Organize to Analyze

Question(s)

Where are the species observations and biodiversity counts I need? What do they mean? How can I use them to answer my research question?

Overview

Organizing data before students start the analysis process is a critical and often overlooked step. Students use the Vital Signs Sort & Export table to find the data they need (their own, that of their classmates, and data from their comparison site). They use Venn Diagrams and T-charts to organize data before trying to make sense of it.

Standards (MLR)

Learning Objectives

Students will use graphic organizers to manage and arrange data before they analyze it.

Materials

• Computer with Internet access
• Vital Signs Sort & Export table
• Venn diagram
• T-chart

Time Needed

40 minutes

Activity Procedure

1. Have students make a T-chart to organize their biodiversity data:
   

   Biodiversity at our class study site and our comparison site(s)

2. Have students fill in their T-charts with biodiversity data from the Vital Signs Sort & Export data table

   Note: If it is not part of your learning goals for students to find data, find it for them ahead of time and export it to Excel or Numbers. Have them start off right away organizing data rather than finding it.

   Note: There are many ways to find the diversity data you need through Explore data, View data on map, or Sort & export data pages. We encourage students to try their own way. If they get stuck, here is one way to use the Sort & Export table:

   • Go to the Vital Signs Sort & Export data table
   • Select “My School’s Data” from the drop down list.
   • Use the Advanced Search to limit the date range to only those days you collected data pertinent to this investigation.
   • Sort the table by “Site name” by clicking on the “Site name” column header
   • Find the column labeled “Diversity of species”
   • You can do a lot of scrolling back and forth in the online table to find your data OR you can Export your data to Excel or Numbers where you’ll have more options to manipulate the order of columns, hide columns, and rearrange columns to your heart’s content.
   • To find data from your comparison site, do an Advanced Search for the town, site name, school name (if it is student-collected data), etc.
3. Have students use Numbers, Excel, or big paper & colorful markers to make a simple bar graph of your data, like so:
4. Have students make Venn Diagrams to organize their invasive species observations. Invasive species are one factor that may influence the number of different species living at each of their sites.

   
   

   

   Invasive species FOUND at our class study site and our comparison site(s)

5. Have students fill in their Venn Diagrams with species data gleaned from the Vital Signs Map: Explore > View on map. Students use the Advanced Search just as they did with the Sort & Export data table.

Reflection/Formative Assessment Ideas

1. Have student teams go to their My Vital Signs page to edit their Science Notebook
2. Ask them to use the prompts in the Reflection and Conclusion sections of their Notebook to start making sense of their well-organized data.
3. If students have trouble synthesizing everyone’s ideas, try using a nice big Placemat. Placemats let each student think and write individually first. Once students see what everyone in their team thinks, they can underline common themes, circle key points, and come up with the best possible reflections/ conclusions that reflect full team participation.
4. 

Extension Ideas

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Resources

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References

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