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Accessing and Investigating Data Using the World Wide Web
Data sets available
on the Internet are valuable resources for studying real data to address
questions that interest students. Teachers and students can download data
sets from the World Wide Web, collaborate in online data-collection projects,
and search electronic libraries and data files. This example describes
activities in which students can use census data available on the Web
to examine questions about population. Working on such activities, students
can also formulate their own questions and use the mathematics they are
studying to address these questions. They can propose and justify conclusions
that are based on data and design further studies on the basis of conclusions
or predictions, as described in the Data Analysis and Probability Standard.
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Task
Examine the United
States Census Bureau (www.census.gov) or the Statistics Canada (www.statcan.ca) Web site to identify the population
of your home state or province. Examine the population data from the past
fifty years. On the basis of the population changes reported over the
past fifty years, would you predict that the population of your state
or province will increase or decrease the next time a census is completed?
By how much?
[Using
These Web Sites]
Discussion
Teachers can use technology
to enhance their students' learning opportunities by selecting or creating
mathematical tasks that take advantage of what technology can do efficiently
and well. Technology can provide access to real data on the World Wide
Web that teachers can use to design tasks in which students address questions
that interest them. Although the availability of real data on the Web
opens up exciting learning opportunities, teachers should not assume that
gaining access to the data is always straightforward. The role of the
teacher is thus central to the success of this activity. Teachers need
to select or design the tasks, decide when and how students will have
access to the Web, what searching skills and strategies students will
need, and how much guidance to give them. Students need to plan and make
decisions about the data that should be retrieved and select and use appropriate
statistical methods to analyze the data. Teachers and students need to
consider possible ways in which the data can be represented and which
software might help them organize, represent, and interpret the data.
Additional Tasks to
Explore
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Where does your
state or province rank in population nationally? Explain how you found
this information. Develop a graph that shows the population of the
United States (or Canada) by state (or province). You may want to
use a spreadsheet to organize, sort, and then graph the data.
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The U.S. Census
Bureau site includes a feature called "Projections" under the "People"
heading. Determine which ten states are projected to be the most populous
in 2025. Notice that the table of projected populations is in thousands.
What does this mean? Make your own graph to show the projected populations
for the ten most populous states in 2025.
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Statistics Canada
contains a feature called Statistical Profile of Canadian Communities.
Look at the information provided for your community (or one near where
you live). What information is available? Choose a set of data about
your community and make a poster to share this information with your
class.
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Go to the U.S.
Census Bureau's home page (www.census.gov). Note the current
U.S. and world populations. Record both amounts. Wait and visit the
home page again in one hour. How do the U.S. and world populations
change? Visit the site the next day. How do the U.S. and world populations
change? On the basis of this information, what could you predict for
the populations of the United States and the world in one week? One
month? One year?
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Locate a map on
the U.S. Census Bureau site that displays the median age of the population
of the United States by state. On the basis of this information, which
states appear to be "young"? What do you mean by young? Which
states are "older" according to the median ages? What can you say
in general about the median age of the midwestern states?
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Investigate the
distribution of the population of the United States or Canada by some
attribute you choose (e.g., age or gender). Formulate questions to
investigate, then search for and organize data to address these question.
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What kinds
of questions are of interest to students and can be explored
through data investigations?
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What mathematics
content and processes can students learn through data investigations?
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How can data
investigations help connect mathematics with other subjects
the students are studying?
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