Concepts to cover when using Data Nuggets in the classroom
What is a Hypothesis?
- Strode (2015) Hypothesis Generation in Biology: A Science Teaching Challenge & Potential Solution. The American Biology Teacher, 77(7): 500-506.
- The difference between a prediction and hypothesis – Paul Strode
- Writing a scientific hypothesis (teacher guide) (student guide) – Paul Strode
- Hypotheses and theories explained – Understanding Science, UC Berkley
- Hypothesis misconceptions – Understanding Science, UC Berkley
- Hypotheses vs. predictions – blog post from Psychology Today
- Scientific vs. Statistical Hypotheses
The Process of Science
- What is science?
- Science as a process (flowchart)
- Understanding Science’s teacher resources
- FAQ about how science works
- What is Science? video – Science Forward
- Observational vs. Hypothesis Driven Studies
Reading Scientific Texts
- Data Nugget Guide to Reading a Scientific Paper
- Content area reading strategies – Journey North
- How to read a scientific article – Rice University
Constructing Explanations using Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER)
- Using the CER Framework – Conversation between Dr. Kate McNeill and Dr. Joe Krajcik, authors of the book on CER
- Data Nugget CER Scaffolding Tool for Constructing Explanations
- BSCS Scientific Explanation Scaffolding Tool and Student Guide
- American Museum of Natural History CER Scaffolding Tool
Graphing
- Data Nugget Guide to Graphing
- Graph Choice Chart (GCC) – a tool to help students turn data into evidence
- AP Biology Quantitative Skills – a guide for teachers
- The Fundamentals of Data Visualization – a guide to making visualizations that accurately reflect the data, tell a story, and look professional. Grown out of experience working with students and postdocs in my laboratory on thousands of data visualizations.
- Data Points – HHMI – interpret and discuss figures from primary literature
Basic Statistics
- HHMI Teacher Guide: Math and Statistics – Topics include measures of average (mean, median, mode), variability (range, standard deviation), uncertainty (standard error, 95% confidence interval), Chi-square analysis, student t-test, Hardy-Weinberg equation, frequency calculations, and more.
- Data and Error Analysis in Science – Beginners Guide (mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, variance, standard error, and confidence intervals) – Strode and Brokaw
- Teaching Statistics: Going from Scary, Boring, and Useless to, Well, Something Better
- EDDIE Statistical Vignettes – focused on developing quantitative concepts commonly used in the analysis of data, and intended to help students address statistical misconceptions and improve their quantitative reasoning skills.
- MathBench – These modules introduce students (and anyone else who’s interested) to the mathematical underpinnings of what they learn in introductory biology courses. But unlike a textbook, the modules are not full of equations and proofs. Instead, we try to bring math to life using intuitive approaches, everyday situations, and even humor.
- Error Bars – Interpretation of SD, SE, and CI
- Teaching independent vs. dependent variables
- ANOVA – Student Guide – Paul Strode
- Regression Analysis – Student Guide – Paul Strode
- Chi-square Test – Student Guide – Paul Strode
- t-test – Student Guide – Paul Strode
- Mean, standard deviation (SD), standard error (SE)
- Lesson plan
- Worksheets: (red) (blue)
- Standard error (SE) visualization tool – explore the effects of variance and sample size on SE
- Variable types, t-test, regression
- Lesson plan
- Case studies: (A) (B) (C)
- Flowchart for statistics used in biology – Paul Strode
- Statistics for Biologists (nature.com)
Data Literacy
- Data Literacy Project
- Youcubed – Data literacy resources for K-12
- Using Data in the Classroom – information or background about pedagogical or practical issues in using data in the classroom
- DataONE –
- Data Management
- Data Stories – success stories and cautionary tales from researchers related to their experiences with managing and sharing scientific research data
Science communication materials to tell your science story & create a Data Nugget
- Adapting Your Research into Inquiry-Based Lessons for Public Outreach in High School Classrooms: an Answer to the Calls to Action
- Comms Toolkits – 500 Women Scientists
- E.O. Wilson (2002) The Power of Story. The American Educator
- D.T. Willingham The Privileged Status of Narrative
- The Essence of Storytelling – The Green Ninja (video and lesson)
- Randy Olson TED Talk – The And, But, Therefore of Storytelling
- Berger and Milkman (2012) What Makes Online Content Viral? Journal of Marketing Research. Vol XLIX:192-205
- Why Academic Writing Stinks and How to Fix It – Steven Pinker
- The And, But, Therefore of Storytelling – Randy Olson TED Talk
- Jargon Kills! Tips for clear communication – Hattaway Communications
Other great data and education websites
Repositories for Teaching Resources
- National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) – collection of peer-reviewed case studies for teaching science
- List of data activities, lessons, and resources for the classroom, sorted by grade level – compiled by Oceans of Data
- QUBES Consortium (Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis)
- Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology (TIEE)
- Course Source – peer-reviewed teaching resources for undergraduate biological sciences
- EcoEdDL – Ecological Society of America’s online education resource portal
- Resources for Girls and Women Who Want to Work in Data Science, Machine Learning and AI – Berkeley Extension
Organizations and great teaching resources!
