Grade by Grade
E. Culminating Data Management Investigation · Culminating Data Management Investigation

Presenting Your Investigation

E2.2About 65 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can plan a presentation that fits a set time limit and gives most of the time to the key results.
  • I can design clear slides or posters: one idea per slide, large graphs, few words.
  • I can tell the story of my investigation from question to conclusion in plain language.
  • I can explain a graph aloud so that listeners know what to look at.
  • I can rehearse with a timer and adjust.

Words to know

presentation summary
A spoken version of the report that keeps the question, method, key results and conclusion, and leaves details to the written report.
time budget
A plan that gives each part of a presentation a number of minutes adding up to the time limit.
headline
A slide title written as a full-sentence message ("Working students slept about 1 hour less") instead of a topic ("Results").
speaker notes
Short prompts for the presenter, not shown to the audience, so the slides do not have to hold every word.
rehearsal
A timed practice run of the full presentation, ideally in front of a listener.

Eight minutes to tell the story

You have spent weeks on your investigation. Now you have a few minutes to share it. The curriculum asks you to present a summary of the culminating investigation to an audience of peers within a specified length of time, with or without technology (for example, presentation software). Your teacher will set the time; this lesson assumes 8 minutes plus questions.

The key word is summary. The report holds every detail. The presentation chooses the few things the audience must remember: your question, how you got your data, your main results, your conclusion and how sure you are.

0.50.5Method1.25 minResults3 minConclusion1.25 minLimits1 min0.5HookQuestionWrap012345678time (minutes)Results get the most time: about 3 of the 8 minutes. Then questions (separate, about 3 to 5 minutes).
A time budget for an 8-minute presentation. Results get the largest share; method is kept short and clear.

Planning the talk

  1. Hook (about 30 seconds): a short story, a surprising fact from your background research, or a question for the audience. "Raise your hand if you slept 8 hours last night."
  2. Question: say it plainly and show it on the screen.
  3. Method: who, how many, how chosen, what was asked. One slide.
  4. Results: your two or three most important findings, one per slide, each with one graph.
  5. Conclusion: answer the question directly, with the strength of the evidence.
  6. Limitations and next steps: the two most important limitations and one follow-up.
  7. Wrap-up: repeat the one sentence you want people to remember.

Slides that help

  • Write each title as a headline that states the message.
  • Use one graph per results slide, large, with labels readable from the back of the room.
  • Keep words to a minimum; you explain the details.
  • Use high contrast and do not rely on colour alone (some audience members have colour-vision differences); label groups directly.
  • Number your slides so questioners can refer to them.
Before: reading a wall of textAfter: one idea, one graphtiny text, no graph, no messageWorking students slept about 1 h lessJobNo job678910(hours of sleep; you explain the details aloud)
A slide makeover. The "after" slide has a headline that states the finding and one simple graph; the speaker supplies the details.
Worked example

The model investigation, Stage 23: Amira's slide plan

Plan Amira's slides for an 8-minute presentation and estimate the time for each.

  1. Slide 1 (0:30): title, her name, and the hook: "How many of you work a part-time job? Keep your hand up if you also got 8 hours of sleep last night."
  2. Slide 2 (0:30): the question, plus the 8-hour guideline from the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines as the benchmark.
  3. Slide 3 (1:15): method: 240 Grade 12 students, systematic random sample of 48, anonymous survey, 40 valid responses (89.6% response). One simple diagram.
  4. Slide 4 (1:00): headline "Working students slept about 1 hour less"; side-by-side box plots.
  5. Slide 5 (1:00): headline "Only about 1 in 4 working students met the guideline"; bar graph of 27% vs 89%.
  6. Slide 6 (1:00): headline "More work hours, less sleep: about 4 minutes per weekly hour"; scatter plot with line, r = −0.62.
  7. Slide 7 (1:15): conclusion and strength of evidence: the shuffle simulation (0 of 10 000) and "association, not cause".
  8. Slide 8 (1:00): limitations (sample size, one school, self-report) and follow-up (sleep diaries, more schools); the dice game result in one line.
  9. Slide 9 (0:30): take-home sentence: "In our school, students with jobs got about an hour less sleep a night." Then: "Questions?"
  10. Total: 0:30 + 0:30 + 1:15 + 1:00 + 1:00 + 1:00 + 1:15 + 1:00 + 0:30 = 8:00.

