EDC's Oceans of Data Institute (ODI) has compiled a list of data activities, lessons, and resources for the classroom, sorted by grade level:
PreK | K-16 | Elementary School | Middle School | Middle and High School | High School | High School and Postsecondary | Postsecondary | Teachers' Reference.
This list includes materials developed by ODI and ODI Collaborators, as well as lessons and activities developed by others that look like promising tools.
PreSchool Data Toolbox
ODI RESOURCE
Grades: PreK
Disciplines: Science, Math
NSF-funded
A teacher-facing app plus digital teacher guide (available in the Apple and Android stores or online) that provides lesson plans for a series of data-focused investigations for PreK learners.
10 Sources to Free Big Data Sources
Grades: K-16
Disciplines: Science, Technology, Engineering, Math
10 options for free big data sources for use in your classrooms.
CitizenScience.gov
Grades: K-16
Disciplines: Science
A catolog of hundreds of citizen science projects.
Data Education in Schools' Data Education Resources
Grades: K-12
Disciplines: Art, Language, Math, Science, Social Studies
This collection of free and open source teaching resources and lesson plans were curated by a government-funded initiatve in Scotland. Grade levels are listed by the Scottish equivalent.
Data Nuggets
Grades: K-12
Discipline: Science
NSF-funded
Free classroom activities, co-designed by scientists and teachers. Students practice interpreting quantitative information and making claims based on evidence.
Data Science for Everyone
Grades: K-12
Discipline: Data Science
A collection of resources for educators, students, industry leaders, and anyone interested in expanding their knowledge in data science education.
Entry Points to NASA Data
Grades: 3-12
Disciplines: Science
NASA offers a collection of topical data archives in a variety of science disciplines including astrophysics, biological and physical science, earth science, and more. Introductory resources will be more suitable for younger grades, while Advanced resources may only be suitable for older students and those interested in digging deeper.
My NASA Data
Grades: 3-12
Disciplines: Earth Science
My NASA Data offers global Earth science data collected from satellites and provides mini lessons, interactives, and lesson plans to support students and teachers, grades 3-12, in analyzing and interpreting this data.
NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program: Other Education & Public Outreach Programs Using Real Data
Grades: K-16
Discipline: Astronomy
The NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program has compiled a list of astronomy programs that use real data, in addition to listing public-web-access robotic telescope options, citizen science programs, research opportunities for students, and more.
National Geographic
Grades: K-16
Disciplines: Earth Science , Geography, Biology, Mathematics , Social Studies , Engineering , Physics , Anthropology
National Geographic-Funded
Explore three lessons and 131 activities that work with data available through the National Geographic Education resource library.
NOAA Data Resources for Educators
Grades: K-16
Disciplines: Earth Science , Geography, Biology, Climate, Oceanography, Life Science
NOAA offers classroom-ready data resources, climate data resources, historical data resources, ocean and freshwater data resources, real-time data resources, weather and atmosphere data resources, and tutorials.
The GLOBE Program
Grades: K-16
Disciplines: Earth & Environmental Science
NASA-Funded
In addition to a large database of environmental data (more than a quarter billion data measurements!), The GLOBE Program offers training and protocols for educators, a citizen scientist app, and many other educational resources.
Using Data in the Classroom
Grades: K-16
Disciplines: Science, Math, Geography, Physics
NSF-Funded
Extensive set of resources for educators and resource developers interested in effective teaching methods and pedagogical approaches for using data in the classroom.
Streams of Data Lesson Plans & Supporting Materials
ODI RESOURCE
Grade: 4
Discipline: Science
NSF-funded
Free lesson plans for a five-day sequence about rivers and flooding. The goal of these lessons is to support development of analytical thinking skills around authentic science data.
TERC Inquiry Project
Grades: 3-5
Discipline: Science
NSF funded
Using this curriculum, students use measurement, mathematical and graphical representations, and discussion to build scientific explanations about objects and materials in the world around them. In particular, the investigations on Volume, Heavy for Size, and Two Scales, have children working with data.
