Making sense of data

Sharpening data literacy with real-world examples

To view this email as a web page, go here.

8/30/2021 Thank you for subscribing to The Cheat Sheet, from Science News for Students. If you like this newsletter, share it with a friend or colleague. Did someone forward this to you? Sign up for our weekly updates. Got questions, suggestions or comments? Email us at sns@sciencenews.org and put “The Cheat Sheet” in the subject line. We’d love to hear from you. Inside Science News for Students A data visualization is worth a thousand words. Charts, graphs and maps can often provide a much deeper, more complete picture of scientific findings than can some written summary. But learning to read these visuals takes practice. That’s why Science News for Students launched its “Analyze This!” series. These entries are designed to help students interpret real-world data. Dozens of “Analyze This!” stories dig into the data on a variety of topics, from how fast the world is warming to how quickly dogs learn new words . Each post summarizes a a recent study, presents data from it and then asks students to plot the numbers themselves or find meaning in those data. Some questions call students’ attention to key measurements or trends. Others prompt students to identify the limitations in a dataset, imagine other ways the same information might be presented or use the observations as a jumping-off point to form hypotheses that could be explored in future research. This series empowers students to investigate evidence for themselves — a critical thinking skill that not only prepares a new generation of scientists to do their own research, but also helps young people become savvier navigators of our digital world.  Science News is a nonprofit. We depend on our readers to support our journalism. You can help by subscribing for as little as $25.   SUBSCRIBE NOW   Catch up with the latest from Science News for Students Scientists Say: Mass: Mass shows how much an object resists speeding up or slowing down when force is applied — a measure of how much matter is in it. Readability: 6.0 Resources: power words, audio  How Romanesco cauliflower grows spiraling fractal cones: By tweaking just three genes in a common lab plant, scientists have mimicked one of nature’s most impressive mathematical patterns. Readability: 6.8 Resources: power words, alternate version at Science News COVID-19 can infect kids — and risks sickening some severely: Not all are equally impacted. Even among supposedly low risk groups, concerns intensify as the super-contagious delta variant sweeps across the globe. Readability: 7.7 Resources:    power words, classroom questions, alternate version at Science News Greece’s Santorini volcano erupts more when the sea level drops:  Data showing this association go back at least 360,000 years. Readability: 7.7 Resources: power words, classroom questions, alternate version at Science News What is the role of in-person classes in COVID-19’s spread?: New data haven’t shown that schools pose a big coronavirus risk to kids and their families, despite fears that they might. Readability: 7.3 Resources: power words, classroom questions Endangered or just rare? Statistics give meaning to the head counts: Whether studying tiny birds or massive whales, researchers collect a lot of data. The field of statistics helps them make sense of those data. Readability: 7.2 Resources: classroom questions, power words, word find puzzle Explainer: Virus variants and strains: When viruses become more infectious or better able to survive the body’s immune system, they become a type of variant known as a strain. Readability: 7.9 Resources: power words     Headphones or earmuffs could replace needles in some disease testing: A new system that uses earmuffs to collect gases coming out of the skin could help doctors diagnose a variety of diseases, scientists say. Readability: 6.3 Resources: power words, classroom questions Millions of kids have missed routine vaccines thanks to COVID-19: The missed shots brought vaccination rates for measles, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis to their lowest levels in over a decade. Readability: 7.6 Resources: classroom questions, power words, alternate version at Science News Opportunity The online telescope service Slooh is launching a new grant for teachers during the 2021-2022 school year. Grant winners will receive 40 free Slooh accounts that allow students to use telescopes across the world to view space phenomena, such as solar flares, asteroids and stars — all in real time. One teacher per public school in the United States is eligible. The first round of applications is due October 18, with additional rounds available throughout the school year.  Find out more about the resources available for using Science News for Students stories for learning. And if you like this newsletter, please share it with a friend or colleague. Did someone share this with you? Subscribe to this newsletter here. If you’ve got questions, suggestions or comments, email us at sns@sciencenews.org. Thank you for reading! Privacy policy  |  Update Profile  | Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe This email was sent by: Society for Science 1719 N Street NW Washington, DC, 20036, US