"JUST WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?"

"JUST WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?"

MASTER TEACHER Pamela Parks

GRADES 6 - 8

OVERVIEW
Data displays are everywhere, and they are an important part of our everyday life. Knowing what the data means is essential in some areas, but in other areas knowing what the data means is vital to making informed decisions. In order to interpret the data presented for the most accurate conclusions, data presentation or display must be examined, interpreted, and analyzed. In this lesson students will examine, identify, and assess examples of data displays. After practicing the interpretation of data displays, the students will actually analyze data presentation from a newspaper article, then present the analysis to the class. Cooperative learning and multiple intelligence strategies are incorporated into the activities to enhance integration of data analysis concepts and skills.

ETV SERIES
Math Vantage #114 - Data: What Does It Mean?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
*Students will be able to:
*examine and identify different ways meaningful data is displayed
*clarify different data presentation
*interpret different data presentation

MATERIALS
(Per team of 4)
Baggie of pictures of data displays/equipment (at least one item per team member)
Ex.: Thermometer, Barometer, picture of a car dashboard display, computer monitor display, weather station, computer menu/window, data graphs, and data tables, etc.

Data Sheet #A
4 Color pens
(Per team member)
Slate
Vis-à-vis marker
Wipe cloth
Data Sheet #B
Pencil

VOCABULARY
Statistics - numerical facts or data
Data - facts, information, statistics derived by calculation or experimentation
Demographics - vital and social statistics, such as births, deaths, diseases, marriages, etc.
Examine - to investigate, to inspect, to test the knowledge, reactions, or qualifications
Interpret - to explain, to understand, to set forth the meaning of, and to understand in a particular way
Analyze - a method of studying the nature of something or of determining its essential features and their relations

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Students are in cooperative learning teams of 4. Each team is provided a bag of data displays/equipment (Pictures of a thermometer, weather station, data graph, and car dashboard display plus four color markers). The bag of data displays/equipment is opened; one item and a color marker is passed to each team member. Teams are to use cooperative learning strategies to perform this task. Team member #1 shows his/her data display item and identifies its use/purpose to the team. If the team agrees with the explanation, team member #1 records the information on Data Sheet A with his/her color marker. Team member #1 passes Data Sheet A to Team member #2. Then, team member #2 shows and identifies the display item he/she has. If the team agrees with the explanation, team member #2 records the information on Data Sheet A with his/her color marker. This procedure continues around the team until all data display items are identified and recorded appropriately. Only five minutes are allowed for this cooperative activity. Each team's recorded data will then be presented to the class by a randomly chosen team member.

FOCUS FOR VIEWING
To give the students a specific responsibility while viewing, say, "You will be watching a video that brings into focus different ways data are displayed or presented to someone. Look/listen for as many different kinds of information displays as you can that are shown in this video."

VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Begin Math Vantage - Data: What Does It Mean? where the video displays Nebraska Mathematics and Science Coalition Logo and audio is music. Pause tape. Video - the young lady in pilot's chair of an airplane. Audio - "When you are 35,000 feet in the air, you better understand what your data displays are telling you." Using the tagboard slates, ask the students to record at least 3 things the data dials display to a pilot and hold up your slate when completed. Remind the student to write large enough for you to read the information. (altitude, ground speed, oil pressure, fuel pressure, wind direction, temperature) Check for correctness and randomly ask for 3 students to relate their answers to the class. All students check off related answers on their own slates. Allow any students to voluntarily share any additional or different answers. Ask the students to observe data display found in a car, while they are viewing the next video segment. Resume tape. Pause tape. Video- the young lady in the fuel empty convertible. Audio- a Trombone playing. Ask the students to clean their slates, record data displays that would be present in the plane and the car, and hold up their slate when finished. (fuel level, engine temperature, battery amps, and oil pressure) Check for correctness and randomly ask for a student to relate to the class his/her answers. All students check off related answers on their own slates. Allow any students to voluntarily share any additional or different answers. Resume tape. Pause tape. Video - young lady talking to viewers. Audio - "Graphs give us a quick visual image of the situation." Rewind the tape, in order to view on the monitor a blank graph and to recall the requirements of a data graph. Pause tape. Video - young lady in the fuel empty convertible. Audio-Trombone playing. Resume tape. Pause tape. Video - unlabeled lines of a graph. Audio - "It is a line graph, but how can I make sense of it?" Say, "There are four requirements for a graph. What are they? " (Think Time) Have a volunteer come to the monitor to label the screen with a dry erase marker. Randomly call on students to offer one of the four requirements. (Title, Point of Origin, X-axis, Y-axis) Ask the volunteer to label as the responder directs until all four requirements of a graph are correctly related to the class and labeled on the monitor. Fast forward tape Pause tape. Video - a snowman. Say to the students, "As you continue to watch the video, look for more ways data are displayed or presented to someone." Wipe the monitor clean. Resume tape. Pause tape. Video - small motor car. Audio - engine noise. Using the same cooperative learning strategy as before to complete this task, ask the students to talk within their team, record on one slate using one vis-a-vis marker, all of the data displays viewed in the last video segment that the team can in five minutes. (Models, computer graphics, maps, altimeter, charts, diagrams, symbols, satellite photos, satellite digital images, computer transformation images, signs, ultrasound images) Ask the team with the greatest number of recorded data displays to read out their list as the other teams check off their answers. Allow any volunteers to give additional answers from other teams. Any incorrect answers should be marked out. Say, "An analysis of the demographic data is given to you in this next video segment. Watch the analysis carefully. You will be asked to analyze the data and present an interpretation of the analysis." Resume the tape. Pause the tape. Video - three graphs (Prairie Dog Population, Ferret Population, and Burrowing Owl Population) on a blue background. Audio -"Is something killing all three of these species of animals? Is one somehow affecting the other two?" Ask the teams to discuss the data and draw a conclusion from the data presented. Each team member should record the team conclusion on his/her slate. Allow three minutes for this task. Ask the student to hold up their slates for teacher viewing to assess analyses. Check slates for task attempts. Say," The correct analysis will be shown in the next video segment. Check your answers." Resume tape. (Increased agricultural practices, pest control practices, and disease plus the interrelation between the Prairie dog, Ferret, and Burrowing Owl have contributed to the decline in the populations of the three animals.)
Stop tape. Video - the young lady sitting cross-legged on the floor. Audio -"Öhelp tell the rest of the story, so we don't jump to the wrong conclusions."

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Say, "You have viewed video, recalled graph requirements, and practiced data interpretation and analysis. Now, I would like for you to apply these skills to an real-world experience activity. Using Data Sheet B, examine, interpret, and analyze the data. Each team member records the team analysis of the data on his/her own Data Sheet B. Each team member should be ready to present the conclusions drawn by the team to the class." Allow the appropriate time limit for
the task.

ACTION PLAN
Visit these websites to practice data analysis.
http://www.capecod.net/schrockguide/kidstuff.htm
http://www.whnt19.com/kidwx/
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/current.html
http://www.abc.net.au/science/
http://www.seds.org/billa/tnp/
http://www.earth.nasa.gov/multimedia/index.html
http://www.enc.org/fr_index.htm
http://www.wmich.edu/bios150/investigation.html
Ask a meteorologist to visit the classroom and bring examples of the data he/she analyzes to forecast the weather.
Write television stations, weather stations, or observatories for collections of discarded data to be used/displayed in the classroom.
Invite a physician to come to class and bring examples of the data he/she analyzes in making diagnoses.
Invite a police officer to come to class and bring examples of the data he/she analyzes during investigations.

EXTENSIONS
Computer Literacy
Have the students create graphs from student-entered data. Then, have the students exchange the data/graphs and draw conclusion(s) from the data.

Language Arts
Provide each class team with a collection of data displays. Have the team draw conclusions from the data and create a presentation of the conclusions drawn.

Social Studies
Research an assigned time period's historical data (maps, diaries, books). Create a visual, model, mobile, display, etc. that presents the data including any drawn conclusions.

DATA SHEET # 1:
(Pictures to be inserted later)

Updated: April 01, 2008