Data and information
Unit Data and information
Year level: 5-6 Topic: Digital Systems Time: 6 hours
Acquiring data from online sources draws on, and develops, students’ digital literacy skills. Digital literacy skills include navigation skills and information management; synthesis and critical assessment; and the ethical and legal use of information. Spreadsheets are useful tools that enable us to manage, analyse and visualise data such as a chart or graph. Data validation is a key skill of using simple formulas to automate calculations. In this sequence, the students’ inquiry on a chosen context leads to them to design and create digital information that incorporates a data visualisation such as an infographic.
Flow of Activities
Collecting data
Draw on digital literacy skills to collect, manage and analyse data.Devices to collect data
Examine how peripheral devices can be used to collect data.Organising and analysing data
Students use a spreadsheet to organise and analyse data that they have collected.Create an infographic
Design and create information in the format of an infographic.Activity Collecting data
How can I source data to answer a question or solve a problem?
Australian Curriculum Alignment
- Collecting, managing and analysing data (ACTDIP016)
What's this about?
Navigation skills and information management are important digital literacy skills. Evidence of these skills are demonstrated when students efficiently locate up-to-date, relevant and accessible sources and then organise sources for efficient retrieval.
Synthesis and critical assessment are also relevant skills. Students can demonstrate them by selecting appropriate resources from a list of competing resources, identifying credible resources and in particular how data is used (is it used accurately?). Incorporate the ethical and legal use of information.
Learning tasks
- Choose a relevant context to collect data to answer a question or help solve a problem. After defining the problem and identifying data requirements, students acquire data from online sources by narrowing the focus; for example, filtering data using provided options or performing queries using advanced search functions.
- Access and sort data from a database. Provide a relevant class context such as learning about convicts and, more specifically, stories of the First Fleet. Learn to navigate the convict database. Another relevant example might be an online database to research Australian reptiles. Alternatively, search online for relevant databases suited to your classroom context.
- Collect data via a survey using Google Forms, Survey Monkey or similar tool, or by interviewing and recording the data using relevant tools.
Supporting Resources


Lesson Ideas



Assessment
Manage the creation and communication of ideas and information in collaborative digital projects using validated data and agreed protocols.
Suggested approaches may include
- Research plan
- Checklist (digital literacy skills)
Activity Devices to collect data
What peripheral devices can be used to collect data?
Australian Curriculum Alignment
What's this about?
Data can be collected using peripheral devices; for example, by using a data logger and data probe to collect data about changing soil temperatures for plants. The data can be recorded, interpreted and presented as a digital graph.
Electronic kits such as LittleBits and microcontrollers such as BBC Micro:bit and Arduino have sensors that can be used to collect/display data.
Learning tasks
- Explore the use of data logging equipment and various probes, electronic kits or microcontrollers to gather data.
- Explore data collection using a wrist-worn wearable device that has some kind of fitness tracking (eg a FitBit type human activity sensor and data logger).
- As part of a ‘smart garden’ project, students collect data about the growing conditions of their garden and use this data to maintain plant health and create information products.
Supporting Resources



Assessment
Manage the creation and communication of ideas and information in collaborative digital projects using validated data and agreed protocols.
Suggested approaches may include
- Presentation or demonstration
- Artefact analysis
- Labelling diagram
Activity Organising and analysing data
What software help to organise and analyse data?
Australian Curriculum Alignment
- Collecting, managing and analysing data (ACTDIP016)
What's this about?
Spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel and iOS Numbers enables users to do numeric calculations and analysis. The formulas enable automation and allow the user to develop complex calculations that can change based on the numbers entered. The user can also create charts based on the data entered.
Learning tasks
- Provide guidance and support for students to use a spreadsheet to organise and analyse data that they have collected. Useful skills to develop include:
- using data validation to restrict the type of data or the valuesthat users enter into a cell
- formatting cells to a particular format such as date, currency or numerical entry
- using autosum to automatically sum a row or column of data
- creating charts based on the data entered
- creating formulas to automate calculations.
- Set up a skills matrix identifying students who are skilled in a particular aspect of using a spreadsheet. Encourage students to share their skills and knowledge.
Supporting Resources




Assessment
Manage the creation and communication of ideas and information in collaborative digital projects using validated data and agreed protocols.
Suggested approaches may include
- Artefact analysis
Activity Create an infographic
How can we visualise data to create information?
Australian Curriculum Alignment
- Investigating and defining (ACTDIP017)
What's this about?
Data visualisation involves using tools to present data in a visual context. Visualising data enables us to more easily see patterns, trends and correlations.
Data visualisation tools such as spreadsheets enable us to present data as charts and graphs. Other tools provide more sophisticated ways to visualise data such as infographics, geographic maps and heat maps that use colour to communicate relationships between data values.
Learning tasks
- Students design and create information in the format of an infographic. The infographic incorporates data students have acquired and analysed.
Supporting Resources




Assessment
Manage the creation and communication of ideas and information in collaborative digital projects using validated data and agreed protocols.
Suggested approaches may include
- Presentation or demonstration
- Artefact analysis
- Design plan