Tag: data

January 8, 2013

January 7th, 2013

Dear Data Collectors,

It’s great to be back to school. We all had a nice, relaxing break, and now it’s time to get back to the pleasures of learning. My goals for this semester are to help you all become better readers, writers, problem solvers, and citizens. It will take a lot of hard work, but I know each of you can accomplish great things. You’ll be making your own goals for this semester, so be thinking.

Today, we’ll collect, organize, and analyze data. In math and science, we deal with data a lot. But we also use data all the time in our real lives. The important thing about data is that is has to be reliable. That means we have to be able to trust it. Anytime we crunch data, we’ll ask ourselves if our data is reliable, how we know it’s reliable, and how we can make it more reliable.

Let’s have a great first day back,

Mr. Heimbuck
December 18, 2012

December 18th, 2012

Dear Data Collectors,

As human beings, we’re excellent pattern detectors. Rather than looking at any one thing, we look at how things come together to form a design or to tell a story. Today as we think about ways of displaying data, we need to keep this in mind. Data displays–bar graphs, line graphs, circle graphs, etc.–help us humans see data by putting it into understandable data.

We also have to be on the lookout for misleading data. Sometimes people display data in ways that tell the story they want told. As consumers and users of data, we have to ask questions not only about how the data is displayed but also about the methods used to collect it.

We have a responsibility to make the world make sense to human beings. Data can help us do that.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
October 10, 2012

October 9th, 2012

Dear Data Trackers,

Today we’re going to talk about how we know what we know about the American people. Every ten years, the government collects census information. That’s a way of not only figuring out how many people live in this country (the 2010 census tabulated 308, 745, 538 people) but also where they live, what they do, what languages they speak, and who they are. This information is vitally important and what’s more, it’s really interesting.

Today we will do a classroom census and crunch the data that we come up with. We’ll need to collect the data, display the data, analyze the data, and interpret the data. What we most want to do is use the data to tell us something true and interesting about our class.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

P.S. We will continue to follow Felix Baumgartner’s attempt at the breaking the sound barrier in just a pressurized suit. Hopefully, he launches soon.
October 9, 2012

October 8th, 2012

Dear Tablemakers,

A table is a powerful tool for solving problems. By putting our data into a table, we can find patterns. Sometimes, we’re lucky enough to find a rate. Speed is an example of a rate. To calculate speed, we need two measurements–distance and time. When we put these two measurements into a table, we see the relationship between the two.

Today, we’ll practice calculating speed and collecting other types of data. Remember, anytime you see a thing or a phenomenon, your job as a scientist is to ask, “How can I measure this?” and “How can I collect data about this?” If you approach the world with that mindset, the world will open itself up and reveal its most interesting secrets.

There are still a lot of the secrets the world has not revealed to us. We need smart, observant, persistent, and creative scientists to figure them out. I think some of you might be those scientists.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
September 12, 2012

September 11th, 2012

Dear Data Collectors,

Yesterday, an atmospheric scientist spoke to the other class about how scientists make reliable observations about weather, specifically precipitation. He showed us a few rain gauges and a hail pad and showed us how to make precise and accurate observations. He came because he needs our help. Because precipitation can vary so much from place to place, scientists need a whole bunch of observations to get a good picture of the weather. Our job is to make daily precipitation observations and record them.

Good observations are the foundation of science. As Harlow Shapley once said, “Theories crumble, but good observations never fade.” People once thought the sun moved around the earth. We now know better, but the observations the ancients made by looking up at the stars are still invaluable to us today. Our most powerful method of understanding the world is creating methods of gathering data, accurately collecting that data, and analyzing it fairly. That’s the method that creates our greatest theories about the world.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
27 September 2011

September 27th, 2011

Dear Statisticians,

Numbers become data when we collect them and analyze them. For our data to be good, we have to go about collecting it in accurate, reliable, and precise ways. For our data to be meaningful, we have to use it to draw conclusions. The world is full of data. Some of it is good, some of it is bad. Some of it is reliable, some of it is not. Your job is to find the good data, analyze it for meaning, and use it to say something true about the world.

One tool for analyzing data is landmarks: median, maximum, minimum, range, mode, and mean. These landmarks help us make sense of data. Today we’ll collect data, organize data, and analyze data using landmarks. Then, we’ll use it to try to say something true about the world.

Sincerely,

Mr. H

Tag: data

January 8, 2013

December 18, 2012

October 10, 2012

October 9, 2012

September 12, 2012

27 September 2011