students.


4. What Role Does Technology Play?

Some advantages of the Adjustable Spinner is the sheer ease it affords teachers and students. Spinners are, as the name suggests, easily adjustable. Disadvantages could be that students do not necessarily have the opportunity to engage in the fine motor activities required when creating a paper spinner. However, the time saved and the ease of adjusting for different circumstances makes the Adjustable Spinner a preferred alternative to traditional paper ones and a valuable contribution to math learning by NCTM Illuminations.

Affordances of Technology for Supporting Learning

• Computing and Automating: In the past, students and teachers had to create paper spinners. Now that has been done for them. Adjustable Spinners will even record their data for them.
• Representing Ideas and Thinking: Students will see ideas represented and will naturally make the connection between terms and their definitions in the real world.
• Capturing and Creating: Students can create their own spinner with labels and test to see what the probability of outcomes might be.

5. How Does the Technology Fit or Interact with the Social Context of Learning?

Adjustable Spinner could be used to test a group's hypothesis, or it could be used by individuals. Because of the limited interaction with the tool (beyond labeling the categories and deciding how many are needed), group work with this tool would be easier than perhaps group work might be with a game designed for individuals. The most powerful learning would happen after a set number of trials had been conducted by many groups. At this time, all students would benefit from a discussion about experimental vs. theoretical probability.


6. Additional Comments

This would be a great introductory activity for science since students are so often exposed to statistics in science without an understanding of how to interpret them and how much weight to give them. Adjustable Spinner will show students that experiments (and probability) don't always match theory and that statistics should be considered logically. Additionally, Adjustable Spinner could be used to start a discussion about why variability occurs in the real world and how mathematicians and scientists account for it. This is a very versatile tool.



This evaluation was developed in my work for the MSU Course, CEP 805: Spring 2017, and is also accessible on the private course wiki.