ARE STUDENT BACKPACKS TOO HEAVY? Backpack Investigation Model Compare and analyze data

What’s the question to investigate? Ideas: Do students at my school carry backpacks that are too heavy? Who carries heavier backpacks? Do heavy backpacks cause pain for students at my school? How many students carry overstuffed backpacks?

My question example Which grade level is at the most risk for carrying too heavy of backpacks? My hypothesis—6 th graders

What is the sample? Boys vs. girlsStudents who: 6 th vs. 7 th vs. 8 th gradersride the bus walk to school ride bikes to school car riders Tall vs. shortAthletes vs. club members

What is the sample size? Questions to consider: Will you have enough time to gather the data from your sample? Will your sample be large enough to be representative? Will your sample help you answer your question? Do you have – or can you borrow – the scales or other materials to collect the data?

What is the collection plan? Student # WeightBP Weight BoyGirlGradeAthleteClub √7No 29810√8√ √6√

My data collection procedure My group will collect weights of 60 students—20 students each from 6 th, 7 th, and 8 th grade. We will ask our Assistant Principals for permission to use the stage at breakfast time. We will set up 4 scales on the stage. Students will be chosen at random from the grade sections where they sit. Each member in my group will record data for 15 students. We will record more information just in case we want to look at more data.

My sample data Data in Excel

My graph choices

Data Analysis 6 th 7 th 8 th Mean32%28%7% Median28%25%10% ModeNone 0 Range56%41%20% Interquartile range 12%28%82% MAD17124

Conclusion Based on the data, we see the mean and median of the 6 th graders are higher than the other grades. There is also more variability in the data for 6 th grade, which means there are many students who are carrying backpacks that are far from what is recommended by doctors. The box plots and bar graph show clearly that 6 th graders carry too heavy of backpacks. My suggestion for helping 6 th graders is to have an assembly with some doctors who can show them the results of heavy backpacks and to have their teachers assign homework to clean them out every week.