Title:

Going Green day 2 - Collecting data

Grade Level:

5,6,7,8

Subject:

Mathematics

Author:

cathleen.egan

Time:

1 hr

Teacher Innovation Grant Recipient:

This teacher is a recipient of Teacher Innovation Grant.

Lesson Plan Type:

Direct Instruction,Experiential Learning,Unit Plan

Keywords:

sustainable, community, stewardship, flexibility, adaptability, energy, conservation, green, recycle, environmental, climate change, data

Brief Description:

 Students learn how to create data tables and collect data with accurate sampling. They then practice collecting data around the school and their home to assess their and their peers’ impact on the environment.

California State Standards Addressed:

Mathematics/6/Statistics Data Analysis and Probability)2.1,2.2,2.3

Goal(s):

 Students will create a data table and survey a sampling of their peers or create a snapshot of their own behavior.

Specific Objectives:

 Students will create a survey and a data table.

Required Materials:

 Paper and pencil, using Excel is optional.

Anticipatory Set (Lead-in):

 Show students an example of a data table about climate change. (http://climatechange.worldbank.org/climatechange/data and http://data.worldbank.org/topic/environment have some chart examples.) Have them popcorn out noticings from the data.
Introduce “data” as a vocabulary word. Explain that data can mean “factual information (as measurements or statistics) used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or calculation.” Have students share out what that means to them in their own words.

Lesson Plan Procedure:

 Refer back to data from the video clips. Explain to students that they will be collecting data to add to their projects to convince people to create a more sustainable environment.
Demonstrate and explain the procedure for data collection. You could give them the example that you will collect data about how many times a student throws something in the trash versus how many times students recycle a piece of paper.
Model setting up a chart with the data you want to collect. It will have two columns – one for trash and one for recycling. Explain that you will be watching both the trashcans and the recycling bins during the class and will tally when someone throws something away or recycles something. Have student volunteers throw their trash away or recycle their papers and demonstrate how to tally in the correct column.

Next the class can make a data table from data from the Sea Turtle Conservancy website. They track turtles so students can collect data on how far a sea turtle migrates each tracking period (http://www.conserveturtles.org/satellitetracking.php?page=sat_zenit). Ask students what data they can gather from this map (time and distance traveled). Model measuring how far the turtle traveled, then marking it on a data table next to the dates.

Finally, students can practice on their own with the example on the site http://mste.illinois.edu/meseke/ncaa.html. Students create a data table with the year and the winning score.

Closure (Reflect Anticipatory Set):

 Have a class discussion. First have students quick write then share out on the following questions:
1. How can collecting data help us?
2. Why do you think scientists collect data?
3. Why would it be important to collect data about our environment?

Plan for Independent Practice:

 The class can brainstorm a list of topics related to climate change. For homework, students will choose a topic and collect data from their peers and family members.

Assessment Based on Objectives:

 Assessment can be on going as the teacher monitors the students work on the computers.
Printed copies of charts can be graded individually or as part of a larger project.
The students can create a second graph on their own for assessment purposes.

Possible Connections to Other Subjects:

 

Adaptations and Extensions:

 When the class is brainstorming topic ideas, the teacher can point out which questions or topics may be more complex (such as all the different ways to look at the NCAA data) and which are simple one- or two-variable topics (such as the trashcan vs. recycle bin data).

Additional Notes: