I’m fascinated by the representation of data using infographics. I like their bold visual approach and how the style and composition signals the content it is communicating.
Chris Harmon a designer and animator from the Greater New York City area created this beautiful and thought provoking animation called Oil’d. It explores how dependent we are to oil and how much was lost into the ocean from the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.
Just from the presentation of information about the oil spill we could go in many different directions with our classes.
Exploring he sources of information used
Verifying the accuracy of the data included in the film
However if we unpick the animation layer by layer we get a much better idea of the great skill with which Chris used to complete it. Wouldn’t it be great to have Chris in front of a class of students explaining how he went about creating the animation, the stages of planning and execution.
For me there are many elements and skills that would on their own make excellent projects for children to explore and be engaged in:
Data
The maths involved in comparing and cross referencing the data, and what so many good infographic do the data-metaphor, juxtaposing information against something we find easy to refer to. For example the number of plastic bottles inside the Empire State Building, which we know is big!
Authentic information and research
Finding accurate information and data would be another important skill that would challenge a student to create something equally authentic and meaningful. We have the tools with which to find huge amounts of information and data but we need to know how to filter it. I don’t think teaching children how to search is enough, that is the first step, it is how we then process that information that needs time to be demonstrated and improved.
Persuasion
With my literacy hat on this animation pushes us to consider the impact of oil on our lives and has a strong persuasive message. The art of persuasive writing and in this case the careful scripting would be great to develop in this sort of medium, perhaps about a local issue.
Animation
The artwork and animation are obviously professional, but there is much to explore about the use of colour to convey meaning and an overall message. The colour schemes remind me of the Breathing Earth which also depicts an environmental message. It would be good for children to explore symbols and how we might convey a message in a visual way – a comparison type task would fit well here.
I think this animation is a great example of the sort of cross-curricular, multi-skill outcome that should be challenging our pupils in our schools. Making an animated infographic film about a local issue would cover so much. Furthermore if you had the opportunity to involve expertise, like Chris Harmon’s, it would provide that spark that would spur such a project onwards even further.
The snow in the UK has really kicked in this week and many, many schools are closed – I thought we could take the opportunity to create some learning resources related to the conditions.
I discovered this list of snow depths but then thought perhaps we could simply crowd-source some accurate data from colleagues across the UK adding their own personal measurements. Collaborating on a map would also provide us the location too.
Here is the map so far – use the link below the map to add your own measurements.
I expect there are a great many different ways we could use this data (and this snowy experience) when we get back to classes. Here are a few thoughts of mine:
Create simple graphs and chart to represent the data. Answer questions to interpret the information.
Develop your own map for the snow depth on your school site, taking measurements in different locations. Explore the conditions that might have brought about the highest depth.
Gather information from other countries in Europe that have been effected.
Make comparisons to countries that have a constant or more regular snowfall.
Cross reference the snow depths to the temperatures – repeat for other countries.
Design a snow depth instrument.
Learn about the depth of snow during expeditions to Everest or the Poles.
Read historic accounts of expeditions and references to snow depth.
Learn about different types of snow and how it changes under different temperatures and conditions.
Explore freezing and melting.
Look at insulation and conduct an investigation about keeping something cold or hot.
What ideas do you have for back-to-school-after-the-snow days – leave a comment with your thoughts.
One of the nice features of the Create-a-Graph site from the NCES is the ability to email the completed chart. In the past I have used this when working with Google Apps for Edu – the children handed their work in to me by sending it to my school email. We had my inbox open on the board so the children could see their submissions.
We have been using Posterous as our class blog platform since September. It is a fantastic site for school or class blogging due to it’s simplicity. I made the link with Create-a-Graph because Posterous is built around being able to email content to a specific address which will then post to the blog.
In a nutshell I have worked out a way for my children to post their charts and graphs from Create-a-Graph directly to the class blog.
Here is how to do it.
**Requirements – the following instructions are only for a Posterous blog, but the idea will work if you have a Blogger site. You can find the email you need in your Blogger “Settings” under “Email & Mobile”. If you have a post via email option for your blogging platform in theory this should also work**
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1. Send a graph from Create-a-Graph to your own email. Now locate the sender’s email address – it should be something like kidszone@ed.gov
2. By default a Posterous blog only allows agreed contributors to post – you need to make kidszone@ed.gov a contributor to your blog, basically saying content from that source is OK.
3. Go to the Settings of your Posterous account and click on Contributors, add a new contributor and paste the email address we have for Create-a-Graph: kidszone@ed.gov
4. Now you are ready to post from Create-a-Graph (worth testing this before the kids get a go) – the email you need is the one for contributors as the additional email you have added is not recognised as the primary one for the site. The email address you will need will be at the bottom of the Contributors page (see screenshot above)
5. Add this email into the Create-a-Graph “email this graph” box (leave it as html) and hit send.
6. Your graph should be posted – the nice thing about Posterous is that it will automatically resize the image to suit your blog, which saves a lot of fiddling around with multiple posts. Here is an example blog post we did this week from someone in my class, we were looking at the climate of Australia.
That is pretty much the top and bottom of it – for Blogger just use your unique email address in step 5. Over the period of time we have done this I have a few tips to share:
Expect to have multiple posts, children click send numerous times as they are unsure it has been done – it takes a bit of tidying up. (I also take a few moments to add the children’s names as tags to the posts so that I am collating work on the class blog)
Ask the children to add their name to the Graph Title in Create-a-Graph – this is under Data. The graph title will appear as the blog post title and will now include the child’s name for you to see who owns it easily.