Real Word, Real Science Curriculum Modules
ODI COLLABORATION
Grades: 5-6
Discipine: Science
NASA funded
Use authentic NASA and NOAA data to study the effects of the Earth's chaning climate on the animals and plants of Maine's diverse habitats.
DataClubs
Grades: 6-8
Discipline: Science, Other
Three modules on Teens and Time, Ticks and Lyme Disease, and Injuries On and Off the Field (coming soon). Each module includes approximately 10 hours of activities, PDFs of printable content, and a list of materials needed. There are also links to several curated datasets in CODAP, a free, web-based data analysis tool.
CODAP (The Common Online Data Analysis Platform)
ODI COLLABORATION
Grades: 6-12
Discipline: Multiple
NSF-funded
An online, open-source data analysis platform that can be used in conjunction with a variety of data types and curricula. CODAP is geared toward middle and high school students. It can help students visualize and interpret data, and make evidence-based claims from the data.
DataClassroom
Grades: 6-12
Disciplines: Current Events, Math, Science
DataClassroom offers access to 75+ curated datasets, animated hypothesis tests, plus graphs and visuals for a variety of topics (free plan). Other options are available through paid plans.
Discover Data
Grades: 6-12
Disciplines: ELA, Math, Science
Discover Data offers a variety of resources for middle and high school students and teachers, including student interactive, classroom activities, video career profiles, career resource guides and educator webinars.
Gapminder
Grades: 6-12
Disciplines: Geography, Social Science
A UK data visualization tool for middle to high school geography and social science courses with lessons and resources available for teachers wanting to use Gapminder in their classrooms.
High-Adventure Science
Grades: 6-12
Discipline: Science
NSF-funded
Six free Earth and space science modules for middle and high school students to explore and engage in real-world data on unanswered science problems.
Maine Data Literacy Project
Grades: 6-12
Disciplines: Science, Math, Statistics
This project provides 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.
YouCubed Data Science Lessons
Grades: 6-10
Discipline: Data Science
Lessons that introduce students (and teachers) to data science, as well as additional data literacy resources.
Biointeractive
Grades: 9-12
Discipline: Science
Hundreds of free science education multimedia resources. Includes apps, animations, videos, interactives, and virtual lab.
EDC Earth Science
ODI RESOURCE
Grades: 9-12
Discipline: Science
NSF-funded
A full-year high school earth science course fully aligned to A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas (NRC, 2012), EDC Earth Science is designed around the belief that students are capable of rigorous and in-depth explorations in science when given adequate support, structure, and motivation for learning. Students perform data-intensive investigations set in real-world contexts and engage in a variety of activities that build critical data-using skills.
Sample data activities include:
Looking at Climate Data,
Patterns in Surface Currents,
The Peru Current, and
Water Running Dry.
Fathom
Grades: 9-12
Discipline(s): Math, Statistics
Fathom is a software for teaching data analysis and statistics. Teacher resources for Statistics, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Precalculus, and Calculus, as well as a collection of data-driven physics labs is provided.
Introduction to Data Science Curriculum
Grades: 9-12
Discipline: Computer Science, Data Science, Math, Statistics
NSF-funded
This high school data science curriculum fuses computer science, math, and statistics.
Model My Watershed
Grades: 9-12
Discipline: Science
NSF-funded
This watershed-modeling app is a tool to analyze real land use and soil data in your own neighborhood and watershed, model runoff and water-quality impacts, and compare how different scenarios could modify the watershed.
Other Worlds/Other Earths Curriculum Activities
ODI COLLABORATION
Grades: 9-12
Disciplines: Science, Astronomy
NSF-funded
EDC worked with the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics to create an engaging set of curriculum activities that involve students in using data encoded in the light from distant stars to search for exoplanets and possible life beyond Earth. In addition, EDC also helped the Center for Astrophysics with develop, pilot, and field test a Web interface that allows students to detect exoplanets using online telescopes and Web-based data analytical tools. Learn more.
