Get students up and moving! This activity introduces dot plots using the information found on credit reports. Each student is given a credit persona card with basic information including their credit score and payment history. Then, students use that information to move around the classroom and form whole-class dot plots.

MOVE: Credit Dot Plots is part of the recently released Financial Algebra unit: Managing Credit & Fundamentals of Statistics.

The Activity 

Set up your classroom with space for students to move and to line up. You can either project the Axis Slides or print out Axis Marker Deck to form the x-axis of your dot plot. 

Each student gets a Credit Persona Card, like the one shown below.

Then, read one of the prompts, like “What is your credit score?”. Students find the answer on their credit persona and then move to that place on the x-axis. If there are multiple students with the same answer, they form a line. At the end of each round, students should be arranged in a whole-class dot plot.

Here’s an example of how students will be lined up, using initials for each credit persona.

There are a number of discussion questions you can ask throughout the activity, depending on the needs of your class.

This activity is easy to adapt to either your personal finance or math class - you can easily adjust the number of rounds and the types of discussion questions to find the right fit for your students!

Virtual Adaptation on Desmos

DESMOS: Credit Dot Plots allows students to complete the same activity virtually. In the Desmos version, students pick an animal emoji to represent them. After they answer each question, their emoji will pop up in a whole-class dot plot of the class responses.

You’ll likely want to have the whole class complete each dot plot at the same time, so check out the pacing features on the teacher dashboard. 

Want more real-world math activities? Check out NGPF Math's Activity Page!

About the Author

Kathryn Dawson

Kathryn (she/her) is excited to join the NGPF team after 9 years of experience in education as a mentor, tutor, and special education teacher. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in policy analysis and management and has a master's degree in education from Brooklyn College. Kathryn is looking forward to bringing her passion for accessibility and educational justice into curriculum design at NGPF. During her free time, Kathryn loves embarking on cooking projects, walking around her Seattle neighborhood with her dog, or lounging in a hammock with a book.