Graphing Inquiry Activity: NGSS Graphing and Data Analysis: Distance Learning

This activity proceeds as follows:

1. Students are given a hypothetical scenario in which they are offered two different payment options for house-sitting a wealthy neighbor's house, and have to fill in a data table by calculating the earnings for each option

2. Students then evaluate five different graphs, each of which incorrectly represents the data in some way. They must find the mistakes.

3. Students then generate a list of rules for proper graphing

4. Students use their rules, and data on orca whale and leopard seal populations, to produce a proper graph

5. Students analyze the graph by answering conclusion questions.

Details Below:

A. NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS HEREIN

DCI’s:

LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Cross Cutting Concepts: Patterns, Scale, Proportion, and Quantity, Systems and System Models, Cause and Effect

Scientific and Engineering Practices:

Analyzing and Interpreting Data, Developing and Using Models, Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

This product is part of a Unit Bundle: Scientific Skills and Scientific Thinking Bundle

Assessing a Lab Report: Compare Two Versions of the Same Lab Report

Following Directions Activity: Fun Practice with Procedure-Writing and Following Directions

Graphing Inquiry Activity: Practice with graphing and data analysis

"Food Chain Model Game " is a fun, inquiry-based activity in which students write rules to a game that models food-chains. It is NGSS Aligned.

Get it here: Food Chain Model Game

"Airborne Bacteria Lab" is a simple, problem-solving lab where students emply basic math skills to estimate the number of bacteria in the classroom. It is NGSS Aligned.

Get it here: Airborne Bacteria Lab

"Animal Cracker Ecology" is a great activity to start with before using this product. It is NGSS Aligned.

Get it here: Animal Cracker Ecology

With "Ecosystem Site Map", students practice being field ecologists; creating a site map of the the local ecosystem.

Get it here: Ecosystem Site Map

B. SUGGESTED USES

Prior Knowledge: No specific prior knowledge is required for this activity. A basic math ability is required.

Implementing the Lesson:

Materials and Setup: All you need for this activity is this download, and something to write with. The activity is designed for students to work through autonomously. I suggest that students use pencil for graphing, as they are likely to make mistakes.

Suggestions for introduction:

This activity is a great way to introduce, review, or reinforce graphing skills. I use it before my students have to produce their first graph from scratch for a formal lab write up. It works great in any context.

Intro: You might introduce the lab with a discussion on why people use emojis in text messages (quick, easy, visual representation compared to text. Similar to graphs - quick, easy visual representation compared to data tables)

Closure: You can conclude the lesson with discussions on the following:

a. correlation vs. causation. visit http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations for humorous examples of spurious correlations.

b. exponential vs. logistic growth - both are seen in this activity.

This activity is appropriate for 7th grade through high school.

My students enjoy this activity. If yours liked it, there are more like this at my TpT store:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Next-Gen-Sci-Guy

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