Nestled within Houghton Mifflin's
Education Place web site I found an enticing online resource called
The Data Place.
After registering, teachers have access to grade-appropriate collaborative
projects in which students collect and work with real data by analyzing
and drawing conclusions. Included are teacher's guides and printable
worksheets for data collection and student reflection. Not only do students
compare data from their own classrooms, they have access to a data bank
containing project results from classrooms from all over the world.
The activities were interactive, imaginative and thought-provoking.
Our first encounter with
The Data Place came via a project called We're Just "Winging"
It! In this project students made their own paper airplanes, gathered
data about how far they flew, compared their results with the class
and then using the graphs created on the Data Place web site, compared
their results with their peers and other Data Place users from other
countries such as Thailand and Australia.
As far as the students were
concerned, the best part of this project was being able to throw their
paper airplanes down the hall. Surprisingly, these enthusiastic data
collectors were totally on task and meticulous about measuring the distance
their planes flew. Students took their results and, using an
online metric converting tool, changed their Canadian metric measurements
into the Imperial Measurement system followed in the United States.
From here they calculated the mean distances (individually and as a
class) and entered their data into The Data Place web site. Everyone
was delighted with the colorful graphs that appeared within seconds!
During the following class
I hooked up an LCD projector and together with students, we analyzed
the graphs and discussed the variables that would have made some airplanes
fly further than others. Student thinking was evident as they suggested
that flying distances could be affected by differences in size, how
airplanes were folded, weight of the paper, unexpected breezes in the
hall, direction of breezes, styles of throwing, or the humidity in the
air.
As a way of sharing the learning
gleaned during the We're Just "Winging" It! activities, I
created a web site
documenting our day of data collection and analysis. No one enjoyed
viewing this more than the students themselves. In their minds, throwing
airplanes down the hall, using technology to analyze the learning, and
having their math class up on the Web for all to see made for one of
the best math classes of the year!
Resources
About
the Author:
Brenda Dyck graduated
from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Education degree and
taught a number of years with the Calgary Public Board of Education
as well as several private schools in Calgary. After staying home to
raise her five children, Brenda returned to the classroom and has spent
the past five years developing her newly discovered passion: technology
integration and telecollaborative learning.
Brenda is currently teaching
at Master's Academy and has also taught at ABC Charter Public School
for gifted and talented students. She teaches Math and assists teachers
in their efforts to integrate technology into their curriculum specific
objectives. Brenda serves as editor of MidLink
Magazine and was a finalist in the GSN
Online Shared Learning Awards this year.
Email: dyckba@shaw.ca
