Standard 1: Develop an understanding for collecting, representing and comparing data.

General Information
Number: MA.K.DP.1
Title: Develop an understanding for collecting, representing and comparing data.
Type: Standard
Subject: Mathematics (B.E.S.T.)
Grade: K
Strand: Data Analysis and Probability

Related Benchmarks

This cluster includes the following benchmarks.

Related Access Points

This cluster includes the following access points.

Access Points

MA.K.DP.1.AP.1
1 Sort objects by characteristic (e.g., size, shape or color). Count the objects in each category and report the results.

Related Resources

Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this topic.

Formative Assessments

Sorting Animals:

Students are asked to sort the animals on the Sorting Animals worksheet and then count the number in each group.

Type: Formative Assessment

Shape Sort:

Students sort shapes into categories, record their categories and frequencies, and identify the categories with the most and least.

Type: Formative Assessment

Sorting Buttons:

Students sort illustrations of buttons, explain the how and why, and count the number in each group.

Type: Formative Assessment

Sort the Tiles:

Students sort tiles by color and then count to determine the group with the most and the least number of tiles.

Type: Formative Assessment

Sorting Color Tiles:

Students are asked to sort color tiles into groups of the same color.

Type: Formative Assessment

Sort Objects:

Students sort objects by type and then identify which group of objects has the most and the least.

Type: Formative Assessment

Lesson Plans

How does Generative AI work?:

Students will explore Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the basics on how generative AI models use Large Language Models (LLMs) and Natural Language Processing NLP to generate outputs. This K-3 lesson is an integrated Computer Science, ELA and Math lesson designed for application of math and ELA content knowledge while exploring and using computational thinking to understand how generative AI works, making cross-curricular connections to understand emerging technologies.

Type: Lesson Plan

Exploring Machine Learning to Train an AI Model:

Students will explore Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) and pretrain a model to recognize and identify objects, including geometric shapes and aircraft. They will used unplugged activities to mimic sorting and classification of the objects using their prior knowledge and then make connections to human learning and Machine Learning. Students will then problem solve and propose solutions using an iterative process to improve the ML model to better recognize the objects. This lesson is an integrated Computer Science, Science and Math lesson designed for students in K-2 to apply math and science content knowledge while exploring and using computational thinking like people in Computer Science careers do.

Type: Lesson Plan

Tell Me About Your Stuffed Animal (Lesson 3):

In this integrated lesson, students will work as a class to categorize and sort stuffed animals by physical attributes. They will then work in groups to categorize and sort shapes.

Type: Lesson Plan

Birds of a Feather:

Students will go on a simulated bird-watching trip around the classroom. They will collect and sort images of various birds into categories based on their visible characteristics. They will use these groups of bird images to practice counting and comparing objects in different categories. Students will use descriptions of bald eagles in the book, The Bald Eagle by Norman Pearl, to identify images of bald eagles among their categories and discuss how the bald eagle is a symbol of the United States.

Type: Lesson Plan

Sorting and Saying Through Voting:

Students will have the opportunity to apply knowledge of sorting and responsible voting to a fun and collaborative small group activity in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

She’s a Grand Old Flag:

Students will identify the American flag as an important symbol of the United States. They will collect and sort data from the American Flag and compare the attributes. Students will sort and count red stripes and white stripes, long stripes and short stripes, long red stripes and long white stripes, short red stripes and short white stripes. Students will compare the stripes using the number line. They will also count stars by 1’s and 10’s in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Make Believe Homes and Habitats:

In this lesson students will demonstrate an understanding of characteristics of real and make-believe animals, they will sort animals according to characteristics, and they will complete a drawing of a make-believe animal home in a real-world habitat.

Type: Lesson Plan

Whose Baby is That?:

This inquiry-based 5E lesson provides an initial look at categorizing items into 2 categories. Visuals of animals are used to begin the classifying/categorizing of animals and their babies. Students will practice categorizing in pairs and will be given the categories to use. They will then explain the placement of each item in the category. The teacher will ask guiding questions and facilitate the lesson to ensure comprehension of the material.

Type: Lesson Plan

Sort, Count, and Graph:

In this lesson, students will sort objects, count the number of objects in each category and compare using the terms greater than, less than, or equal to.

Type: Lesson Plan

Counting Colorful Cockatoos:

Poor Professor Dupont! He is missing his prized cockatoos! Help Professor Dupont find his special birds one by one as you turn the page. After helping Professor Dupont find his special cockatoos, create a classroom tree and sort the birds by color. You will have a fine feathered fantastic time counting and sorting!

Type: Lesson Plan

If You Give a Teacher a Cookie...:

More than, less than, or equal to? Which would you rather have? Well, it depends upon the situation. Let's compare objects and numbers and decide if it is best to have more of something, less of something, or just as much as someone else.

Type: Lesson Plan

Finding the One!!:

Students will sort and classify rocks by observable properties, such as size, shape, color and texture. (The properties of temperature and weight are not addressed in this lesson).

Type: Lesson Plan

Counting and Sorting Objects:

In this lesson, students will use buttons to sort by like characteristics. In addition, students will be counting and recording the number of buttons in each category. Students will also group equal amounts together to create new categories. 

Type: Lesson Plan

The Fire Wheels:

The Fire Wheels MEA provides students with a problem in which they must work as a team to design a procedure to select the best toy car for a company to sell.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Every Group Counts!:

The students will be working in whole group, small group and individually to discover measurable attributes of objects and sort the objects into categories. Students will also count and compare the number of objects in each category. 

Type: Lesson Plan

Sorting It All Out:

In this lesson, kindergarten students will learn to sort objects familiar to them by different attributes. They will justify their decisions for classification when objects have more than one similar characteristic.

Type: Lesson Plan

Original Student Tutorial

Sweet Sorting:

Practice sorting, counting, and comparing by visiting the Sorting Sweet Shop in this candy-themed, interactive tutorial. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Student Resources

Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this topic.

Original Student Tutorial

Sweet Sorting:

Practice sorting, counting, and comparing by visiting the Sorting Sweet Shop in this candy-themed, interactive tutorial. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Parent Resources

Vetted resources caregivers can use to help students learn the concepts and skills in this topic.