Illustrative Mathematics
Weather Graph Data
Teaching young mathematicians about collecting and analyzing data allows for a variety of fun and engaging activities. Here, children observe the weather every day for a month, recording their observations in the form of a bar graph....
Curated OER
Using Vegetation, Precipitation, and Surface Temperature to Study Climate Zones
Using NASA's Live Access Server, earth scientists compare the temperature, precipitation, and normalized difference vegetation index for four different locations. They use the data to identify the climate zone of each location using...
Omaha Zoo
I Like to Move It
What do lemurs do best? They move! Lemurs like to jump, run, hop, and climb and it's your class's job to document seven fun lemur behaviors. The class starts by discussing why lemurs are considered primates, and then they isolate seven...
US Department of Commerce
Make Data Speak
Data displays are more than just a bunch of numbers. Small groups access census results and create eye-catching data displays. Teams choose a statistic and collect data points for five locations. Classmates present their infographics to...
Fort Bend Independent School District
Data Analysis - AP Statistics
What better way to study survey design than to design your own survey! Bring a versatile data analysis project to your AP Statistics class, and encourage them to apply the practices from their instructions to a real-world survey...
Teach Engineering
Where Are the Plastics Near Me? (Mapping the Data)
The last activity in a nine-part series has teams create a Google Earth map using the data they collected during a field trip. Using the map, groups analyze the results and make adjustments to the map to reflect their analysis. A short...
Houston Area Calculus Teachers
Collecting Driving Data
Give AP Calculus classes the opportunity to check the accuracy of their calculations! A calculus activity involves the collection of data, the application of mathematics, and the analysis of the accuracy of results. Young mathematicians...
NASA
Erosion and Landslides
A professional-quality PowerPoint, which includes links to footage of actual landslides in action, opens this moving instructional activity. Viewers learn what conditions lead to erosion and land giving way. They simulate landslides with...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Spreadsheet Tutorial 2: Autofill Data, Cell References, and Standard Deviation
If you've always wanted to know more about spreadsheets, here's a perfect resource for you. A self-paced tutorial introduces how to autofill and copy formulas in a Google sheet or Excel spreadsheet. It also shows users how to find range,...
Regents Prep
Activity to Show Sample Population and Bias
There is bias in many aspects of our lives, and math is no exception! Learners explore provided data to understand the meaning of biased and random samples. The resource includes various data sets from the same population, and...
Illustrative Mathematics
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor
What better way to engage children in a math lesson than by talking about ice cream? Using a pocket chart or piece of chart paper, the class works together creating a bar graph of the their favorite ice cream flavors. Learners then work...
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Eruptions: Old Faithful Geyser
How long do we have to wait? Given several days of times between eruptions of Old Faithful, learners create a graphical representation for two days. Groups combine their data to determine an appropriate wait time between eruptions.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Scientific Inquiry Using WildCam Gorongosa
How do scientists determine what questions to ask to meet their research goals? Help your class develop an inquiry mindset with a lesson based on studies in the Gorongosa National Park. Partners create their own research questions by...
US Department of Commerce
How Does Our Class Compare?
Compare the class to the country. As a group, pupils collect data on the types of activities boys and girls do after school. Learners compare the number of girls to the number of boys for each activity. Using census data, individuals...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Human Impacts on Biodiversity
Have you always wanted to take your science class on an amazing field trip they will never forget? Now you can! Observe the wildlife in an African savanna through trail cameras with a five-part data analysis activity. Learners analyze...
Teach Engineering
Backyard Weather Station
Challenge young meteorologists to apply their knowledge of weather to build their own weather stations. The resource provides the directions to build a weather station that contains a wind vane, barometer, thermometer, and rain...
Consortium for Ocean Leadership
Nannofossils Reveal Seafloor Spreading Truth
Spread the word about seafloor spreading! Junior geologists prove Albert Wegener right in an activity that combines data analysis and deep ocean exploration. Learners analyze and graph fossil sample data taken from sites along the...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Seed Dispersal in Tropical Forests
How do seeds get around? It's not like plants can control seed dispersal—or can they? Dig deeper into the amazing mechanisms of seed dispersal observed in tropical plants through interactives, a video, and plenty of hands-on data...
Teach Engineering
Using Hooke's Law to Understand Materials
Provide a Hooke for a lesson on elasticity with an activity that has groups investigate a set of springs. They use a set procedure to collect data to calculate the spring constant for each spring using Hooke's Law. The groups...
Teach Engineering
Exploring Acceleration with an Android
Small groups use rubber bands to accelerate an Android device along a track of books. They collect the acceleration data and analyze it in order to determine the device's velocity.
Teach Engineering
Building-Testing-Improving Paper Airplanes: Head's Up!
Take foldables to all new heights. Pupils build and fly different types of paper airplanes in the 14th portion of a 22-part unit on aviation. Groups collect data on distance and flight time for each plane and compare the data from the...
NOAA
Climate, Weather…What’s the Difference?: Make an Electronic Temperature Sensor
What's the best way to record temperature over a long period of time? Scholars learn about collection of weather and temperature data by building thermistors in the fourth installment of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series....
101 Questions
Bolt Conversion
Usain Bolt and Superman have something in common—speed! A video of one of Bolt's races introduces young scholars to the concept of unit rate. Using data from the race, the narrator calculates a unit rate in kilometers per hour, which...
NASA
Speaking in Phases
Hear from deep space. Pupils learn how satellites transfer information back to Earth. They learn about three different ways to modulate radio waves and how a satellite sends information with only 0s and 1s. Using sound, class members...