Teaching Data Analysis: Excel and Web Based tools

Dr. Sebastian Interlandi

Penn Wood High School

Lansdowne, PA

The Teaching of Data Analysis

• For science teachers data analysis usually means interpreting student collected lab data

• Web-published data sets afford a second exciting opportunity for teaching analysis methods

Importance of teaching analysis

• PA Science standards are overwhelmingly based on being able to reason relationships from patterns in nature

• Applying the scientific method almost always requires the application of analytical thinking to interpret the results of hypothesis testing

Our demonstrations• We will model one

method by deconstructing student lab data and using graphical analysis with MS Excel to interpret the results

• We will model analysis of web based data by searching, downloading, formatting, manipulating and analyzing data with MS Excel

Lab data analysis

• Steps in the process– Collect data– Modify data– Graph data– Analyze statistics– Interpret data– Report results

• Our data– Collected for

centripetal motion lab

– F = mv2/r– 3 graphs

• F vs. v2

• v2 vs r• m vs v2

Web data analysis

• Steps in the process– Search for data– Locate data– Collect data– Format data– Modify data– Graph data– Statistical analysis– Data interpretation– Report results

• Data sources– NADP

• Precipitation chemistry

– WRCC• Snow pack and

temperature data

– USGS• Stream Flow data