“Plot 1 is all spread out and Plot 2 is all squished together”: exemplifying statistical variation with young students

The idea of variation is a foundation of statistical reasoning, and many curriculumdocuments, including the Australian Curriculum, include variation in the learning requiredfor the primary years. In this paper, we consider the design of activities that can exemplifythe idea of variation for young students and investigate how students can use graphs tosupport discussions about variation. The use of appropriate contexts and the provision ofphysical experiences of the phenomena seemed to help students make sense of graphicalrepresentations and allowed them to discuss how variation was exemplified in the graphs