Downloadable versions of this activity are available in the following formats:
Note: Teachers, see Teacher’s notes
The following activity allows you to consider the types of information that you can and cannot conclude from survey results.
Average heights of 12-year-old Canadian students, by province
| Province/territory | Height (cm) |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 156.5 |
| Prince Edward Island | 158.9 |
| Nova Scotia | 156.7 |
| New Brunswick | 151.5 |
| Quebec | 155.2 |
| Ontario | 155.2 |
| Manitoba | 157.8 |
| Saskatchewan | 154.9 |
| Alberta | 150.6 |
| British Columbia | 153.6 |
| Source: Census at School, 2003-2004 | |
As a group, discuss which of the following statements you can support using only the survey results shown in the table above. If you decide that you cannot support a statement, indicate why not and state what additional survey information you would need to support the statement.
Statements for consideration
- On average, 12-year-old students in British Columbia are shorter than 12-year-old students in Nova Scotia.
- On average, 12-year-old boys in Manitoba are taller than 12-year-old boys in Alberta.
- On average, students in Newfoundland and Labrador are taller than students in Quebec.
- On average, 12-year-old students who live in Toronto are taller than 12-year-old students in Moncton.
- On average, 12-year-old students from Alberta are the shortest students in Canada.
Contributed by Florence Glanfield and Janelle Tang, University of Saskatchewan.
