South Carolina ETV

South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

Ocean Exploration: How Does your Data Grow? (Grades 7-8)

Master Teachers

Judy Blitch and Connie Leverett

OVERVIEW

This lesson focuses on data collection. There are many types of data collection techniques. It is often necessary to collect data in natural settings to assure greater accuracy and significance. The video provides an introduction to fieldwork and presents the initial technique of collecting data in the field. Students then conduct their own fieldwork in a human habitat, their school.

ITV SERIES

Futures, Lesson 12: Ocean Exploration

3-2-1 Classroom Contact, Lesson 27: How Do You Know? Collect the Data

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to

use fieldwork to gather data
draw conclusions about their data
compile data in written and graphic forms
make an oral presentation of the project to their peers

VOCABULARY
data
fieldwork

MATERIALS
For each student:

paper
pencil

For each group of 4-5 students:

calculator

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES

Engage students in a conversation about how they might gather information in specific situations.

You want to get some idea about which of two candidates might win a local election. How do you get the information?

You are an environmental scientist and you want to find out about recent reports of marine animals washed up on the beach. What do you do? Let's say you are interested in finding out about what is on the bottom of the ocean. How do you do that?

Show a segment of the Futures video, Ocean Exploration, about Eugenie Clark. Fast forward the tape to the segment as one of the students in Escalante's class introduces Eugenie Clark and says, "Yeah, the shark lady, Dr. Clark." Stop the tape just after James McFarlane says, "Now we have these vehicles that can go down, spend some time, look at the wonderful animals that roam around the depths of the ocean, and that's their home."

What did Eugenie Clark do? How did she learn about sharks? Why did she do the work that she did? What do scientists do with the ROV and why? How is the data collected?

In all of these situations the investigators are collecting "data." Write the term on the board. Ask students to consider how these individuals would gather the data? Help students conclude that the scientist must go into a particular environment and do "fieldwork." Write this term on the board. Ask students to think of other kinds of fieldwork.

FOCUS FOR VIEWING

Let's look at another, actual scientific expedition. Use the videotape from 3-2-1 Classroom Contact, Lesson 27: Scientific Investigation: How Do You Know? Collect the Data. To give students a specific responsibility while viewing, tell students to watch the video and think about how the scientists must prepare for going into the field. How do they plan? How do they determine what data to collect?

VIEWING ACTIVITIES

Begin tape just before scene two when cast member Z says, "Sometimes it's important to study animals in their natural environments."

Pause after, "The signal has been coming from this one spot for several months now." Ask, "What do you think the researcher is talking about?"

Resume tape. Pause just after the researchers get the snowmobiles started. Ask, "What do you think about this expedition? Would you go?"

Resume tape. Pause when the girl holds up the antenna, "That's getting stronger." Ask, "What equipment are they using and why?"

Resume tape. Continue tape until the end of scene 2, "I'm glad I could help."

Stop the tape. Fast forward the tape to scene four, "Fish Facts", just after cast member Z says, "I might be gone for a while. Maybe I should pack a lunch."

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES

Discuss the method used to collect data in this video. What actual data was gathered? How will the data be used?

FOCUS FOR VIEWING

Where are some other places where fieldwork could take place? If it is not suggested, introduce underwater fieldwork with scene four, "Fish Facts," from How Do You Know? Collect the Data. Alert students to the kind of fieldwork they will see in the next segment. To give students a specific responsibility while viewing, ask them to listen for the following information about ocean fieldwork. (Write the questions on the chalkboard or on an overhead transparency.):

What does the researcher want to learn?

How do they tell the parrot fish apart?

What problems would you have doing ocean research?

How do they determine where a particular fish lives in relation to the larger ocean?

How can they tell how many parrot fish can live on a reef?

VIEWING ACTIVITIES

Begin the video just before the line, "To study the parrot fish you have to go on an underwater expedition."

Pause after, "Todd's there visiting biologist Jules Van Roy who studies parrot fish and reefs."

Ask, "What kind of data will they collect and how will they collect it?"

Resume tape. Pause after, "Our next job is to watch what the fish does and record it. Ask, "How do you do this under water?"

Continue tape until the end of scene four, "With this information Jules can tell how many parrot fish can live on this reef."

Stop the tape.

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES

Refer to questions written on the board or overhead. Engage students in a discussion about what they discovered in the video to answer the questions. Lead to the next activity with the following, "We just saw examples of a kind of data collection called fieldwork, conducted by scientists in order to find out more about an animal or environment. What kinds of things could we find out about our school by doing fieldwork? Generate a discussion on finding out information about their school as Eugenie Clark did about sharks or as the other scientists in the video gathered data. What kinds of data could we gather at school? Could we gather data about people, places, things, activities, or materials? For example, we could compare students' behavior in different parts of the building, identify amount of activities in areas of the school, identify kinds of materials and equipment used in the school, or measure various things around the school. Let students determine the kinds of data they could collect.

Divide students into cooperative groups of four or five per group. Let each group select a different topic for their school fieldwork. Use the following questions to plan the data collection process.

Planning for data collection: What kind of information could you gather? What information do you want to collect? How could the information be used? How do you go about collecting the information?

Will you use an observation, a checklist, a survey, or an interview? If so you will need to develop the observation list, checklist, survey, or interview items. You will need to identify the kinds of things you want to observe and/or the times during which you want to make observations.

Do you have specific things to look for?

Will you need special equipment such as measuring devices, tape recorder, or video camera? Will you survey or interview specific people? Who?

Implementing the data collection process. Who will conduct the interview or survey or use the checklist?

How long will it take? Do you anticipate any problems related to gathering your data?

Organizing and representing the data. What is the best way to illustrate the information that you collected?

Some possibilities include stem and leaf plot, double bar graph, and box plot. Students may identify other representations that make the data meaningful such as charts or pictures.

Summarizing the data: Depending on the kind of data you collected you may want to use concepts of central tendency and distribution to describe and summarize the data. You can use the mean, median, and mode to help describe your data. Your cooperative group can summarize your findings and describe the results to other groups.

Drawing conclusions and making decisions: Use your data to make inferences or draw conclusions about the school. As a group of students presents its decision to the class, the other groups can discuss how well the inference or conclusion matches the data.

ACTION PLAN

Invite pollsters and census takers to the classroom to speak on actual data collection in the real world. Let students formulate questions to ask the speakers before they arrive regarding the work they do.

Use telecommunications to collect data from other sources. Exchange information with other classrooms about data they have gathered about their schools.

EXTENSIONS

Math. Conduct probability experiments that focus on data collection such as those using Monte Carlo simulations. Use other kinds of data collection methods such as conducting an
experiment. Consider whether to use sample or, census data in a research project.
Social Science. Investigate the behavior of students in various social settings using the fieldwork type of data collection. For example, observe groups of young children in the lunchroom, on the playground, and at the bus stop for variations and similarities of behavior; compare and contrast play of young children at different age levels.
Science. Make use of experiments to investigate animal behavior with classroom animals such as those in aquariums. You may use the following variables: location of habitat in the classroom, feeding times, introduction of music or light.
Language Arts. For any research project that a scientist does he/she must communicate the results in a clear method. After students conduct a piece of research they will certainly want to present their results to their peers in written, graphic, and oral forms.

REFERENCE

Zawojewski, J.S. (1992). Curriculum and Evaluation StandardsJor School Mathematics Addenda Series, Grades 5-8: Dealing With Data and Chance. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.