Math, Infographics, and Graphs

 Most standards are already out of date by the time they are printed.  In fact, we have new ways of communicating information that are not taken into account by standards.  I love reading infographics because they condense information into easy to understand graphical representation.

The great thing is that infographics can be used to teach math while showing real world statistics.  Furthermore, infographics provide students with immediate understanding of certain topics.

One way to use infographics are to have students start with a graph.  It might be a graph on last 50 years and what happens with poverty rates, football statistics for the NFL, divorce rates, or the number of people traveling over Thanksgiving.  Once they have the graph, they might look into what causes the rate to go down or up.  This requires a bit of research possibly  but once the student has determined the reasons for a fall or increase, they are ready to create the infographic that will provide a story to accompany the graph.

Another way is to find two different graphs that are marked in the same unit and graph them on the same coordinate plane.  Once this is done, the student can compare and contrast the two graphs before looking for positive correlation, negative correlation, or there might be no correlation.  It is important to remind students that correlation does not necessarily imply causation.  This site puts two totally different graphs together to show correlation but also takes time to discuss how correlation can imply causation.

Or you could have students investigate how the interval and scale change the way we look at the graph.  For instance, a graph showing unemployment might change the time scale to every month instead of every six months to see how it changes the overall graph.  Another way to look at that same graph is to change the y axis so its every five instead of every one running only from 55 to 60 percent.

What about taking the cost of attending colleges from colleges the students are interested in and creating their own graphs comparing tuition, fees, etc to see how much they would owe after 4 years. The next step would be to present this same information in an infographic.  I know some colleges do not charge Native American students tuition while others do.

Another possible thing would be to have students look at the historical trend of something such as the Alaskan Permanent Fund Dividend and comparing it with the price of oil to see if there is a relationship.  Take this a step further by predicting what might happen to the check over the next few years based on what they conclude has happened so far.

Let students choose a topic, research it before creating a graph on that topic before creating an infographic to accompany it.  It might be something such as the cost of cars over the past years, or the  drop in value from new to 10 years old for a variety of models to see which has a history of the best resale.

There are so many possible topics.  One place to find wonderful graphs to use in some of these exercises is at the New York Times complete with ideas, graphs, and lesson plans.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.

Infographics?

Yesterday and this past Friday, I suggested students create infographics on the sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Aside from the fact that infographics are becoming more and more popular, one may wonder why we should teach this skill in math classes.

By definition, an infographic is a quick way of presenting information, graphs, or data in a visual way that makes it easy for the brain to see patterns. 

Furthermore, a well designed inforgraphic makes it easier to communicate data to others.  In addition, infographics can be used to introduce new topics, spark discussions, or provide a starting point for more in depth research.

In a sense, creating an infographic is like writing a paper.  The author has specific information they wish to convey to others.  They need to choose the right visualizations or images,  good color combinations with proper spacing and boarders to attract the eyes and make it easy to read.

There are three main parts of the infographic.  First is the visual made up of color coding, graphics and reference icons.  The second is the content with time frame references, statistics, and information on where the statistics were found.  The last part, is the knowledge with facts and deductions.

One way to help students learn to create good infographics is to find some and share them with the students one at a time.   Ask the students to analyze what is good about each one, what could be improved.  Let them discuss what each designer did well in regard to creating the right balance between graphics and text.  Ask if these infographics have all three parts and if so is the information in depth or simple.

Once they have had a chance to see a variety of infographics, it is time for them to think about creating their own. There are five steps to think about when they begin designing their own infographic.
1.  Create a flow chart or skeleton of the information so students know how the information should be grouped and how it is related to each other.
2.  Assign a color scheme so the information is easy to see and is not overwhelmed by a mish mash of color.
3.  Choose the appropriate graphics that tie everything together.  If you need icons, this is where you think about them.
4. Research the data to make sure it is correct and supported by sources.  The best ratio for data to graphics is 1:1 so you want to make sure you have an equal amount of data and graphics. Furthermore, make sure you know who your audience is because that will impact much of the data and graphics you choose to use.
5. Make sure the knowledge is placed so people will be able to make deductions easily.  Do not make someone feel stupid when they read it.

 It is important to plan this all out on paper prior to creating the actual infographic much like a film maker uses a story board to plan a film or animators use a story board when animating a cartoon.  Its best to plan it all out in detail.  Keep your eyes peeled for ways to use infographics in class as part of your teaching.  Today was focused on helping students learn to create their own but they can be used as part of your teaching.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.