- Project Biodiversify – repository of teaching material designed to add human diversity to introductory biology classes. Key partner on DataVersify activities that seek to share the stories of scientist role models from underrepresented groups!
- DataClassroom – online platform that allows students to explore data and learn statistics. Key partner to Data Nuggets and host of Digital Data Nuggets!
- BiteScis – Science research for the classroom. Free resources written by scientists.
- Galatic Polymath – Translating research into creative, interdisciplinary lessons
- Skype A Scientist – matches scientists with classrooms around the world! Scientists will skype into the classroom for 30-60 minute Q and A sessions that can cover the scientist’s expertise or what it’s like to be a scientist.
- Maine Data Literacy Project – offers a framework, teaching materials, and professional development for middle and high school teachers to help students acquire skills and language for making sense of data and graphs as evidence to support their reasoning.
- Understanding Science
- Understanding Evolution
- Science in the Classroom – annotated research papers and accompanying teaching materials
- Earth Science Journal for Kids – Cutting edge peer-reviewed environmental science research adapted for students (and their teachers)
- Michigan State University GK-12 Project
- Oceans of Data Institute (ODI) – Dedicated to transforming education to help people succeed in school, work, and life in a data-intensive world.
- Newsela – Articles on recent news and events, translated into different reading levels for use by students.
- Science News for Students – Freely accessible online publication providing interactive interfaces and science news to students
- BirdSleuth K-12 – Educational resources based on the research of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- NEON Learn & Experience Programs
- GLBRC – Great Lakes Bioenergy Research – Classroom Materials
- PhET – interactive simulations for science and math
- NetLogo – multi-agent programmable modeling environment for students, teachers, and researchers
- Tools for Ambitious Science Teaching
- Help Teaching – The Ultimate Guide to Teaching Science
- MathBench – University of Maryland
- NexGen Inquiry – A web-based resource for inquiry-based science instruction
- PlantingScience – Student teams doing real science collaborating online with scientist mentors from around the world
- SnowSchool – Winter Wildlands Alliance – introduces kids to the joy of exploring our nation’s winter wildlands
- DataONE – DataONE is committed to educating the community about data stewardship, including outlining best practices for data management and providing educational materials for use by those that support researchers.
- Concord Consortium – Digital learning for science, math, and engineering
- HHMI Educational Materials
- Van Andel Education Institute
- Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS)
Datasets: Collection of websites that offer freely available online data.
- Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Datasets – Funded by the NSF. Data can be searched through their portal.
- Environmental Data Initiative (EDI) – Contains data and metadata from publicly funded research. Data can be searched through their portal.
- Dryad Digital Repository – data contributed directly from the scientists who collected it.
