4th Data Collection & Graphing with Google Docs
Today 4th graders at Laburnum collected data from their classmates and graphed it using Google Docs. First we decided what we wanted to know about our classmates. We wanted it to be useful and authentic. So for example, one student noticed that his friends were sleepy, so he wanted to find out what time they go to bed. Another student wanted to know what problem her friends struggled most with at school. Others wanted to plan the next team game for recess or find out what treats the teacher should bring in for an upcoming class reward. Once we chose our question, I showed them how to create a form in Google Docs. I also showed them how they could change the theme to make it relate to their topic. Next students traveled around the room filling out each others’ forms. So everyone had plenty of data. I showed them how to look at all their data in the Google spreadsheet and how to sort it in a variety of ways. We sorted it by the question answer so they would be grouped together for easy counting. They counted the different answers and graphed them for the last step. You can take a look at some sample forms with the accompanying data/graphs below:
Stephany – What’s Your Favorite Candy? (data & graph)
Sedbreion – What Time Do You Go To Bed? (data & graph)
Precious – What Are You Having Trouble In School? (data & graph)