Nine slides, 8 minutes: three results slides (3 minutes) form the core, each with one headline and one graph.

Worked example

Example 2: Talking through a graph

Write what Amira says while Slide 4 (the box plots) is on screen.

  1. Orient: "This graph shows school-night sleep in hours along the bottom. The yellow box plot is students with jobs, the blue one is students without jobs." (Tell listeners what the axes and groups are before the message.)
  2. Point: "Look at the boxes, the middle half of each group. Working students' middle half slept 7 to 8 hours; non-working students' middle half slept 8 and a quarter to 9 hours. The boxes don't even overlap."
  3. Number: "On average, that's 7.4 hours versus 8.6 hours, a difference of about 68 minutes a night."
  4. Meaning: "So in our school, having a job goes with noticeably less sleep."
  5. Then stop and move on. Do not read every number on the slide.

Orient → point → number → meaning. Listeners know where to look and what it means.

Rehearse like you mean it

Rehearse out loud with a timer at least three times. The first run is usually 30 to 50% too long: cut details, not results. Practise the first 30 seconds until you can say them without notes (nerves are worst at the start). Prepare for technology failing: bring the slides on a second device or printed copies of your key graphs. If you are presenting online, check your camera, microphone and screen sharing beforehand.

Just for fun

Presentation physics: a talk planned for 8 minutes expands to fill 12, unless rehearsed. Rehearsal is the only known force that compresses it back.

Hands-on activity

Your investigation, step 11: build and rehearse your presentation

You need: presentation software (free options include Google Slides or LibreOffice Impress) or poster paper and markers, a timer (a phone works), and an audience of one or two family members.

  1. Write your time budget for the length your teacher sets.
  2. Write a headline for each slide before designing it.
  3. Build the slides: one idea, one graph, large text, labelled groups. Add speaker notes.
  4. Rehearse with a timer. Write down your time. Cut until you are 30 seconds under the limit.
  5. Present to your family audience. Ask them afterwards: "What was my main finding? What confused you? What would you ask me?" Write their questions down: you will use them in the next lesson.

What to look for: an audience member can state your question and main result after the talk; you finish within the time; you talk to the audience, not to the screen.

Your turn

1

Rewrite the slide title "Results 2" as a headline for Amira's scatter plot slide.

2

Amira's first rehearsal took 11 minutes. Suggest two ways to cut it.

3

What are the four steps for talking through a graph?

4

Why should groups be labelled directly on a graph rather than by colour alone?

5

Which part of an 8-minute talk should get the most time?

6

Give one way to prepare for a technology failure.

More practice: warm-up

1

What is a headline title?

2

How many graphs should a results slide usually have?

3

Should you read your slides word for word?

4

How many times should you rehearse out loud, at least?

5

What should your last slide repeat?

More practice: on your own

1

Write a 30-second hook for a project on whether the home team wins more often in the NHL.

2

A student's method slide lists 12 bullet points. Rewrite it as three.

3

Explain why the presentation should still state limitations even though time is short.

4

Plan a 5-minute version of Amira's talk. Which slides would you merge or cut?

5

How could Amira make her talk accessible to a classmate who is hard of hearing?

Challenge

1

A listener says, "Your talk was interesting but I don't remember the main result." Diagnose two likely causes and fix them.

2

Explain how to present the shuffle simulation result to classmates who have never seen one, in under 45 seconds.

3

Design a one-page poster layout (as an alternative to slides) for Amira's project and explain the reading order.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

In an 8-minute presentation, the part that should get the most time is:

2.

Which slide title is a headline?

3.

The best way to make sure a talk fits the time limit is to:

4.

When showing a graph, you should first:

5.

The presentation differs from the report because it:

6.

Which practice helps audience members with colour-vision differences?

For parents and teachers

Big idea (E2.2): the presentation is a timed summary of the investigation: a clear question, a short method, two or three key results with one graph each, and an honest conclusion.

How to help: Be the audience for a rehearsal and time it. Afterwards, say back the main result in one sentence; if you can't, the talk needs a clearer message. Write down questions that occur to you and give them to your teen: they will practise answering them in the next lesson.

Common difficulties:

  • Running over time (almost everyone's first rehearsal is too long).
  • Slides full of text that the presenter reads aloud.
  • Graphs too small to read or shown without explanation.
  • Nervousness at the start: memorizing the first 30 seconds helps a lot.