Have you ever wanted to ask someone a question? If you have, then you have collected datum (singular of data). If you ask a lot of people the same question, then you have collected data. For example, if you asked What is your favorite color of all your family members, then you would have collected data. There are a gazillion (okay, maybe not) questions you can ask other people. Repeating the question to all of your friends, teachers, playmates, etc. is fun! Go ahead, try it!

Remember earlier we mentioned being organized is handy. It is easy to collect data as you can see. However, in our next lesson we are going to do something with that data, so it would be a good idea to have your data written down. Paper and pencils come in handy here, although computers, crayons, and cardboard could be used. Be creative!

Tally Chart
The easiest way to organize your data is to create a tally chart. Ours look like:

Favorite Pets
Kind of Pet	Tally	Total # of Pets
Kitties		8
Doggies		4
Chickens		13

Notice how we create a column for each item that is voted. We keep a running tally in the Tally column. When we are all done, we count our tally marks and write the number under Total # of Pets. To help us keep our different tally charts separated, we always put a title on our chart.