Algebra 1/Integrated I Grade Level Lesson Plan
Context: Gapminder
The focus of this context is to have students explore and interpret global data through a powerful and interactive website called Gapminder. Several important areas within the high school Idaho Content and Practice Standards can be addressed through this context.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: When we look at data presented visually, what story can it tell?
SAMPLE LESSON PLAN:
Though a full range of High School standards can be targeted through use of Gapminder’s site, this sample lesson plan and instructional sequence targets the following:
HS-S.ID Summarize, represent, and interpret data on a single count or measurement variable.
● S-ID.2 Use statistics appropriate to the shape of the data distribution to compare center (median, mean) and spread (interquartile range, standard deviation) of two or more different data sets.
● S-ID.3 Interpret differences in shape, center, and spread in the context of the data sets, accounting for possible effects of extreme data points (outliers).
HS-S.ID Summarize, represent, and interpret data on two categorical and quantitative variables.
● S-ID.6 Represent data on two quantitative variables on a scatter plot, and describe how the variables are related. Recognize possible associations and trends in the data.
HS.S-IC Making inferences and justifying conclusions.
● S-IC.6 Evaluate reports based on data. *This sample lesson addresses this standard informally.
When considering all of the work students will be required to do to answer the Essential Question, it is likely that they will meet all eight of the Standards for Mathematical Practice. However, the bolded practices below are specifically targeted in this sample lesson:
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Materials:
● Individual or small group access to a device that will run the interactive bubble charts on Gapminder: https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#_locale_id=en;&chart-type=bubbles
● Slides: https://idoteach.boisestate.edu/modal/files/2016/06/Gapminder-Alg-1_Int-I-Lesson-Plan-Slides.pptx
● Handout: https://idoteach.boisestate.edu/modal/files/2016/06/GapminderAlg1IntILessonHandout.docx
Instructional Sequence:
Activity Details / Teacher NotesBEFORE TEACHING THIS LESSON teachers should go to Gapminder and play! There is SO MUCH information to find, change, and learn. Almost everything can be clicked on and changed to view it in a different way. The more knowledgeable you are about the interactions you can have with Gapminder, the more able you will be to answer kids’ questions about the tool.
Pose the Essential Question (Slide 2) When we look at data presented visually, what story can it tell?
Have students watch this video:
Hans Rosling’s 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 minutes - The Joy of Stats posted to YouTube at the given URL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo&list=PLO_OaQZ3Gmd4HNeeB69s87pj8AK1iiJAk / Allow time for clarifying questions and discussion.
The same bubble chart has been updated since the video was produced. You can view it here:
https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#_locale_id=en;&chart-type=bubbles
Teachers can choose to question and/or address the log scale along the x-axis (Income per person) in this particular data set. Students in high school may be able to recognize that the values along the x-axis are doubling without changing the size of the intervals between them. This can be changed and the chart can be replayed by clicking on the x-axis label and changing to a linear scale:
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Allow students to access and play around on Gapminder. They can explore the menus of data available, the countries, compare different variables, etc. This is a time for them to explore some things they are interested in or even watch some of the videos posted below the bubble chart: / Just some of things that students can change:
● Variables on the x-axis (including changing that axis to time, which will allow them to only view/compare,analyze one variable at a time)
● Variables on the y-axis
● Scales for each variable (linear or log)
● What the bubble size represents
● Which countries they want to isolate or track
● The speed at which they view the charts, and pause them at different times
● The type of charts they view:
Pose their assignment:
Select the United States and at least two other countries that you would like to compare and check their box in the menu on the right of the chart.
Determine one interesting variables that you would like to focus on, and set the y-axis to that variable. Pay attention to the scale of the axis.
Set the x-axis to time, and watch the chart develop.
Prepare a short speech [or written paragraph] that describes (1) the trends for each country, (2) the differences in the trends, (3) which country shows the most variability in their data and how you know, and (4) your conjectures as to why the differences in trends and variability exists. / A way to extend this lesson is to allow students to compare two variables, much like Hans Rosling did in the video.
Modeling this for students (see example below) or chunking the directions may be a good idea.
Here is a sample of a chart comparing Life Expectancy of the US, China, Germany, and South Africa.
It is the hope that students address the variability in China’s (red) data, the drops in Germany’s (yellow) data due to the two World Wars, the lack of variability in the US (green) data comparatively, and they may question the drop in South Africa’s (blue) data after 2000 (a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic). Also, the hope is that students will include information about the overall trends being similar, in that the population has been steadily increasing over the course of time, but the upward trend happened 40 years or so earlier for Germany and the US. Allowing students time to research some of the “Why?” questions that inevitably surface could provide a richer experience for them.
ASSESSMENT:
Students should present their charts and speeches to an audience (other small groups, whole class, or cross-curricularly) and allow the audience to ask questions. Further exploration with the charts the students presented with should be encouraged. / Students could complete a reflection after each or all of the presentations they viewed. Teachers could ask them to reflect upon the variability they saw in the data for different countries, the strongest arguments made, what surprised them, what they are most interested in learning more about, etc. in order to hold them accountable to the learning during the presentations.