Science Education Solutions
Grades: 9-12
Discipline: Science
This is a high school Earth Science curriculum that integrates Geo Information Systems (GIS) software and data to engage students in authentic, real-world data.
Stats4Stem.org
Grades: 9-12
Discipline: Statistics
NSF-funded
This is a collection of learning, assessment, tutoring, data, and computing resources for statistics educators and their students.
Zoom In! Science
ODI RESOURCE
Grades: 9-12
Discipline: Biology, Earth Science
NSF-funded
Students use data to investigate problems in biology and Earth Science in these 6 on-line lessons.
Artificial Intelligence Methods in Data Science
EDC RESOURCE
Grades: 9-12, Post-Secondary
Discipline: Computer Science, Data Science
NSF-funded
These open source AI modules were developed through the NSF funded Science+C project. These modules were developed for high school students but can be easily adapted for community college students and may offer a starting point for those of you searching for AI coursework.
DryadLab Activities
Grades: 9-12, Post-Secondary
Discipline: Not specific
These activities are a project of the Dryad Digital Repository, which makes a wide variety of research data underlying scientific and medical publications discoverable, freely reusable, and citable.
DataBasic.io
Grades: 9-12, Post-Secondary
Discipline: Not specific
Provides 3 tools—Word Counter, WTFcsv, and SameDiff—as well as sample activities to introduce students to the skills needed to analyze large datasets.
Ocean Tracks
ODI RESOURCE
Grades: 9-16
Discipline: Science
NSF-funded
These modules were developed to engage undergraduate students with authentic scientific data through investigations that mirror those currently being conducted by scientists studying the broad-scale effects of climate and human activities on top predators in ocean ecosystems. Using the Ocean Tracks interactive map and data analysis tools, students will explore and quantify patterns in the migratory tracks of marine animals in the northern Pacific Ocean and relate these behaviors to fluctuations and trends in physical oceanographic variables.
Modules include:
StatPrep
Grades: Post-Secondary
Discipline: Statistics
NSF-funded
StatPrep offers resources for use in your classes to teach data from a data centric point of view.
Teaching with Data
Grades: Post-Secondary
Discipline: Science
NSF-funded
This is a collection of social science resources from both free and subscription-based sources.
Amplifying Statistics and Data Science
Discipline: Data Science, Math, Statistics
Amplifying Statistics and Data Science in Classrooms is organized into two modules, each with 5 units. You can earn a 20 hour certificate of completion for each module (40 hrs for both). In both modules, there are opportunities to hear from experts, learn with colleagues to gain different perspectives on teaching and learning statistics and data science, and to build a library of resources to support your teaching.
Resource Collection: Data Science Textbooks, Tools, and Certifications
ODI RESOURCE
Discipline: Data Science
This collection of resources was generated by Data Pathways Community of Practice members—faculty and administrators from 2-and 4-year institutions building data programs.
Resources to Teach and Learn Data in High School
Discipline: Data Science
This website offers tools and lesson plans to teach data science.
Thinking Big
ODI RESOURCE
Discipline: Science
Thinking Big, featured in the Summer 2015 issue of NSTA's The Science Teacher, explores curricular strategies for transitioning students to working with large, complex data sets.
Visualizing Oceans of Data: Educational Interface Design
ODI RESOURCE
NSF-funded
This reports presents more than 70 cross-cutting and specific guidelines for interface and data visualization tool development and discusses key considerations (principles, research, and theory) that inform these guidelines. Through specific examples, the report explains how to avoid visualization pitfalls and make scientific databases more broadly accessible to meet the needs of diverse learners. A follow up report, Visualizing Oceans of Data: Ocean– A Case Study discusses the design and development of the Ocean Tracks interface, and reflects on the design guidelines in light of students' and teachers' experiences with the interface.
Know of other great data literacy resources for educators? Email us at oceansofdata@edc.org.
