Page 12 - THE MATHMATE November 2024

discourse. Invite your students to discuss what
they see in the world around them through the Data Website
lens of statistics. They can learn to use statistical Sources
tools in discerning fact from fiction in facing
society’s challenges. The following activities allow US
students to explore measures of central tendency
in fun and engaging ways. They will explore Government’s https://data.gov/
different data sets throughout the activities. Open Data
Students will collaborate in creating data sets and (access to
analyzing the data. Multiple websites related to over 290,000
measures of center and probability/statistics are databases)
included as inspiration for locating and using data
sets. The first activity is multi-disciplinary with United States https://data.census.gov/
sports connections in creating an athlete player Census
card (baseball card format) and writing a letter to Bureau
a coach. The second activity uses personalized
data examining measures of center from the
students’ birthdays in a class. The third activity United States
has students generating data sets using number Center for
cubes and making comparisons. Disease https://www.cdc.gov/datastatisti
Control and cs/index.html
Students Researching Data Prevention
What are your students interested in? Inquiry
problems based on students’ interests may entice
them to engage more enthusiastically. An Worldmeter https://www.worldometers.info/
interdisciplinary approach can lead to powerful
connections in languages, social studies,
sciences, and the arts. What real-life applications Sports https://sports-statistics.com/
could students discover if they were encouraged Statistics
to select their own topic for statistical
examination? What societal challenges might they
attempt to find solutions for through deeper Students Using Sports Statistics to Design
examination of data? Given the prerogative to Player Cards
explore their own curiosities, for example, Description:
students might investigate the average number of What do sports and statistics have in common?
Tik Tok videos students create on a daily basis Data, of course. The activity below engages
and the typical length. A plethora of data sources students in utilizing data from the world of baseball
are available online. Sites such as the Census to create a “Player Card” in a traditional baseball
Bureau, the Center for Disease Control and card format and writing a letter of support for the
Prevention, Worldometer, U.S. Economic athlete’s selection for a team. Students may use
Research Service, and Sports Statistics provide data provided or research an athlete.
readily accessible, up-to-date real-world data.
This activity has interdisciplinary connections
incorporating Physical Education, Art, English,

Scctm The MathMate 12 Volume 44/Number 1 October 2024