Junior students at Roberto Clemente Community Academy are learning more about the ways in which data can be represented and analyzed this unit. Through the study of statistics and probability, students are exploring the power of numbers in everyday life.
Clemente Wildcats began the unit with an overview of the kinds of data (qualitative vs. quantitative) they might come across and reviewed some statistics terminology; this understanding will serve them well as they enter the real-world next year and consider important statistics for colleges and jobs. As the unit progresses, the juniors are discovering the different forms that data can take and are learning which type of representation is best for each unique set of data. Students created their own unique survey to collect data and created graph representations. In addition to creating various data representations, students are analyzing graphs and other visualizations of information to identify trends and make conclusions. While this may seem like a skill that is useful only in math and science, the students have started to realize that data and the importance of understanding what it means surrounds them on a daily basis.
To recognize the importance of data and statistics in our daily lives, students are looking at examples from a range of disciplines: population studies, criminal justice, biology, and beyond. As students study data and graphs, they answer questions: What is the significance of this data? Why are the data represented in this way? How does the display of this data impact its meaning?
Moving forward, students will begin delving into probability. Students will investigate all of the places probability is found in everyday life, from games to medicine. To add relevance to what they are learning in class, students will also create their own games based on the laws of probability. By analyzing statistics and probability, students will recognize the importance of data and numbers in understanding the world around us.