Grade 7 students analyzed scatterplots showing changes in Olympic records over time for men's 100m swimming, men's 1500m swimming, and men's pole vault. For the 100m swimming, records got faster over time due to improved technology, fitness, training, and swimsuits. Overall trends showed swimming times decreasing. Pole vault records increased as athletes and poles improved, allowing higher jumps over time.

1. Tinkerplots
Grade 7’s looking at scatter
plots that show changes over
time.

2. Music from: http://www.templateswise.com/Free_Music_Loops/).

3. How have Olympic records changed
over time for
the Mens’ 100m swimming,
Mens’ 1500m swimming
and Mens’ Pole Vault?
What is the overall trend of the
data?”

5. Men's 100 freestyle sw imming
1500m sw imming
Men's pole vault
Circle Icon
Circle Icon
Circle Icon

7. How did the records change over
time?

8. New technology
http://z.about.com/d/swimming/1/0/s/9/1896_Olympic_Champion_Hajos_100_Free.jpg

9. What is the overall trend?
Different styles of clothes?
Different styles of swimsuits?
What does data mean?
What is the trend over the years?

11. Shape of the line?
.

12. Why are dots (cases) close
together?

16. 1500m

17. Pole Vault

18. How did the 100m records
change over time?
• It sloped and got faster.
• Going down.
• Better swimmers and technology and better
trainers too.
• People got fitter with the new technology.
• The record changed because of technology
advances through time such as fitness
machines and clothes specialised for
swimming.
• They got faster and the swimming suits
changed and people train more.

19. What is the overall trend?
• It changed by the swimming suits got lighter
and sexier!
• Lycra swimming suits.
• People got faster so the slope has gone
down.
• The data shows that some periods of time
were more competitive than others.
• It goes in a diagonal line but has a bit of a
slope in it.
• It changed each year.

20. How did the Pole Vault records
change over time?
• They use a pole to jump over the bar.
• Their score has gotten higher but from
1980-2010 they’ve pretty much stayed the
same.
• The record probably advanced because of
fitter healthier people and better poles.
• Over the years people could jump higher.
• It went low to high.

21. What is the overall trend of the
Pole Vault data?
• They changed the material of the pole.
• It slopes upwards this time because their height is
increasing.
• The data show that people achieved new heights
that were incredibly high. It shows that there was a
new record most Olympic games and it also shows a
lot or records were close.
• People could jump higher so the graph’s slope has
gone up.
• The clothes were heavy but they got lighter so they
could jump higher.