- Climate Change and Phenology Datasets
- Paleoclimatology datasets from NOAA – Over 10,000 available paleoclimatology datasets derived from natural sources—such as tree rings, ice cores, corals, and ocean and lake sediments. Students can use these datasets to study ancient climates, prior to the widespread availability of instrumental records.
- Lilac flowering phenology: Excel file of long-term trends of flowering time in two species of lilac. Also available here.
- Project BudBurst: Hosted by Chicago Botanic Gardens participants make careful observations of the timing of leafing, flowering, and fruiting phases of plants throughout the year.
- Ice cover duration for Michigan lakes: Collected by Michigan State scientists showing long-term trends of ice cover in Gull and Fair Lakes.
- Nature’s Notebook: A national plant and animal phenology observation program. Students can contribute their phenology data as citizen scientists.
- ebird: A global bird observation program through Cornell University, students can become citizen scientists and enter data on local bird counts
- New Zealand air temperature data (1981-2015)
- Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest Datasets
- Amazon Large Datasets Repository
- USGS Lake Erie Biological Station – Western Basin Trawl Survey
- Data USA – Visualization of US Public Data
- Google Public Data Explorer
Data & Data Visualization Tools: Collection of websites that offer free platforms for data visualization.
- DataClassroom – our partner on Digital Data Nuggets, activities where studies easily explore large datasets and make beautiful graphs, develop their data literacy abilities, do statistics, and more!
- FieldScope by BSCS – interactive online platform that provides citizen scientists with the means to collect and analyze data. Emphasizes spatial citizen science datasets. Allows users to visualize data both spatially and graphically.
- Common Online Data Analysis Platform (CODAP) by Concord Consortium – easy-to-use web-based data analysis platform, geared toward middle and high school students, and aimed at teachers and curriculum developers. Designed to help students summarize, visualize and interpret data, advancing their skills to use data as evidence to support a claim.
- Tuva Labs – online research-based tools and inquiry-based tasks enhance students’ learning and application of essential mathematical, statistical, and probability concepts. Subscription necessary to access materials.
- Harvard Forest Schoolyard LTER Program – A platform developed to easily visualize the data collected by students at the Harvard Forest. The graphing tool can be found here. The data can be downloaded here.
- Serenity – easy-to-use web-based data analysis interface for data analytics in R, built using Shiny.
- Laboratory for the study of exoplanets (ExoLab) – Free, online astronomical laboratory. Based on cutting-edge astronomy research and provides students with data from telescopes. Designed to increase study data literacy, while engaging them in the search for habitable worlds beyond earth.
- NASA Earth Observations (NEO) – Here you can browse and download imagery of satellite data from NASA’s constellation of Earth Observing System satellites. Over 50 different global datasets are represented with daily, weekly, and monthly snapshots, and images are available in a variety of formats including JPEG, PNG, Google Earth, and GeoTIFF.
- Data USA – Visualization of US Public Data
- TerraScope – worldwide environmental and social demographic data in a manipulative digital platform that can drive inquiry investigations (TerraPopulus datasets synthesized from a variety of sources for broad application).
- iDigBio – large set of digitized natural history collections, along with educational resources and ideas for classroom use.
- TinkerPlots – software for dynamic data exploration
- StatKey – collection of web-based statistics apps, written to pair with the statistics textbook “Statistics: Unlocking the power of data” by Lock^5. Has datasets available or you can upload your own.
- Dryad Lab – collection of free, openly-licensed, high-quality, hands-on, educational modules for students to engage in scientific inquiry using real data.
Video Series & Podcasts
- HHMI Video Series – Scientists at Work – Less than 10 minutes in length, each video dives into a scientific problem and how it is being studied.
- Science Forward Video Series – made to support inquiry-based basic science classes
- Lab Out Loud – Podcast for the science classroom and beyond. Discusses science news and education with leading scientists, researchers, science writers and other important figures in the field.
- Stated Clearly Animated Video Series – clear and accurate explanations of genetics and evolution
- Ecomotion Studios – Animated Foundations in Ecology Video Series
- Lab Coats Optional – Video Series
