The practice of statistics for STEM: Primary students and pre-service primary teachers exploring variation in seed dispersal

STEM education is becoming more common in schools and provides a range of exciting real-world contexts in which students can engage. However, a gap in most approaches to STEM remains the collection and use of data that can be used concurrently to develop statistical literacy and science literacy. This paper describes a STEM activity carried out with Year 5 students. The context originated in science and asked students to collect data to find the answer to a question, then present and interpret their data using TinkerPlots software. Elements of the same activity were also carried out by 4th-year Bachelor of Education (primary) pre-service teachers (PSTs) as part of a unit in science education. The activity provided the opportunity for the PSTs to experience an authentic STEM activity that had been conducted with primary students.