Pinchas- Comparing and Collating Large Information Sets

This week, I'd like to focus on two sections from the parsha that offer opportunities for larger investigative approaches to help students make sense of the information given. I find, myself, that when I read through the sections of parsha that are more of a list format, I tend to lose focus rather than making meaning out of the information. So, if there are a list of census numbers, I'll make a mental note that the parsha talks about a census, but I don't usually fully process the numbers.

This week, we have at least two sections like this. The first is in Bamidbar 26:1-51, where we have current census from each tribe and then the tally of the entire group. The second is in Bamidbar 29:12-38, where we have a list of the sacrifices that are to be offered on each day of the holiday of Sukkot. Each of these is part of an even larger section that could also be looked at- census from Levi is also in the parsha, as are the lists of sacrifices for every holiday. I'm choosing these two larger sub-sections to focus on presenting my thoughts, but many of these ideas can be adapted or extended to other sections of the parsha, as well. Adaptations to meet differing developmental abilities are also possible.

The Census:
We can compare the current census for our parsha, found in Bamidbar 26:1-51, with the original census at the beginning of Bamidbar, found in Bamidbar 1:1-46.
Some ideas for comparisons:

• What are the similarities and differences between the text sections for each tribe? Do you notice any major differences in the texts? (Hint for one major difference- look carefully at the section for Yoseph's children in each of the two passages.)
• What are the similarities and differences between the individual census numbers for each tribe?
• Did the numbers for each increase or decrease?
• How do the census numbers for each tribe compare to each other? How did the original numbers compare to each other? If you order the tribes by according to size, does the order change from the first to the second census? If you create a graph for each group of census numbers, how do the graphs compare? 
• How do the total sum numbers compare between the two different census counts? Did the total sum increase or decrease?
• Some statistical thoughts for grades 5 or 6 and above: (Note that while the calculations may be straightforward or rote, the full understanding of the significance of these evaluations of the data may be hard for younger students to make sense of and truly understand and explain.)
• What was the average population per tribe after the first census? after the second census?
• In the first census, was each tribe above or below the average? What about in the second census?
• How far above or below the average was each tribe's population in each census? How do these statistics compare for each tribe between the two sets of census numbers?
• What fraction of the population was each tribe in the first census? in the second census? How do these compare?
• What percentage of the population was each tribe in the first census? in the second census? How do these compare?
• How would different types of graphs of the two sets of census data look and compare to each other? (Separate bar graphs, a double bar graph, line plots, box-and-whisker plot, pie charts.) Which graph would you personally choose to best represent the data, and why?
• Extra thought- when evaluating the data, does the 24,000 who were killed in the plague on the tribe of Shimon effect statistical changes from the first census to the second?
• Adapted but similar evaluations can be made between the original and new census for the tribe of Levi, as well.

Korbanot/Sacrifices:
As I mentioned above, there is a large section in this parsha that is dedicated to the description of the sacrifices that were to be brought on each holiday. I will focus, here, specifically on the sacrifices for Sukkot, but these questions can be extended and adapted to compare information related to other holidays or even to compare between different holidays.

Sacrifices for Sukkot:
The description for these sacrifices is found in Bamidbar 29:12-38.
Some ideas for comparisons:

• What are the similarities and differences in the text for the sacrifices for each individual day of the holiday?
• What are the specific lists of sacrifices that were to be brought on each day?
• How do the sacrifices for each different day compare to each other? How are they similar? How are they different? Are there any patterns that you notice? 

Some ideas for calculations with fractions and measurements:

• Think about making a collated list of the items needed for each sacrifice or each group of sacrifices-
• How much of each "ingredient" did they need for each sacrifice?
• How much of each "ingredient" did they need for all of the sacrifices on each individual day?
• How do the totals for each individual day compare to each other?
• How much of each "ingredient" did they need for the entire holiday?
• Do you see any significant numbers in your tally lists? Rashi on 29:35 refers to a significant connection to the tallies.