Data Story Bytes - For a quick bit of data :)
By: Kristin Hunter-Thomson
Looking for quick ways to get students to practice making sense of data?
Do your students enjoy the New York Times “What is going on in this graph?” resource?
Want a another go-to set of data-based Do Nows?
Then you have to check out the Data Story Bytes or “DataBytes” (Teacher Guide and Student Materials). Each DataByte includes data visualizations about scientific and everyday issues from common news sources. Ready for students in both English and Spanish, each DataByte purposefully includes the same set of questions for students to think through while working with the data visualization. The questions were designed to specifically highlight the path from making sense -> considering personal connections -> reflecting on the context and history of data -> envisioning future uses of data (see their descriptions below).
The team is continually designing more DataBytes as we speak, but already have a great range of Ready-to-Use DataBytes.
The NSF funded project team even provides a supported way for you to create your own DataByte using their DataBytes Toolkit. The Toolkit includes recommendations of places to find good data visualizations that match your students’ curriculum, community, and interests as well as suggestions for how to support students with challenging vocabulary. The team suggests using or adapting their generic DataBytes questions to get your students thinking.
Check out the DataBytes and let us (and the project team) how it goes!
Wilkerson, M. H., Lee, H. S., Stokes, D. J., Lopez, M. L., & Rivero, E. (2021). Data Story Bytes [Online Curriculum]. Accessed October 8, 2021 from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tAnSAZuxPKW8pigpWvjVDd8RlgH0UQ7N4DUVzceWw44.