Perfect Time of Year.

We are heading into a six week period that is perfect for creating and using infographics.  Infographics are a great way to present information to the world in an easily understood way.

Students need to find and present information in a variety of ways.  The first thought is using graphs, or posters but infographics are the newest way to share information.

The reason I say this is the perfect time of year for creating infographics is that there is a ton of information being collected by companies which students can use.

For instance, one student could easily research the most popular varieties of candy bought on Halloween while another student looks at the most popular costumes bought by adults for themselves or for children.

At thanksgiving time, students can research information on black Friday to see what are the most popular categories of items sold.  They can check into the top brands sold in each category or even what items are best purchased during black Friday sales.

In addition, they can check out the number of people who travel the day before thanksgiving, the day of and the day after by air, train, or car.  There is also the types of meat such as turkey, duck, or geese as the main meat.  What food items are purchased the day before thanksgiving and the day of thanksgiving?

Furthermore, they could check out the projected sales numbers between black Friday and Christmas day. They could check various categories such as electronics, cars, etc over the past 10 to 15 years to look for trends that could be covered in an infographic.

This is the perfect project for just before winter holidays where you need something to keep the students interested but you can't start anything new.  Let me know what you think.

Infographics and learning

I am still working on lesson plans using the volume app but we recently got our state test results and they were not as high as hoped.  So I was thinking of a way to improve student understanding of their results and one way for me to increase my monitoring of their learning.
In regard to their understanding of their individual results, I am thinking of having each high school student I teach take their results and the state results and create a graph from that data to insert in an infographics they create of their data.  Right now we just review the data, talk about it and go on as before.  Maybe if they put the data into a visual display, it might make more of an impact on them.
As for monitoring their learning, I am seriously considering using some sort of weekly testing process.  If I set up a quiz on testmoz.com, I know I can get a download of how the students did on the quiz and on each question to provide me with data for my instruction.  My school is stressing data given instruction so this is one way to gather the data I need.

More thoughts on Infographics plus apology.

I've been playing with infographics and discovered a couple web sites that allow me to make my own infographics.  I have been playing around with them.  One is www.easel.ly and the other is visual.ly.  I've only played with each site a short time but so far the first one is much easier to use for me.  I am going to check out some other sites over the summer and play with them to see which I like best.  I want to use them to produce posters that I will target exactly what I want covered on certain topics.  I want to bring in pictures such as a slide for slow and show that the stairs going up have positive slope and the slide down is negative.  My students need to see real world examples to start relating and I will also be building prior knowledge.
No for the apologies.  I got my dates mixed up the my ebook "Teaching math using iPads" is offered today and tomorrow for free.  Please enjoy

Infographics + finding information.

Most of my students are below proficient in writing.  That is the last part of the state test they tend to pass.  I was playing with infographics yesterday and had a great time.  In the process I decided that I am going to see about importing infographics into a program such as subtext and adding some questions so that my students have to find the information and reply using complete sentences.  I can also add in some compare and contrast activities.  Since many infographics have actual stats, it falls neatly into math.  Right now, the students get out early on Wednesdays so teachers can have their weekly meetings.  The length of the classes on Wednesdays are perfect for this activity.  I think I will also do one word problem on Wednesdays using the KWC process. They need to work on taking the time to find information rather than asking me immediately for help.
Tomorrow and Friday, my ebook on Amazon is available free. 

Infographics

I've been reading about infographics and I think it is something worth trying.  Since my college prep is in the middle of a project, I think on Monday I will give them a choice of actually writing the short report or preparing an infographic on logs and natural logs and their use.  I think they might have more fun doing the infographic rather than a report since it is a bit more creative.  From what I've read about infographics, these would be great for the probability unit as students can see the real life applications of probability.  Bingo is a huge business out here and parents will often go play to 3 or 4 in the morning.  Maybe an infographic on the probability of Bingo would be a good place to start the unit. 
I am hoping to discuss a couple math apps I discovered on iTunes that will help students with the distributive property and with the special binomials such as (x^2 - 4).  I even have ideas of how to do a graphical representation on Geoboard but I want to do more research on other apps that might help me with the graphical representations.
If anyone knows of one, let me know.