Cover lesson · PE · Year 7 · Beginner

Fitness data tracking: comparing a whole class

DCF: Data and computational thinking → Data and information literacy

Name: Class: Date:

Cover teacher — you need no subject knowledge

Print: this sheet, one per pupil. The data is printed on the sheet, so no computers are needed. If there is a computer room, the same figures are in class-fitness-results.csv and pupils can open it in Excel or Google Sheets and use the formulae listed in step 2.

Run: 5 min read the data and the note on pupil codes · 12 min work out the three averages and ranges · 13 min tally the bleep test bands and draw the bar chart · 15 min write the four conclusions · 5 min swap and tick.

Collect: this sheet. No pupil does any exercise today — this is a data lesson. The answers are on the worked example sheet if you want to check: the three averages come out at exactly 7.0, 171 and 32.

What you are doing

A Year 7 class of 24 did three fitness tests. Nobody's name is in the data — every pupil has a code, P01 to P24. Your job is to describe the class, not to rank individuals: work out the average and the spread for each test, chart the results, and then say what the numbers do and do not prove.

The data: 24 pupils, three tests

Pupil code	Bleep test level	Standing long jump (cm)	Sit-ups in 60 s	Pupil code	Bleep test level	Standing long jump (cm)	Sit-ups in 60 s
P01	6.4	162	28	P13	5.9	149	24
P02	7.2	173	34	P14	7.8	182	37
P03	5.8	151	25	P15	6.3	160	29
P04	8.1	196	41	P16	7.4	177	35
P05	6.9	170	31	P17	8.8	199	42
P06	7.6	185	36	P18	6.0	155	26
P07	5.4	144	22	P19	7.1	174	32
P08	6.2	158	27	P20	6.8	168	30
P09	9.3	205	44	P21	5.6	147	23
P10	7.0	172	33	P22	8.0	188	38
P11	6.6	166	30	P23	7.3	176	34
P12	8.4	190	39	P24	6.1	157	28

Task 1 — average and spread

Work each column out to one decimal place. The range is the largest value minus the smallest.

Test	Class average (mean)	Lowest	Highest	Range
Bleep test level
Standing long jump (cm)
Sit-ups in 60 s

Task 2 — tally the bleep test into bands

Band	Tally	How many pupils
5.0 to 5.9
6.0 to 6.9
7.0 to 7.9
8.0 to 8.9
9.0 to 9.9
Total	Must add up to 24

Task 3 — draw the bar chart

One bar per band. Label both axes and give the chart a title.

Task 4 — what the data says

(a) Write two things the data does show about this class. Use a number in each sentence.

(b) One test has a much wider spread than the others once you compare each range with its average. Which, and what might explain it?

(c) Write one thing this data cannot tell you.

(d) Why is every pupil recorded as a code, P01 to P24, instead of by name?

Step by step

5 min — Read the table. Find the highest and lowest value in each column and ring them.
12 min — Fill in Task 1. On a computer: =AVERAGE(B2:B25), =MIN(B2:B25), =MAX(B2:B25), and the range as =MAX(B2:B25)-MIN(B2:B25).
13 min — Tally the bands and draw the bars. Check the tally totals 24 before you draw anything.
15 min — Answer Task 4 in full sentences.
5 min — Swap and tick against the success criteria.

Success criteria

I can calculate a mean, a minimum, a maximum and a range from a real data set, and my three means are correct.
I can group continuous data into bands and check the totals against the number of pupils.
I can draw a bar chart with both axes labelled, a sensible scale and a title that says what is being counted.
I can state a conclusion that the data actually supports, using a figure from the table.
I can say what a data set cannot tell you, and explain why fitness results are anonymised.

If you finish early

Put the 24 bleep test levels in order and find the median. Compare it with the mean and say what that tells you about the shape of the class.
P09 is highest on all three tests and P07 is lowest on all three. Does that mean the three tests measure the same thing? Argue your answer using two other pupils' rows.
Design a fourth test the class could add. State the units, and say how you would stop the measurement being unfair between pupils.

Pupil code	Bleep test level	Standing long jump (cm)	Sit-ups in 60 s	Pupil code	Bleep test level	Standing long jump (cm)	Sit-ups in 60 s
P01	6.4	162	28	P13	5.9	149	24
P02	7.2	173	34	P14	7.8	182	37
P03	5.8	151	25	P15	6.3	160	29
P04	8.1	196	41	P16	7.4	177	35
P05	6.9	170	31	P17	8.8	199	42
P06	7.6	185	36	P18	6.0	155	26
P07	5.4	144	22	P19	7.1	174	32
P08	6.2	158	27	P20	6.8	168	30
P09	9.3	205	44	P21	5.6	147	23
P10	7.0	172	33	P22	8.0	188	38
P11	6.6	166	30	P23	7.3	176	34
P12	8.4	190	39	P24	6.1	157	28

Pupil code	Bleep test level	Standing long jump (cm)	Sit-ups in 60 s	Pupil code	Bleep test level	Standing long jump (cm)	Sit-ups in 60 s
P01	6.4	162	28	P13	5.9	149	24
P02	7.2	173	34	P14	7.8	182	37
P03	5.8	151	25	P15	6.3	160	29
P04	8.1	196	41	P16	7.4	177	35
P05	6.9	170	31	P17	8.8	199	42
P06	7.6	185	36	P18	6.0	155	26
P07	5.4	144	22	P19	7.1	174	32
P08	6.2	158	27	P20	6.8	168	30
P09	9.3	205	44	P21	5.6	147	23
P10	7.0	172	33	P22	8.0	188	38
P11	6.6	166	30	P23	7.3	176	34
P12	8.4	190	39	P24	6.1	157	28

Pupil code	Bleep test level	Standing long jump (cm)	Sit-ups in 60 s	Pupil code	Bleep test level	Standing long jump (cm)	Sit-ups in 60 s
P01	6.4	162	28	P13	5.9	149	24
P02	7.2	173	34	P14	7.8	182	37
P03	5.8	151	25	P15	6.3	160	29
P04	8.1	196	41	P16	7.4	177	35
P05	6.9	170	31	P17	8.8	199	42
P06	7.6	185	36	P18	6.0	155	26
P07	5.4	144	22	P19	7.1	174	32
P08	6.2	158	27	P20	6.8	168	30
P09	9.3	205	44	P21	5.6	147	23
P10	7.0	172	33	P22	8.0	188	38
P11	6.6	166	30	P23	7.3	176	34
P12	8.4	190	39	P24	6.1	157	28