1. Recognize a statistical question as one that anticipates variability in the data related to the question and accounts for it in the answers.

Up until now, students have dealt with measurement, geometry, and numbers of all kinds. But now, we're going to teach them something brand spankin' new: statistics.

Of course, in order to get to know statistics really well, we need to know what it's all about first. (The same goes for the Hokey Pokey.) Teach students that statistics is all about asking statistical questions, which are questions that have many different possible answers. Make sure they know that the answers to those questions are the data we'll collect and analyze.

For example, "How tall am I?" is not a statistical question because it has only one answer. "How tall are the students in my class?" is a statistical question because there are many answers. "What brand of car does my teacher drive?" is not a statistical question, but "What brands of cars do the teachers at this school drive?" is a statistical question—assuming that you aren't the only teacher at your school.

Note the verb in this standard: recognize. That means we shouldn't expect students to come up with their own statistical questions, let alone collect data and analyze it. All we want is for students to be able to pick them out of a lineup. If students can do that, they're good to go.

Still, it might be worth the effort to have students start coming up with their own statistical questions. We want the students to develop the skill of taking something that they want to learn more about and turning it into a statistical question. For instance, a student who likes men's synchronized swimming and wants to know how many other students in his class like this underappreciated sport as well could ask the statistical question, "Do the students in my class like men's synchronized swimming?" (Pro tip: students will be dealing with populations and samples in seventh grade, so keep all statistical questions to those for which we can measure entire populations!)

Also, although it's not explicitly mentioned in this standard, the students should probably know that there are two basic types of data: numerical and categorical. Most of the other sixth grade statistics and probability standards deal with distributions of numerical data, so when posing a statistical question, students should know which type of data to expect. "How tall are the gnomes in Mrs. Gallagher's garden?" will yield numerical data because the answers to the question are all numbers that have value. "What color dragons exist in Middle-earth?" will yield categorical data because the answers to the question are names of colors, not numbers.