If you display the blog refreshing on the board you can check work quickly and children can have the reassurance their work has been submitted.
Once submitted the children can still edit their graphs – if you see something you need them to change, delete the post and ask them to correct it and resend.
I hope you find that an interesting tip to perhaps try – good luck with it and let me know how you get on.
Google Forms is an excellent tool for the classroom, and this collection of Google Forms Templates from 2008 has always proven popular. I hope you continue to be inspired by the ideas here.
I have created example forms for each of the different topics, follow the links in each of the ten sections.
1 ) Get to know your class with this Google Forms Template
Use this form to gather some indication from your new class about their likes and dislikes, their favourite lessons or after school clubs they enjoy. It will help you to build your relationships with children as you quickly learn more about them. Get your copy.
2 ) Emotion graph
An emotion graph is a simple line graph comparing a range of happiness to sadness against different points (time) in a story or film. Graphing the emotional ups and down within a story helps children visualise the whole story differently.
Use a Google Form to gather the children’s responses to different parts of any linear narrative, written or visual. We used it here in a film narrative literacy unit. You can read a more detailed explanation of how to generate the line graph from the form here. Get your copy.
3 ) Spelling test
For your weekly spelling test, use a simple 1-10 or 1-20 numbered Google Forms Templates (with a name question too, of course) and ask the children to type in their answers as you read out the list of words. Once these are submitted, apply a formula to judge if they are correct or not, and it becomes self-marking.
Steve Kirkpatrick had this brainwave a while back, so check out his excellent post for more information about setting up the spreadsheet. Danny also added in his comment that using the font Wingdings for smiley faces is an excellent idea, although this font is not available in Google Spreadsheets. Get your copy.
4 ) Comprehension questions
I spent quite a bit of time exploring reading comprehension resources for a class set of laptops. We could create a Google Form to collate the children’s comprehension answers in one place for any given text. You could also share the answers with the class to review what their peers are doing.
This could be a formalised assessment of their understanding of a text or something more informal to start class discussions. Again Steve has grabbed this idea by the horns and tried it with his kids – well worth a look, especially at his thoughtful comments and lessons learned. Get your copy.
5 ) Weekly reading record
The children in our school have a reading diary to record information about times that they read during the week. They take it home as well as using it at school. A form could be created by the children as a place to enter data about their reading.
I hear “I haven’t got my reading diary” so many times during the year; this way, they have no excuses and can access it from any computer. Alternatively, you could also set up a class form to gather together everyone’s records. Get your copy.
6 ) Maths data handling
Perhaps the easiest to pick up and run with, the idea of using a form to gather together maths data handling information. The form could be a simple way of collecting information about the class – shoe size, eye colour etc.
It is obviously about what you do with the data that counts. Still, there is no reason why children couldn’t design and implement their forms – with the attached spreadsheet for analysis – as part of independent data investigations. Get your copy.
7 ) Guided reading record
As part of the old literacy hour in England, we participate in small, focused group reading sessions. They have guided sessions usually 15-20 minutes long, and we talk and work on a piece of text that is relevant to the work going on in that unit.
Sometimes small written tasks are completed, or it may just be a speaking and listening activity. It is widely practised in English primary schools, and this form could act as a class record for those sessions. Get your copy.
8 ) Google Forms Templates to check for prior learning
Use a form to assess what the children already know about any given topic that you are beginning. The form could be a formalised assessment with specific questions about the subject, or it could be more general and open for the children to explain what they know.
Either way, such an assessment would allow you to understand better the current level of knowledge the children have about a topic. Students could return this same form at the end of the unit of work to help review what they have learned. Get your copy.
9 ) Library book review
We have a little corner of our classroom dedicated to our library. There is a broad range of fiction and non-fiction books for the children to enjoy whenever they want.
This form could be a simple way of collecting children’s thoughts about what they read. The children in the class could use it as a reference to help them choose a book to read—a simple and easy way to collate book reviews. Get your copy.
10 ) Learning success
This is one of the ten ideas I would most like to explore this year as we continue to use Google Docs as part of our tech toolbox. Use a form to assess the relative success of learning during a single lesson or after a topic. Invite the children to evaluate their confidence after practising a lesson on one of the written multiplication methods.
The form would collate the views of all of the class very quickly and allow you to make a quick judgment in terms of pupil feedback about whether to consolidate what has taken place, start afresh, or move on. We make our learning targets for the lesson so clear these days, along with work scrutiny, dialogue with the students; a generic student response form would allow you to judge the lesson’s success further.
This is very much dependant on the quick and easy availability of a computer in the classroom – this, after all, should be a small 2-minute task as part of a plenary. If the lesson involves using the computers, then that is easier – but if it does not, perhaps a handful is scattered at the side of the room for students to go to at the end of the task or as directed.
Of course, the students completing such a form as if it were second nature to them would be what you aim for – so the laptop, form and technology disappear, and you are left with a lucid evaluation from your students. Get your copy.
I hope that you have found Google Forms Templates to inspire you here, or perhaps you can use these straight away. If you have not had time to explore Google Forms, it is most definitely worth a look; if you have time, drop me a note saying how you got on with your ideas.
FREE Infographic of the Google Forms Templates – great for sharing with you team!
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