Students usually learn about data and graphing in math and science. I thought I'd share with you how we use spreadsheets in fourth grade social studies to have students gain a deeper understanding of history. In the first example below, students learned to take complex information and make it easy to understand. In the second example, students took the same data and learned how to analyze it by doing what-if scenarios. One of the things I love about using spreadsheets is, students can take static data and manipulate it which makes it come alive.
Jamestown Population Infographic
In past years, we had students create infographics with the Jamestown population data to show "What Affected the English Settlement Population". They added clipart of death & disease, Indian attacks, starving time, and departures and new arrivals to make it easy to understand. In doing that, it reinforced their own understanding. In this project they learned:
In past years, we had students create infographics with the Jamestown population data to show "What Affected the English Settlement Population". They added clipart of death & disease, Indian attacks, starving time, and departures and new arrivals to make it easy to understand. In doing that, it reinforced their own understanding. In this project they learned:
Jamestown Population Data Analysis
This year we changed things up and had the students focus on analyzing the population data rather than explain it. Students learned that spreadsheets can be used to do "what if" scenarios. For example, what if the colonists got along better with the Indians and they didn't attack or what if one of the ships hadn't made it with new arrivals. The goal was for them to see that because of many factors the population of Jamestown dwindled over time and the fate of the settlement hinged heavily on the new arrivals. In this project they learned:
This year we changed things up and had the students focus on analyzing the population data rather than explain it. Students learned that spreadsheets can be used to do "what if" scenarios. For example, what if the colonists got along better with the Indians and they didn't attack or what if one of the ships hadn't made it with new arrivals. The goal was for them to see that because of many factors the population of Jamestown dwindled over time and the fate of the settlement hinged heavily on the new arrivals. In this project they learned:
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Why Teach Data Analysis?
Data and information is all around us. Big data is driving all aspects of our lives from understanding COVID, to the music we listen to, to what ads pop up on our devices. The study of data analytics is growing quickly* and can be tied to almost any field of study - genetics, epidemiology, medicine, music, entertainment, sports, retail, transportation, government, business, etc. Teaching students how to understanding data will help them:
Data and information is all around us. Big data is driving all aspects of our lives from understanding COVID, to the music we listen to, to what ads pop up on our devices. The study of data analytics is growing quickly* and can be tied to almost any field of study - genetics, epidemiology, medicine, music, entertainment, sports, retail, transportation, government, business, etc. Teaching students how to understanding data will help them:
- turn data into information
- understand things more deeply
- think more critically
- think more creatively
- build problem solving skills
- see patterns and trends
- make inferences and predictions to develop theories and new ideas
- make better decisions
- understand the world around them
* The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics sees strong growth for data science jobs skills in its prediction that the data science field will grow about 28% through 2026.