Sample Data Analysis Boom! Quiz Quiz Trade Questions: How many data points do you have to address our question? Do you think it is enough? Why or why not? In how many different places was the data collected? Do you think it is enough? Why or why not? Was there a lot of variability in the data? Describe the variability. Do you see any interesting data points that you have questions about? What questions come up looking at this data? What outliers do you see? Describe the shape of the graph that you see. What clusters or clumps of data do you notice? Where is the data spread out? How could you organize this data further to get more information? What information does this graph show? What information can’t you see in this graph? What could you add to this graph that would give more meaning to the data? What is the most common value in the data (mode)? What does the mode tell you about the data? What doesn’t it tell you? What questions do you still have looking at your data? Find the average value in the data (mean). What is the middle value in the data (median)? What does the median tell you about the data? What doesn’t it tell you? What is the range in the data? What does the range tell you about the data? What doesn’t it tell you? What do you see in the data that will be helpful in answering your research question? What about the data is confusing or unclear?
Methods Practice 3: Planning and Conducting Investigations Describe an investigation that addresses my research question. Describe the data used to address my research question, the materials needed, and a procedure that is clear and detailed enough to be replicated. Describe how to record the data, including specific measurements and observations to be collected. Describe the thinking that went into gathering reliable data, including collecting data from multiple sites or multiple times, controlling variables, or random sampling. Results Practice 4: Analyzing and Interpreting Data Record the data that I collected following the procedure described in the methods section. Create visual representation that makes my data understandable, like a graph, table, or other figure that is scaled, labeled, and accurate. Choose an appropriate graph, table, or figure that organizes the results in a way that helps address the research question. I can explain the information in that graph, table, or figure. Identify aspects of the data that help to understand the data, which could include the range, mean, median, mode, the spread of the data, any interesting points or groups of data, or outliers in the data. Level 1 (Beginning) Level 2 (Developing) Level 3 (Meets) Level 4 (Exceeds) I can… I can do all of level 1 and… I can do all of level 2 and… I can do all of level 3 and… Discussion and Conclusions Practice 7: Engaging in Argument from Evidence Use the information that I gathered to make a clear claim about my research question. Support my claim with evidence from the data and explain why I think the data supports my claim. I can connect my findings to the background research that I conducted and explain the significance of my claim. Explain how confident I am in my claim, considering factors that that might have impacted my data, possible sources or error, natural variability in the data, and/or the amount of data collected. Explain how I ruled out other possible claims. I can pose additional questions for future study to help me investigate further. Introduction, Conclusions, and Discussion Practice 8: Obtaining, Gather background information on my topic. Locate reliable information from multiple sources that connects to my research question and cite my sources accurately. Use my research explain how my question builds on or contributes to existing scientific knowledge and to Explain the importance of my research to me, my local community, or to the larger scientific community.
The mean biodiversity for areas where Japanese Knotweed was found was 6.3 The first day that we collected data it was raining. The next day, it was sunny. The most common biodiversity that we found was 8. The mean biodiversity for areas where Japanese knotweed was not found was 6.9. Three of the areas that we sampled had Japanese knotweed. Three of the areas had no Japanese knotweed. Giant knotweed is similar to Japanese knotweed but has much larger, heart-shaped leaves. One of the areas that we sampled had a biodiversity count of 0 because it was in a parking lot and nothing was growing there. The range of the data was biodiversity of 0 to biodiversity of 12. Japanese knotweed has hollow stems with swollen joints and looks like bamboo. Japanese knotweed has a very strong root system and grows rapidly. Japanese knotweed grows in dense thickets that can block out light. Three people commented on the observation of Japanese knotweed that we posted on Vital Signs relevant evidence (evidence that helps answer the question) irrelevant evidence (evidence that does NOT help to answer the question) Question: Does the presence of Japanese knotweed impact biodiversity in my area? Alternative evidence cards: In 1995, tan M&Ms were replaced by blue M&Ms In a blind taste test, the mode was 3/5 correct identifications of the colors the M&Ms. The colors in bag of regular M&Ms are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and brown. In a blind taste test, the average person correctly identified the colors of 2/5 M$Ms. We conducted our blind taste test with 10 different people. Each person tasted 5 M&Ms. When we observed the bags of regular M&Ms, brown was the most common color. There was a large range of the results of the blind taste test. Some people correctly identified 0/5 M&M colors. Some people got 5/5 correct. The different colors of M&Ms are created by artificial dyes. Otherwise the ingredients are the same. On average, each M&M weighed .9 grams. relevant evidence (evidence that helps answer the question) irrelevant evidence (evidence that does NOT help to answer the question) Question: Does the color of an M&M affect how it tastes?
Appendix M: How to Submit How to Submit an Article to Maine’s Middle School Journal of Scientific Research- Teacher Instructions My students have completed their articles! What do I do next? Step 1: In class student review Have students review their own work using the Stars and Stairs rubrics. Note: In order to make sure students meet the requirements for submission, it is recommended that students see these forms at the start of their project. Step 2: Teacher review Use the teacher rubric to score each article (note that the teacher rubric matches the Stars and Stairs forms). If a student scores a 15 or higher, it may be recommended for submission. To recommend an article for submission, you will have the student add the code TRR (teacher reviewed and recommended) at the end of the title when posting to the Vital Signs project bank. Step 3: Peer review Peer review is a required part of submitting to the student journal. First, students will post their own work to the Vital Signs project bank. ALL students who wrote articles may post them, not just teacher recommendations. All articles posted should be labelled with “JOURNAL” at the beginning of the title and teacher recommended articles need to include the code TRR after the title. See the student handout for step-by-step instructions for posting. Once articles are posted, the editorial board will contact you with a list of articles from a different class that need peer review. Divide these articles among your students. Give students the Peer review feedback form and have them use the Stars and Stairs rubric to determine whether the article may be recommended for submission. Students will post their decision (recommended or not) along with comments from the feedback form in the comments section of the post. Please plan to complete peer review within two weeks of receiving your list of articles. Step 4: Editorial board review Any article that has been recommended by a teacher (indicated by TRR) in the title AND recommended by a student (indicated in the comment section beneath the posting) will go to the editorial board for review. The editorial board will use the same rubric used by the teacher to score the articles. Top scoring pieces will be included in Volume 1 of Maine’s first Student Journal of scientific research. Teachers will be notified by the editorial board in the early spring. Timeline for Volume 1: Submit articles for peer review: September through March 2017 Conduct peer review: within two weeks of receiving articles Announcement of accepted articles: March/April 2018 Publication of volume 1: May/June 2018